Jemima Adams Verling to make Ireland debut against USA in WXV opener
Twenty-year-old Jemima Adams Verling will win her first Ireland cap on Sunday.
The Connacht back-rower starts at blind-side flanker — one of the three back-row forwards who carry, tackle and fight for the ball — for the WXV Global Series opener against the United States in Dublin, according to BBC Sport. Kick-off is 13:45 BST on 20 September at Tallaght Stadium.
She packs down in a fresh-look back row. Erin King captains the side from open-side flanker, with star number eight Aoife Wafer — the ball-carrying anchor at the base of the scrum — completing the trio.
It is a big moment for Adams Verling. She travelled with Ireland through the Six Nations earlier this year without getting on the pitch. Her push for selection gathered pace with Ireland Under-21s and then a superb solo try for Connacht against Munster in the Vodafone Women's Interpros, as noted by Irish Rugby. She was then named among Ireland's centrally contracted players for the 2026/27 season.
Head coach Scott Bemand has mixed youth and experience around her. Niamh O'Dowd and Linda Djougang start at prop, with Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald at hooker in the front row. That is the tight, shove-and-lift unit at the heart of every scrum and lineout.
Behind them, Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite-O'Sullivan pair up in the second row. Sam Monaghan misses out through injury.
The backs have a settled feel. Dannah O'Brien and Emily Lane steer the team from fly-half and scrum-half, the two half-back positions that direct play. Aoife Dalton and Eve Higgins link up in midfield. Stacey Flood starts at full-back, with Robyn O'Connor and Vicky Elmes Kinlan on the wings.
Ireland's replacements are Neve Jones, Sadhbh McGrath, Eilis Cahill, Jane Clohessy, Brittany Hogan, Aoibheann Reilly, Anna McGann and Niamh Gallagher.
For fans, this means a first look at the next wave. Ireland named seven uncapped players in their wider WXV squad. Adams Verling is the first to step up.
Sunday also brings a new stage. The match will be the first women's Test at Tallaght Stadium, the Dublin home of Shamrock Rovers. New Zealand's Maggie Cogger-Orr will referee, with Australia's Ella Goldsmith as one of her assistants, according to World Rugby.
The WXV Global Series is World Rugby's international window for the women's game outside World Cups and regional championships. Ireland follow the USA tie with Japan in Galway on 27 September — also a WXV fixture — and then meet Japan again in Cork on 3 October. Two WXV games against South Africa in Cape Town, on 24 and 31 October, close the block.
