Ireland captain Niamh Briggs has been ruled out of the Women's Rugby World Cup through injury.
The experienced full-back had recovered from the hamstring injury that had ruled her out of the Six Nations.
But she has suffered a fresh injury to her Achilles in training. Louise Galvin replaces her in the squad.
“Ireland Women's Head Coach Tom Tierney said: "Both the players and management are really disappointed for Niamh as everyone has seen the incredible work and effort she's put in over the last number of months in an attempt to get herself right for this tournament.
“For her to have recovered well from her hamstring injury and then suffer a new injury is really unfortunate for her, as everyone knows how much she was looking forward to leading the team in the World Cup.”
Briggs took over the captaincy of the Ireland Women’s team at the beginning of the 2014/15 campaign and guided Ireland to the Six Nations title in 2015.
She missed Ireland’s entire defense with a hamstring injury, the Munster player has made 57 appearances for Ireland.
