IT DIDN’T take Stacey Flood long to bring up her favourite strength within Ireland’s back three.

As the starting full-back for some time now, Flood is no slouch. During the most recent Six Nations, she had Amee-Leigh Costigan and Anna McGann outside her. Add Béibhinn Parsons back into the mix — recovered from a nightmare injury run featuring a pair of leg breaks — and Ireland boast multiple threats in one key area of the game.

“It’s really exciting to have such pace,” says Flood. “It’s always nice to have someone to pass the ball to who’s able to run the length of the field!”

Flood is doing herself a disservice. When Ireland beat Wales in the Six Nations, she made 145 metres and beat three defenders, her own counter-attacking threat on full display.

She is not wrong to point out the threat of those outside her. It’s not that long ago that Costigan and McGann cut Italy apart to the tune of four combined tries. Parsons, once Irish rugby’s golden child when speeding past defenders as a teenager, is no longer the lone speed option.

“Coming from the days where you might only have one out-and-out pacer, we have so much pace on the board,” says Flood. “Teams are more athletic now, teams are more powerful and strong. We’re right there with them.

“When [Amee-]Leigh makes a break, there’s someone chasing after her in support. She might get caught; she might not. We have that pace within the squad, the whole load of them are so fast.”

On the men’s side, Irish rugby is awash with criticism of the country’s ability to produce top-end speedsters, particularly in the wide areas. This hasn’t been the case in women’s rugby.

Flood, Costigan, Parsons and McGann all have experience on the Sevens circuit, a code where space on the pitch and the pace to exploit it is a necessity. To a greater extent than their male counterparts, more women have progressed from the seven-a-side code to the national 15s side.

While acknowledging that Sevens played a big part in her development, Flood pushes back against what is probably an overly simple narrative.

“We have a front row today, hitting an 8.04 metres per second, which is crazy. That’s so fast for a front row. That’s what we are expecting now. Having that athleticism from the front row to the back three is so amazing.

“It’s not a coincidence. We’re lifting heavy, running faster, playing better; it’s all accumulated from our backroom staff to give us the tools to perform like that.

“The girls who are through the 15s and centralised programme are still hitting the same speeds as the girls who’ve been in sevens, so it’s not like it’s one versus the other.

“It’s a women’s programme, it’s not one programme is doing one thing, the other’s doing another. You can see the benefits from both. We have multiple threats throughout the board.”

With little prodding, Flood offers a window into the gym work behind Ireland’s need for speed. Pace is a regular topic of conversation.

“We’re so competitive within our group. We have a compete board, your CMJ (countermovement jump), metres per second, HMLD (high metabolic load distance), high speed metres, we compete in everything we do in our units. If your name is on the board, you’ve won that week.

“It’s such good camaraderie, but also nice, good competitiveness, petty competitiveness as well! The S&C staff are driving us to be more competitive, but also get better. Anyone in a high-performance department will tell you that you don’t want to not be on the board.”

Whose name is up there as the fastest in the back three?

“A lot of different people for a lot of different things,” says Flood. “Leigh, Bei (Parsons), all the back three have been on it. Everyone is good at something; no one is getting left behind in any area.”

At times, it’s too easy to become obsessed with pace. When the situation calls for it, Ireland have shown a willingness to go direct. That Wales game, where Flood impressed, saw a tactical shift at half-time. Enough of the counter-attacking wide stuff, time to dominate at set-piece. Ireland then mauled Wales out of the game.

“If you’re testing teams, edge edge edge, you’re not going to get anywhere,” explains Flood. You need that front foot ball to be able to play to the edge. It’s having that balance.

“Yes, I always want my hands on the ball, but it’s better to be getting the ball knowing we’re getting front-foot ball instead of a defensive line coming straight up at you.”

Japan are a side renowned for their pace threat, both on the ball and when racing to the defensive breakdown. Given their opponents’ weapons, Ireland will look to match them when the time is right on Sunday. Yet the Irish set-piece is also much improved. They will no doubt look for an advantage up front.

Even if Flood and co regularly demand the ball, as Ireland’s full-back said herself, it’s all about balance.