Heather Payne evolving quickly on journey into unknown

Evolution: the process of adapting over time in response to a changing environment; a process reliant on natural selection.

Heather Payne was never in danger of missing out on selection for Vera Pauw's Republic of Ireland World Cup squad but she has had to adapt to a new task as the team heads for an environment they've never been in before.

If the Girls in Green are to catch out the big guns in Australia and New Zealand, a lot will depend on a redeployment of the Roscommon 23-year-old. It now looks certain that she'll be used as a marauding right wing-back at the tournament having soldiered, for most of Pauw's reign, as a tireless lone striker.

A triple tweak against the USA in Austin back in April [Payne at full-back, Sinead Farrelly in the middle of the park, and Kyra Carusa up top] did feel like shifting three pieces of a jigsaw puzzle into the right place. Suddenly the picture made a lot more sense.

Payne looks made for a wide berth, where her stamina and crossing ability are better utilised. Farrelly's ability to keep the ball under pressure buys the wing-backs time to break upfield, while Carusa is good at holding up play and feeding runners from midfield.

That's Pauw's vision and she'll hope it all makes sense when things kick off against the Aussies in Sydney on 20 July.

"It's a but surreal," Payne admitted ahead of Thursday's friendly against France at a sold-out Tallaght Stadium.

"I’ve been named on the squad list as a forward for the last two years and now I’m down as a defender. I’ve always played on the wing and right full-back with Florida State Seminoles so I’ve always been more comfortable playing wing-back.

"Playing in the forward role was completely new for me and I’ve had to develop over that time to take it