Captain Tyson Beukeboom says Canada are wary of a “young talented back row” on the Ireland team as the sides prepared to meet in their second WXV1 clash.

The lock was speaking before Scott Bemand named his team last night and the Ealing Trailfinders forward was referring to Aoife Wafer, although the 21-year-old Wexford woman didn’t get a name-check.

Wafer, who grabbed a brace and was named player of the match in the win over New Zealand, starts at 6, and is joined on the other flank by Erin King, who scored two tries against the Black Ferns.

She replaces injured captain Edel McMahon. Brittany Hogan continues at 8.

“I think they’ve got a young talented back row that we are obviously going to be looking out for,” Beukeboom told RTÉ Sport.

“She’s looking to get on that ball and take it from us. It’s going to be our challenge to keep her away from it.

“She’s an attack threat, she’s a defence threat.”

Canada began their campaign with an impressive 46-24 seven-try win over France last weekend and have made five changes to their line-up for Saturday night’s game

Five of the match-day squad were part of their Sevens team at the Olympics where they reached the final, while Ireland’s starting team includes five of their Paris party.

“They’ve got their Sevens girls coming in, who are going to inject pace and a little bit of creativity to their game,” added 33-year-old Beukeboom (above), who will win her 70th cap.

“We are going to be challenged to close that down and keep them at bay.”

Head coach Kevin Rouet says his side are excited about a first meeting with Ireland since 2016 and impressed with their shock victory over the Black Ferns.

“I think it’s good for the competition, it’s great that they won,” he said. “We expect a very good team and we are well prepared and excited.

“I’m very impressed with Ireland at the moment. I respect Ireland. We know what it’s like to be an underdog in a competition.

“Even if we beat France we know we have to respect Ireland and we are prepared to play against Ireland for sure.

“They are well drilled team and it’s going to be two different styles of play clashing on the field and that’s good, I guess.”