Donegal women Nora Stapleton and Larissa Muldoon have been named in the Ireland team for this evening's Women's Rugby World Cup opener against Australia.

Tournament hosts Ireland host Australia at the UCD Bowl.

Donegal duo Stapleton and Muldoon, who have 86 caps between them, will lead an exciting back-line.

Stapleton hails from Fahan while Muldoon is from Ballybofey. This will be Stapleton’s third World Cup with Muldoon to make her second appearance at the World Cup.

Head coach Tom Tierney has made four personnel changes and two positional switches.

Looking forward to launching Ireland’s WRWC 2017 campaign, Tierney said: “The squad are very excited to get the tournament underway.

“They’ve had excellent preparation and things have really come together since arriving into UCD on Saturday afternoon and everyone’s been extremely focused on their role and the challenge ahead.

“The Australians are a good team and we’ll have to be very good for the opening game. The players are all very clear on the challenges that the Wallaroos pose

“However, this is a home World Cup and we’re confident that the crowd will get behind us tomorrow evening, which will be an added benefit for us, and we’re all looking forward to getting the tournament up and running.”

This evening’s opening Pool C game between Ireland and Australia will be broadcast live on television in the Republic of Ireland by eir Sport 1 and RTÉ Two, and in the UK by ITV 4. RTÉ 2fm will have live commentary on radio. There will be live streaming available on www.rwcwomens.com in selected regions.