Ireland out to 'show the world' in women's World Cup clash with holders New Zealand

With both sides enjoying safe passage into the quarter-finals, the meeting in Brighton offers a position as group winners the immediate prize along with the plaudits.

Ireland’s panel features four Ulster players and Ballymena-born Neve Jones now on the books at Gloucester Hartpury.

Ulster’s Claire Boles, Brittany Hogan, Sadhbh McGrath and Fiona Tuite join Jones on the list of forwards.

"It's great that we have qualified but we all want to go out this weekend and perform, put our hand up and try to top the pool," said Ireland’s Emily Lane on BBC Sport NI. "We just want to show the world that we're capable of competing with the top-class teams in the world like New Zealand, who have won the World Cup six times.

"They are a world-class team and we respect that so we want to bring our best foot forward going into this game."

Wins over Japan and Spain to date – by margins, respectively, of 42-14 and 43-27 – offers encouragement but Lane is aware of the challenge against New Zealand.

"You have to recognise the positives but we still have room for improvement, we want to minimise our penalties, be more physical and stop those tries,” said Lane. "As backs we have been working on executing in the green zone, scoring tries...and I think we've been doing that.

"Hopefully we can put into practice what we've been trying to fix from those two games."

Ireland’s switch from Northampton to Brighton for the New Zealand meeting offers excitement at the potential for a significant crowd increase inside the stadium enjoying a 30,000-plus capacity.

"The most exciting thing about this whole World Cup is the support, the fact that we're so close to home as well,” said Lane. “It nearly feels like a home World Cup.

"The crowd in Northampton were unbelievable and there will be three times that amount this weekend.

"It's so exciting and it's such a privilege to have that support."