ALMOST 12 MONTHS on from her last appearance in green, Dorothy Wall will finally get an opportunity to pick up her 38th senior international cap when Ireland take on world champions England in the opening round of the Women’s Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium this afternoon.

Just 17 minutes into their final round Championship visit to Scotland on 26 April of last year, Wall was forced off with an achilles tendon injury that ultimately ruled her out of Ireland’s subsequent Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign in England.

Throughout this time, new team captain Erin King was going through her own rehabilitation – a knee injury sustained against the English in round three of last year’s Six Nations also leading to her missing out on the World Cup. Yet both players have since returned to full fitness and have been selected in the second row and openside flanker respectively today for an encounter that is set to draw more than 70,000 spectators.

“Myself and Erin, we talked about these weeks. Playing England and what that would mean. When you’re sitting in there doing upper-body conditioning, it means even more when you get back in. That’s something I’ve kind of been reminding myself this week. If things don’t go to plan, if you make mistakes early in the week, it’s when you’re meant to make mistakes,” Wall explained at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre on Wednesday.

“It’s just being present with it all and realising that it can be taken away from you so quickly. So it’s relishing it and even [recognising] how quickly an international rugby career is over. Being present and appreciating every moment is definitely a big part of my mindset for this campaign.”

On their most recent trip to Twickenham in the 2024 Six Nations, Ireland endured an extremely difficult day at the office. 35 points adrift at the break, the visitors ultimately fell to an 88-10 defeat at the hands of a supremely-drilled England.

Yet they immediately bounced back from this disappointment by recording a victory over Scotland that helped them to secure qualification for last year’s World Cup and reflecting on that meeting two years ago, Wall believes Ireland are in a much different place for their latest journey to the London venue.

“Our lineout, set-piece has completely changed since then. The experience that we’ve had in younger players. The cap numbers are going up and up. We’ve looked back at clips of that game and it nearly seems irrelevant in a sense. There’s good learnings from it, but we are so different since then. Which is really good. I think probably the game in 2025 is a bit more relevant.”

Despite eventually ending up on the wrong side of a 49-5 scoreline when England visited Virgin Media Park in Cork in round three of last year’s Championship, Ireland took the lead in that game with a try from Amee-Leigh Costigan and were just two points in arrears with 48 minutes on the clock.

In much the same way that Wall feels they have pushed on from their 2024 meeting, the team’s head coach Scott Bemand has also stated his belief that Ireland are an improved outfit since that showdown on the Leeside 12 months ago.

There is a clear determination throughout their set-up to show that the gap between themselves and England can be tightened, and Wall outlined what needs to happen in order for Ireland to deliver the performance they are chasing after this weekend.

“I think we train how we play, so every time we go out there, the way our week is structured, it’s clarity. We prime what we’re doing. In the first 10 minutes or the first few sets, if the focus isn’t in there, we’re pulled in and it’s a real focus for us to have a fast start to every training we do. That is something that we expect from ourselves at the weekend,” Wall added.

“If it’s the first 10 minutes of the game, if it’s the first 10 minutes after the half with maybe changes or whatever. Whatever segment we are in the game, it needs to be a fast start. If it’s when the subs come on, when they make impact or they can see tactical things from the bench, that needs to be a fast start from them.

“To add momentum, to add impact, to add IQ in certain areas that we might be missing as starters that come off. It’s a focus thing, it’s the ability to perform and focus on the moment. As I said, being present is a massive thing for us and a massive thing for me.”