Bemand

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 head coach Scott Bemand says he is “confident” Aoife Wafer will be ready for a World Cup quarter-final after resisting the urge to include her for Sunday’s final Pool C game against New Zealand in Brighton.

The back row is yet to feature in the competition because of pre-tournament knee surgery and although she was considered for Sunday’s game against the defending champions, the Irish camp has erred on the side of caution.

Bemand confirmed there was a temptation to introduce the Wexford woman for the meeting with the Black Ferns, but with either France or South Africa to come next week, having the Women’s Six Nations player of the tournament ready for then takes priority.

“All the way through there has been a bit of a plan around Aoife, from the very beginning to her joining up with the group a couple of days after we arrived, and everything is tracking and trending,” Bemand said.

“Aoife is back in training, she’s doing well, and she’s desperate to be involved.

“We considered picking her this week, but we’ve made a decision as her best opportunity and the team’s best opportunity, is to go hard in training again next week and we’ll see where that stands us for the following week.

“I’m really confident and if you look in her eyes you can see she is really confident as well.”

Rugby World Cup warm-up: Ireland v Canada

Venue: Affidea Stadium, Belfast Date: Saturday, 9 August Kick-off: 12:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC iPlayer and website with live text commentary on the website and app

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says their final warm-up game against Canada presents an “ideal opportunity” for his side to test themselves against a “World Cup contender”.

Canada are ranked second in the world and are in Pool B for the World Cup in England where they will face Scotland, Wales and Fiji.

Ireland will take on Japan, Spain and reigning champions New Zealand in Pool C and Bemand believes the Canada game will be good preparation for what is to come at the tournament.

“Them being number two in the world I think is well deserved. They have really taken their game up levels in the last four years and it is going to be a challenge, but we need that and we want a battle before we head into the World Cup,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“It is well-timed. We want to get our best performance out there to tee us up for the next six weeks.”