Megan Frazer returns to Ireland women's squad for South Africa trip
- Published
Megan Frazer has been troubled by a knee injury over the past couple of seasons
Fit-again Megan Frazer returns to the Ireland women's squad for their trip to South Africa while uncapped Ellie McLoughlin has also been included.
Frazer has been bothered by a knee injury for a number of seasons and missed the Olympic play-off victory over Canada in November.
The injury ruled out Frazer of the World Cup final defeat by the Netherlands in 2018.
Naomi Carroll and Ali Meeke both return to the squad.
Like Frazer, Carroll has been troubled by injury in recent times while Meeke was not involved in the play-off against Canada.
Chloe Watkins is not included after undergoing minor surgery recently.
Sean Dancer's squad will travel to Durban in late March and will have games against the hosts, China and Japan in an eight-match tour.
The Irish squad were originally scheduled to travel to Malaysia but concerns over the coronavirus led to a change of plan.
"This will be an important period for us, not just for team performance but also exposure to humid conditions," said Dancer.
"We are looking forward to seeing Megan Frazer return to competition after a long rehab period, and the addition of uncapped Ellie McLoughlin in our environment."
Ireland women will be playing in the Olympics for the first time.
They beat Canada in a penalty shootout after both legs in November's play-off in Dublin ended 0-0.
In Japan, Ireland's first match is against South Africa on 25 July and their other group opponents will be Germany, Great Britain, India, South Africa and world and European champions, the Netherlands.
Ireland squad: A McFerran (Ulster), R Upton (Munster), N Evans (Leinster), K Mullan capt (Ulster), S McCay (Ulster), M Frazer (Ulster), E Tice (Leinster), G Pinder (Leinster), B Barr (Ulster), L Colvin (Ulster), N Daly (Ulster), H Matthew (Leinster), S Hawkshaw (Leinster), A O'Flanagan vice-capt (Leinster), Z Wilson (Ulster), E Curran (Leinster), A Meeke (Leinster), E McLoughlin (Leinster), H McLoughlin (Leinster), S Torrans (Leinster), N Carroll (Munster)