De Scossa has made five changes to the squad, Amy Day replacing Laura Prosser at scrum-half, hooker Rhian Bowden replacing Lowri Harries and Jamie Kift in at No.8 for Vicky Owens.

Prosser, Bowden and Harries drop to the bench, where there is also a place for Awen Thomas and experienced lock Rachel Taylor, who hasn’t appeared for Wales since the World Cup.

De Scossa admitted the loss to Italy was hard to take, but that the team had addressed the reasons for the defeat.

He said: “It’s never good to lose, but the team is still in a rebuilding phase, so we’re learning as we go and we’re concentrating on performance.

“A lot of the mistakes were on game-sense decisions and we’ve tried to recreate them in training this week. We’ve addressed all the issues and I’m confident the girls can get it right against Ireland.

“We know we head into this match as underdogs, every game for us is a challenge. The Irish are a very strong and capable side.

“They will bring a strong running game, with really powerful ball-carriers. They have an exciting team with really good decision-makers, but we’re going to try to match them.

“Hopefully we will get another packed house at Pandy Park and I’m expecting an exciting game of rugby.”