FRESH OFF IRELAND’S captain’s run at Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka, on Friday evening local time, skipper Nichola Fryday chats to media back home via Microsoft Teams.
It’s about 25 hours from kick-off in the first of the tourists’ two summer tests with Japan. The temperature outside is 27 degrees Celsius and the ‘real-feel’ temperature is up around 32 or 33.
More pertinently, the humidity is 70%, somewhere between 20 and 40% higher than what most people from this part of the world would deem comfortable.
They’re called tests for a reason and this summer series was accepted with the explicit intention of developing muscle-memory for performance even when utterly removed from home comforts. That has been evident all week, says Ireland’s captain.
“Tuesday was our ‘combat’ day and Wednesday was our ‘fast’ day, then,” Fryday explains. “There was a lot of intent to both sessions and as players, we bought into that. We all turned to each other and were like, ‘We’re all in the same boat here, we’re all struggling in the heat but we have to keep pushing on for each other because this is what it’s about.’
You don’t feel like you’re getting the same kind of air that you would at home when you’re trying to recover in between each drill. We’ve had some really good sessions to acclimatise to that, and we did some work before we left. And I don’t think it’ll ever be something that will feel easy — but it is definitely getting easier for us as each day passes. By tomorrow evening we’ll have a good grasp on it, hopefully.
“To be honest, like, the Tuesday and Wednesday were probably the toughest sessions I’ve ever had”, adds the Exeter Chiefs lock, “in terms of the rugby we played and in terms of the heat.
“But it’s been the most rewarding week, I think. Everything is starting to come together for us in terms of plays, and the new girls coming into the squad: you couldn’t have asked for more of them. They’ve just thrown themselves in head-first to try to absorb and take on as much as they can.
“It’s stood to them because there are a lot of them in the starting squad and on the bench as well. It kind of shows that if you come in and fully immerse yourself into this environment and work hard, you’ll get your rewards.”
Of the six potential new caps, four of whom will start for Greg McWilliams’ side in Fukuroi city tomorrow, two play their rugby in Fryday’s home county of Offaly: Aoife Dalton will make a starting debut at outside centre, while Leah Tarpey — who has represented Laois in Gaelic football — is set for a maiden outing off the bench.
The more experienced Ailsa Hughes, meanwhile, a clubmate of Dalton’s and Tarpey’s at Tullamore RFC, starts at scrum-half.
“It’s been great: I’ve been seeing a few posts from home with all of us from Offaly that are in the squad,” Fryday says.
People always used to kind of joke, ‘Ah, sure, Nichola, you’re from Offaly!’ And now it’s kind of turned around and we have the highest contingent in the squad. It’s a nice turn of events for me!
“I’ve known the likes of Ailsa for years. Having her back in the starting squad, I’m delighted for her because she’s a friend as well as a team-mate at this stage. It is nice when you have those faces from home and you can enjoy this experience together — because it is such a special experience.”
Japan are not dissimilar to their men’s side in so far as they will attempt to take Ireland into deep water with fast-tempoed, unstructured attack and a relentlessness in the home humidity that is going to prove difficult for the less-seasoned tourists to contend with.
Fryday, though, scarcely balks at the prospect of an end-to-end encounter. The message, for all intents and purposes, is ‘bring it on.’
“You can’t underestimate the players in our squad either,” says the captain.
We have seriously talented players. Like, the younger girls coming through have really shown what kind of flair they have, but then you have the likes of Sam [Monaghan] and Linda [Djougang] and people like that who thrive off unstructured play; that’s their game as well.
“So, like, I actually think it’s probably going to make for a very interesting match because, while the Japanese might look to play a fast, unstructured game, we can kind of keep up with that as well because a bit of that is in us too.”
The first test will be broadcast live on TG4, with coverage beginning at 10:40am tomorrow.
