Ireland will not 'take Wales lightly' - O'Brien

O'Brien has started Ireland's first three Six Nations games

Women's Six Nations: Wales v Ireland

Venue: Rodney Parade Date: Sunday, 20 April Kick-off: 15:00 BST

Coverage: Watch on BBC One Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport online, listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru

Ireland fly-half Dannah O'Brien said that her side are "not going to take Wales lightly" in their Women's Six Nations meeting at Rodney Parade.

Scott Bemand's side are third in the table with one win from three games, while Wales are hoping for their first victory under new head coach Sean Lynn after defeats by Scotland, England and France.

The Irish won last year's meeting 36-5 in Cork, but O'Brien believes both sides have made massive strides since that game.

"Wales have a new head coach in, and they are a team that are continuously growing, and travelling away from home is a challenge, so we need to bring our game both sides of the ball," she said.

"We have come up another level and we're not going to take Wales lightly; they have progressed hugely in the Six Nations."

The 21-year-old says that the Ireland squad are familiar with many of the Welsh players having come up against them in the Celtic Challenge.

"We know what they're about, they're a power team, they have a difficult maul, and you can't go round them," she explained.

"They're a good physical team and we know it's not going to be an easy game."

O'Brien also hopes that Ireland can repeat elements from their last away performance, a 54-12 victory against Italy, in Newport on Sunday.

"Italy was a good example of us as a backline being more ambitious and pulling the trigger early in the game.

"You can't do that without a good pack so we want to grow our confidence as a backline and proving we can score multiple tries out wide."