Breen skippers Ireland for first time as Bemand names team to face Canada

Bemand has named an unchanged back three of Stacey Flood, Eimear Considine and Amee-Leigh Murphy, with Eve Higgins joining Breen in the Ireland midfield. 

Dannah O'Brien is joined in the half-backs by Emily Lane, who comes in for her first Test start in green.

In the pack, Niamh O'Dowd, Clíodhna Moloney and Linda Djougang are named in the front row, with Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite continuing in the engine room.

Erin King, who came off the bench to score two tries against the Black Ferns, earns her first start at blindside flanker, Aoife Wafer switches to openside in the absence of McMahon and Brittany Hogan is once again in the number eight jersey.

Bemand has strong options on his bench, with Neve Jones, Siobhán McCarthy, Andrea Stock, Grace Moore and Deirbhile Nic a Bháird providing the forward reinforcements, while Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Nicole Fowley and Aoife Dalton complete the Match Day 23.

Bemand said: "We were really pleased to get our campaign off to a winning start last weekend and there has been a real hunger within the group this week to reset the focus. We want to keep momentum going and be a bit better again this week. Character and performance will keep this moving forward.

"A number of players have earned their opportunity in a green jersey on Saturday having worked hard to compete across the week and it will be a special moment for Enya to lead the team for the first time, supported by our leaders. A strong Canada outfit will provide a different challenge for us and we're looking forward to testing ourselves against one of the best teams in the world."

IRELAND (v Canada): S Flood, E Considine, E Higgins, E Breen, A Murphy Crowe, D O’Brien, E Lane; N O’Dowd, C Moloney, L Djougang, D Wall, F Tuite, E King, A Wafer, B Hogan

Replacements: N Jones, S McCarthy, A Stock, G Moore, D a Bháird, M Scuffil-McCabe, N Fowley, A Dalton