Dannah O'Brien 'happy enough here' with no England plans
Many of the Carlow woman's international team-mates ply their trade in England, while star flanker Aoife Wafer will join Harlequins after the Rugby World Cup.
Sam Monaghan, Neve Jones and Ellena Perry line out with Gloucester-Hartpury, while Edel McMahon, Clíodhna Moloney MacDonald and Nancy McGillivray are at Exeter.
Grace Moore plays for London-based Trailfinders.
O'Brien, who made her Ireland debut in 2022 and has 26 caps, plays for Leinster and the Wolfhounds in the Celtic Challenge and is centrally contracted to the IRFU.
Despite a British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand on the horizon in two years' time, O'Brien is satisfied that home is the best place for her to continue her development.
"Not for me personally in the next while, I'm happy enough here," the 21-year-old told RTÉ Sport.
"The facilities we have here are unbelievable.
"The programme we have is [great].
"I've definitely seen improvements in my game in the last few years.
"The Celtic Challenge is up and coming and will improve massively in the next few years.
"Yeah, I'll be here for a while."
O'Brien's only focus is on the World Cup where Ireland will begin their Pool C campaign against Japan on Sunday week.
After a wooden-spoon finish in the 2023 Six Nations, Ireland have managed consecutive third-place finishes in the championship, while they claimed the WXV3 title two years ago.
Wins over Australia in friendly last year and the WXV1 victory over New Zealand have raised expectations among fans, and O'Brien insists they have the belief to continue that upward trajectory in England.
"Maybe [there's a bit more pressure]," she said.
"For us, the way we see it is we've built the stepping stones onto the next level, we know we are capable of competing with the best in the world.
"It's proof we can go over there and achieve great things.
"Last year, playing against New Zealand, there was just a sense of belief that we could beat them.
"I think we have a lot of the work done and it's about getting a bit of belief together in each other.
"If we do take it step by step I think we'll have a good shot."
The Ireland rugby squad have arrived in England ahead of their opening game in the Women's World Cup where they take on Japan. #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/BmZbCz0V6Z
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2025
Back-to-back World Cup winners Black Ferns await in round three but Ireland, without influential injured forwards Erin King and Dorothy Wall, aren't thinking that far ahead, with tough battles ahead against Japan and Spain up first.
"It's about not looking too far forward," said O'Brien, who arrived to England with the rest of the squad on Friday.
"This week is about Japan, going over and getting settled in to training.
"They are going to turn up looking to get a win. We'll take each game as it comes.
"We've had a good few younger players and returning players coming back in for pre-season.
"Obviously, we are going to miss Dorothy and Erin, they were a huge part of our team but there have been a good few players filling in those roles.
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