Ireland scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly says she is “grateful” to be back in Scott Bemand’s squad as she aims to put her injury woes behind her and play a significant part in the forthcoming WXV series.

The Irish number nine missed this year’s Women’s Six Nations tournament after breaking her fibula and has also battled back from ACL injuries to her left and right legs which she suffered in the space of nine months.

She is part of the Ireland squad which is preparing for home matches against the United States at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on 20 September and with Japan on 27 September and 3 October at the Dexcom Stadium in Galway and Virgin Media Park in Cork respectively.

The Irish team will then travel for two games against South Africa in late October.

“It’s good to be back. I’m feeling good and fully fit now and I’m just so glad to be fit and healthy coming into this competition,” Reilly told BBC Sport NI’s Nicola McCarthy.

“You can’t let yourself get too low, especially if you want to come back and keep firing.

“To have matches like this to come back to keeps me motivated. Keeping injury-free for the rest of my career would be great.

“It’s really tough when you’re away from it and it makes you more grateful when you get to come back in and hopefully put on an Ireland jersey again. It’s a really exciting couple of months ahead.”

The 25-year-old is thrilled by the prospect of facing teams from around the globe.

“It’s really cool to play against teams from different parts of the world. We’ve got USA, Japan and South Africa.

“All different styles so really exciting for us. They are teams we don’t come across often so when we do it’s always a good battle.

“They are all very unique so it’s really testing. We’ll have to have a different gameplan going into each game.”

Playing at Tallaght Stadium will represent a first for the Ireland team, although the Republic of Ireland soccer team have often played at the venue.

“It’s great to be playing at Tallaght Stadium for the first time. The Irish soccer team have kind of made that stadium their own so it’ll be great to play there and hopefully attract some soccer fans as well maybe.

“Dublin is very accessible too so hopefully there will be a big fanbase there.

“Every time we play I think we attract new fans and that’s always growing so it’s really important for us to have home games and people supporting us.

“Hopefully if they come and enjoy it they’ll come back again.”

The prospect of facing South Africa is one that excites Reilly.

“South Africa are obviously one of the biggest rugby nations in the world so getting the opportunity to play there will be unbelievable,” she added.

“They’re an amazing outfit and they made it to the World Cup quarter-finals too, so it will be a great battle.”