Ireland will want to prove win over New Zealand 'wasn't a one-off'

Women's Rugby World Cup - Pool C: Ireland v New Zealand

Venue: Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium Date: Sunday, 7 September Kick-off: 14:45 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer from 14:30, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 14:30 and BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle from 14:00; also live with text commentary on the BBC Sport website.

Ireland should take confidence from their win over New Zealand in WXV1 last September as they prepare to face the defending champions in the match which will decide the winners of World Cup Pool C on Sunday.

If they didn't have that victory under their belt I think this game might be a bit more daunting for the players but I think they will want to put a stamp on this to prove that it wasn't just a one-off win.

The Irish squad will want to show that this is where this team is at, at a level where they can compete with previous World Cup winners.

It doesn't surprise me that they have selected a strong team and that proves they are really going for it.

They aren't thinking about next week's quarter-finals and they want to top the pool. I think that's the smart way to approach it.

The World Cup is such a big tournament and you don't want to be seen to be shirking away from the bigger matches or preparing for future matches. You have to take each game as it comes.

Obviously it would be nice to have Aoife Wafer in the squad for such a big game but I didn't really see her coming in this week.

I didn't see her involved in the warm-up last week and if she was close to being back I think she'd have been in that extended squad and doing the full matchday warm-up with the team.

It will be interesting to see if she is part of that on Sunday. I think that will give an indication as to whether she is close to being back playing or not.

Irish defence a huge factor

Ireland will want to put a performance in to really challenge the Black Ferns and beat them in Brighton on Sunday.

The Irish defence is going to be a huge factor and they face their biggest challenge of the tournament so far in that respect.

The team hasn't really come up against the style of play that New Zealand employ yet.

It's very much offload in the tackle, quick ruck speed, multiple moves around the pitch with the different players that they have.

It's going to be about how Ireland can turn their defence into attacking opportunities and put pressure on New Zealand, force penalties and turnovers and rewards from good defensive play. That's going to be absolutely huge for them this weekend.

Ireland are going to want to keep their errors to an absolute minimum and that requires all 23 players on the day putting their best performance on and eradicating any individual mistakes, whether that be in defence or attack.

It's going to take a pretty much all-round perfect performance.

Portia Woodman-Wycliffe is one of the top players in the world. On the wing she's extremely strong and extremely fast and she can turn what doesn't look like a scoring opportunity into a try. She's a player that Ireland need to be targeting.

But across that back line, they have threats everywhere.

Stacey Waaka, I really rate her. She's a really solid player and in the forwards you can't escape the fact that Jorja Miller is there at seven.

She has been absolutely outstanding in this tournament so far. She has the speed of a winger and her ball-carrying ability is as good as I've seen from anyone in a long time. She's going to a massive threat.

It will be a big physical battle for sure because New Zealand's bread and butter is big carries, big tackles - they thrive off them. They all get round each other when someone has done something like that really well.

Ireland co-captains Sam Monaghan and Edel McMahon will line out against New Zealand on Sunday

Fans' support 'means a lot'

I think the line-out is one area Ireland will look to improve on.

The performances in the first two rounds against Japan and Spain, they weren't perfect, especially last week.

But you don't want them to be perfect. You want to have things to work on and improve as the tournament goes on.

The 'Green Wave' of Ireland supporters has been evident throughout the tournament and those fans are going to continue alongside them.

It's set to be a 31,000 sell-out at the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium, with the majority supporting Ireland, and that support really does mean a lot to those girls.

In big tournaments and stadiums you walk onto the pitch and there are so many people cheering you on and you stand for the anthems, then you forget about it when the game gets going, it's more background noise that you don't even think about.

I don't think Ireland will let the size of the crowd affect them, they'll tap into that backing but will then put it to the back of their mind.

These are the kind of games you look back on and remember for the rest of your life when you hang your boots up, a real career highlight and a huge opportunity.

I played the Black Ferns once and it sure was a bit of an eye opener as to what international rugby really was about.

As regards the tournament itself, I'm hoping that we will see more closely contested competitive games coming into these final pool matches this weekend and then into the quarter-finals, not so many one-sided games.

Australia against the USA last week [a 31-31 draw], that was an entertaining game that went back and forth, a match like that draws people in and they are the most enjoyable to watch.

Nichola Fryday was speaking to BBC Sport NI's Richard Petrie