Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says he wants his players to be “further ahead than they were” as his side take on Australia on Saturday.
Victory over Scotland in the Six Nations secured World Cup qualification for Ireland and Bemand says the target is to improve against one of the world’s top nations.
Only Eimear Considine and Cliodhna Moloney were in the squad when Ireland last played the Wallaroos in 2017.
“If you look at the Six Nations against some of the tier one nations, they weren’t what we aspire to by the time we get to the World Cup next year so there’s a big part of this is about taking a big step forward,” said Bemand.
“Taking the best bits of our performances against Wales and the second half against Scotland, we’ve got to apply that against tier one nations now.
“Do we want to win? Yes, but realistically we go after performance. We want to be further ahead than we were.”
Australia are ranked fifth in the world while Ireland are up to 10th and constantly improving under Bemand, who was appointed in July 2023.
Ireland’s head coach said it was an “exciting opportunity” to play Australia in Belfast.
“We’ve come in at a higher start point [than when Bemand arrived last September], the entry point of what players can do and what we can put out on the park,” he said.
“They’re a good team. They’ve got a strong background of touch footie over in Australia so they are an incredibly talented passing team.
“We’ve seen what they can do on the sevens pitch, so playing a game based on movement and strategy and thought. We’re not expecting anything different this time.”