Reilly and Shiels get ready to take on the All-Blacks

This week Meath rugby duo Jackie Shiels and Marie Louise Reilly are preparing to take on the All-Blacks at the UCD Bowl on Sunday, 2.0. 

The Irish rugby team tackle the famed New Zealanders as part of the November series of games - and the two Royal County players could feature.

At the time of writing the team has not been announced but it is expected that Reilly will start in her customary position of lock forward while Shiels will be on the bench and could to be called to play her part at some stage.

Shiels from Navan came on as a substitute as Ireland lost out 7-48 to Canada last weekend while Reilly played a few weeks ago in the 10-12 defeat to England, also at UCD.

Reilly - who is from Summerhill and has 44 caps to her name - played her part as Ireland shocked the All-Blacks 17-14 in the Rugby World Cup in France and she and her colleagues will be looking to do the same this Sunday.

Shiels will be in line to win her 20th cap against New Zealand. She came against Canada and was asked to play in the full-back position although she normally lines out as a centre. 

Recently she returned from 10 years teaching in London, in a school close to Twickenham the home of English rugby, to take up a post at St Michael's, Loreto in Navan.

Earlier this year Shiels played for Ireland in a Six Nations game against England in the stadium and she's now on a mission to secure a place on the Irish squad for the Women's Rugby World Cup which will be played in this country in 2017.

Even though the last World Cup was played in 2014 it was moved forward a year to ensure it will be played next summer. 

'I'm want to make sure I'm doing all I can to secure a place in the squad for the World Cup over the next five months or so,' she said.

Shiels was on the bench when Ireland defeated the All-Blacks in New Zealand but she played a big part in securing a 40-5 victory over Kazakhstan in that competition.

Ireland were subsequently defeated by England in the sem-finals and ended up in fourth place following a defeat to France in the third/fourth place play-off.

Earlier this year Shiels also helped her club in England, Richmond, to a league and cup double. She is now registered with Old Belvedere in Dublin. 

Reilly was part of the Irish team that claimed an historic Grand Slam in 2013. Both Shiels and Reilly were involved in helping Ireland clinch the Six Nations Championship in 2015.