'It's very important to get that win' - McWilliams

Previously reluctant to set goals for his Ireland team, Greg McWilliams makes no bones about targetting a win against Italy on Sunday.

The team's opening TikTok Women’s Six Nations games have been against semi-professional outfits Wales and France and there is a feeling that a more level playing field exists as they welcome the Italians to Musgrave Park (5pm).

"Momentum in sport, society, as a business - you need to see that the work you're putting in is getting rewarded," McWilliams told reporters after making six changes to his match-day squad for the Cork encounter.

"Like anybody doing anything in the world, whether professional golfer, tennis player, rugby team, soccer team - it's very important to get that win."

The full squad assembled in Cork on Thursday and the former Rugby United New York coach was asked about the challenges of making much-needed improvements in such a short period of time.

"Modern technology is pretty cool because we can do a lot of work," said McWilliams, whose side lost 40-5 to France last Saturday.

"Monday and Tuesday were pretty busy for us. We had a skills session Tuesday evening and did a lot of work on Wednesday with our sub-groups, if you want to call them that.

"We met in Cork yesterday and went through our 'install day' and went through our unit session this morning. We've got a performance session this afternoon now which we're excited about, which is our fast session, then we have more learnings in the morning.

"It’s about staying consistent in your messaging. We have a plan we put in place and we are sticking to that plan.

"When it’s on in training, it’s on and it’s great.

"There's loads of things that we can do as a group to have better execution but then you have pressure on in Test rugby,