Ireland Women begin the WXV Global Series at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday, with the USA providing the first test of an autumn that will take the squad from Dublin to Galway, Cork and Cape Town.
Kick-off is at 1.45pm. Tallaght will host a Women's Test for the first time.
A new competition starts at home
The WXV Global Series puts 12 leading women's national sides into a home-and-away, cross-regional schedule across September and October. Ireland have five matches in their programme, beginning with the USA before Japan arrive at Galway's Dexcom Stadium on 27 September.
A second match against Japan follows at Virgin Media Park on 3 October. Ireland then travel to Cape Town for two Tests against South Africa on 24 and 31 October.
That makes Sunday more than an opening fixture. It is the start of a properly demanding run, played across four venues and against three different opponents.
Tallaght gets its rugby occasion
There is a nice bit of occasion about the setting. A new international competition needs a sense of arrival, and a first Women's Test at Tallaght gives the day one.
Ireland will want the place busy early. The match is an opportunity to bring a home international to a Dublin ground that has not previously staged one, then send the team into the rest of the series with a result behind them.
World Rugby's latest WXV update lists Ireland and the USA among the sides beginning their Global Series campaigns this weekend. The wider schedule gives the match real context. There is no gentle opening act here.
The weeks ahead
The immediate task is the USA. After that, the calendar moves fast. Japan provide the next two fixtures in Galway and Cork, before the two-match trip to South Africa closes the programme.
For Ireland, the value of the series will be found in those connected weeks rather than one isolated Sunday. Tallaght is where the run begins.
Reporting: Irish Rugby, World Rugby