women
international women
Jemima Adams Verling will make her Test debut in Ireland’s first WXV Global Series Fall 2026 game.
The Connacht forward will start at wide Ireland captain Erin King and two-time Guinness Women’s Six Nations Championship player, Aoife Wafer, back row.
The 20-year-old is the only non-squad player included in Scott Bemand’s matchday squad for Sunday’s clash at Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium.
Adams Verling has progressed through the Ireland age ranks and has impressed with both Clovers in Celtic Challenge competition and Connacht in the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship. She has previously been named in Ireland’s extended squads.
Brittany Hogan, who was a back-row mainstay at this year’s Women’s Six Nations, is among the replacements.
Niamh O’Dowd has been named as the starting loosehead prop. The starting slot was available following the retirement of Ellen Perry at the end of the 2025/26 season.
Sadhbh McGrath was named among the replacements. O’Dowd joins Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Linda Djougang in the front row.
Injuries mean Sam Monaghan and Ruth Campbell are unavailable for selection. Instead, Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan were named as the opening partnership. Jane O’Clohessy is on the bench.
In the backs Emily Lane and Dannah O’Brien partner half-backs, Aoife Dalton and Eve Higgins combine in midfield and the back three consists of Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Robyn O’Connor and Stacey Flood.
2026 WXV Global Series | Match day line-up Ireland v USA Women’s Eagles
15. Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)(29)
14. Robyn O’Connor (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(4)
13. Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(33)
12. Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC/Leinster)(37)
11. Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC/Leinster)(6)
10. Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(35)
9. Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC/Munster)(25)
1. Niamh O’Dowd (Gloucester Hartpury) (23)
2. Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs) (54)
3. Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) (57)
4. Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs) (42)
5. Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster)(25)
6. Jemima Adams Verling (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)*
7. Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster)(12)(Captain)
8. Aoife Wafer (Harlequins) (21)
Substitutions
16. Neve Jones (Gloucester Hartpury) (46)
17. Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke RFC/Ulster) (22)
18. Elís Cahill (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster)(4)
19. Jane Clohessy (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster)(1)
20. Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks) (43)
21. Aoifeann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC/Connaught) (19)
22. Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC/Connacht)(17)
23. Niamh Gallagher (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby)(2)
*uncapped
