Eve Higgins' versatility makes her central to Ireland's plan A and B

ALL ABOUT EVE: Ireland's Eve Higgins at the Exeter Rougemont Hotel. Pic: Ben Brady/Inpho

Eve Higgins has been a centre of excellence for Ireland - but her positional versatility might prove critical for Sunday's World Cup quarter-final against France in Exeter.

Higgins' midfield partnership with Aoife Dalton is well-established, and they started all three pool games together.

An injury to full-back Stacey Flood, though, could force head coach Scott Bemand into a reshuffle, and Higgins will undoubtedly be someone in the mix.

While Bemand and his staff are optimistic about Flood's recovery in time to face France at Sandy Park, contingency plans will also have been drawn up.

Higgins moved to full-back when Flood went off seven minutes before half-time against New Zealand last Sunday, and the 26-year-old sevens star is ready to do whatever the coaching team requires.

"It has been a factor, a possibility in many team namings before. All through the Six Nations, it has been something that possibly could have happened, so it is something I've been aware of," she said.

"Obviously, I had never had the opportunity to go in (at full-back), but that obviously happened over the weekend with Stacey going down.

"I have treated it with every possibility that I could have gone in and was just preparing myself as best as possible, whether it was through a few training reps or just having conversations with the likes of Stacey, Maebh Deeley and the coaching staff.

"So when it happened, it was just take a breath and just go on with it.

"To be honest, I am enjoying my rugby, but a green jersey is a green jersey. So whatever the team needs, I will do.

"Scott has been very open with that, with where I could cover, and the possibilities. In WXV against USA, I came on at the wing, so it is a possibility. And to be honest, I love playing for Ireland in whatever capacity that is."

With 31 caps to her name, Higgins is among the most experienced players in Ireland's World Cup squad.

Having featured in last year's Paris Olympics, she now has her sights firmly set on trying to secure a semi-final place and achieve Ireland's best World Cup performance since 2014, when they were beaten by France in the bronze medal match.

"The plan was always to be at this week, to be going into a quarter-final. I think we are all just excited about it, that it is do or die. It is knockout rugby now," she added.

"It feels like the team at times is in a really good flow. I thought we had a great opening performance against Japan, and it is all about everyone around you.

"I think we've had really good moments as a team, and it's about just being more consistent with that.

"We had good moments against New Zealand, we just need to finish them off that would put points on the board, and hopefully we can bring that now this weekend.

"There was definitely frustration after the game. We've looked back, and we had seven entries into their 22. We just learned from that, and see that there was opportunity to put points down.

"New Zealand brought it to us, their defensive game was very good at the weekend. We’ve got a lot of learnings that hopefully now will be beneficial for us going into this knockout game."

In terms of Bemand's final team selection, it appears increasingly likely that inspirational number eight Aoife Wafer will be handed a first appearance in the tournament.

Wafer, sidelined throughout the pool stage after undergoing summer knee surgery, is closing in on a return.

And it is set to give the squad a huge boost, welcoming back a player who was last season's Six Nations player of the championship and claimed two tries when Ireland defeated New Zealand at WXV in 2024.

"Obviously, she has been working extremely hard behind the scenes," Higgins said.

"She has been non-stop working hard to get herself back on to the pitch, and if that comes this week we will be very happy for her because it just shows the amount of work, the amount of time she has taken out of her life the last number of weeks and months to get back on to the pitch.

"Her accolades stand for herself. She is a great player, and we would all be delighted if she was able to come back."