'Perfect opportunity' - McWilliams happy to experiment

It's still early days for Greg McWilliams, but whether it's by circumstance or design, it's clear his selection policy is open minded.

Retirements, injuries and the perennial Sevens dilemma saw him bring 10 uncapped players to Japan this summer, having named nine uncapped players in his initial Six Nations squad earlier this year.

And with six of tomorrow's matchday 23 to face Japan set for their Test debuts, it will mark 13 new caps handed out by the head coach in his first six games in charge.

The fact that Ireland missed out on qualification for the upcoming World Cup has allowed the former USA assistant the luxury - if you could call it that - of experimentation with his squad, as they aim to get a head start on the cycle for the next World Cup in England in 2025.

Dannah O'Brien will be the third player to occupy the 10 shirt this season after Nicole Cronin and Nikki Caughey, while her partnership with Ailsa Hughes will be the fourth different 9-10 combination, a pairing Ireland have struggled to nail down consistently for several years.

The head coach maintains the lack of consistency in selection isn't something he's too worried about. If anything, he's warned us to expect more changes down the line.

"This is the perfect opportunity to be giving people an opportunity. Games like this very seldom happen so you have to experiment," McWilliams said.

"What is our target? World Cup has to be a massive goal for us, and yes, getting on to the WXV has to be a massive goal for us.

"People will say, "Oh they're testing another half-back combination.’ But there will be lots of them. We’re not in a rush here. This is a great chance for us to test players. I’m very comfortable with another combination the next week. People are working