26-07-2025
Enya Breen: Eight-year wait makes World Cup special
Enya Breen was there at one of the lowest points in Irish rugby and that makes the upcoming World Cup all the more special for the Cork woman.
The Ireland centre was injured for the qualifier play-off defeat to Scotland in Parma in 2021 but was among the extended squad who cut stunned and dejected figures strewn across the pitch when the final whistle blew that evening, the team losing to a last-minute converted try.
There was to be no trip to New Zealand for the 2022 World Cup.
Some of the pain many of the players felt came from knowing that was their last chance, while others knew their time would come; seven of the 15 starters that evening have retired or are injured this time around.
But the gap to the last time Ireland ran out for World Cup action will be eight years by the time they face Japan on 24 August in Northampton.
A third-place finish in the 2024 Six Nations, after a winless 2023 campaign, meant that Scott Bemand's side avoided a potentially tricky play-off route and qualified automatically for the tournament, where they will also face Spain and New Zealand in Pool C.
"It's huge. We didn't make it in 2022 and that was devastating at the time, but it probably put a bit more importance on this one," Munster centre Breen told RTÉ Sport's Michael Corcoran.
"We've been building for this for eight years now at this stage since the last one was held here.
"It's really important to us as a group, we know it's really important for the country.
"It's the pinnacle of the rugby calendar for us and we're loving the build-up, we're loving every second of it."
Ireland have been training all summer with an extended preparation squad named last May.
Most of the work is being done at the HPC in Blanchardstown, Dublin, while they also decamped to Ennis for a two-day stint.
It's all building up to two 'Summer Send Off' warm-up games against Scotland in Cork on Saturday week and against Canada in Belfast seven days later as Bemand and his fellow coaches whittle the squad down to 32 players.
"We're not rugby players to be training, everyone is buzzing to get into games now," added the 26-year-old, who has 29 caps, speaking at the Canterbury and Elverys launch of the new Ireland kit.
"It'll probably show what we've done over the last few months. We've been training hard but you never know what's going to come out until you step into a Test game, into that cauldron.
"Once the pressure is on, we'll see how it goes.
"It's important to put ourselves in a good light, but everyone is putting the team first.
"We back everyone to put in a shift and do the job the best they can.
"It's going to be tough, the squad is smaller and selection is tight. It's been a tough summer but it's been great as well.
"It's the longest block we've had together as a team without games so to be able to bring that intensity through the summer and bring that intensity that we need building into a World Cup.
"We've hard some really hard sessions and we're pushing each other bloody hard.
"There's been plenty of bite to everything.
"Everyone is blowing all the time but we are chasing quality as well. We are growing every day and taking small steps in the right direction."
For second row Fiona Tuite, it will also be a maiden World Cup campaign.
The Dubliner, who plays with Ulster, made her Ireland bow at the victorious WXV3 tournament against Colombia in 2023.
"Playing in a World Cup is absolutely huge, one of the best competitions in the world, in any sport," said the 28-year-old, who has been capped 15 times.
"It's absolutely phenomenal.
"Some of our girls have gone through heartbreak before and not qualified for the World Cup so this is huge.
"This is massive for us and really exciting, a huge competition and we're looking forward to continuing the success that we've been building the last couple of years."
