Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney said that talking to her fiancee and England scrum-half Claudia MacDonald "hasn't been much different" before Saturday's Women's Six Nations encounter.
Moloney is named among Ireland's replacements for the game in Cork, while MacDonald has not made England's matchday squad, scuppering the couple's chances of playing against each other on the pitch for the first time.
The 31-year-old said that they have been keen to steer their phone call conversations away from the build-up to the game as they attempt to navigate being on opposite sides after being team-mates at Wasps and now at Exeter Chiefs.
"It's funny we wouldn't talk much about team stuff anyway, it hasn't been much different this week because we don't share the technical detail but it's exciting, probably challenging, too," she said.
"I don't know what it will be like because I have never done this before. We have been together seven years through lots of different circumstances, but we have never come up against each other because of injuries."
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'Hopefully we are both happy and healthy'
With their wedding set for May, soon after the conclusion of the tournament, Moloney says that the mood between her and MacDonald should "hopefully be fine" after the full-time whistle.
"It depends on how it goes, hopefully we are both happy and healthy," she added.
"I think it is going to be a really competitive game, there will be a different feeling no matter what the result, but there would be different things that we would see as success with Ireland and I'm sure it's the same for England."
Moloney will start on the bench as she has done for the previous two games against France and Italy due to Niamh O'Dowd's impressive displays.
Despite the competition between the two players, Moloney says that they get on "quite well" together even if they are different types of hookers.
"We are slightly different players, but we work really well together and that is a theme across the group, it is a whole group effort, not starters versus finishers," she continued.
"Niamh would agree she is more of a defensive player, but I am more of an attacking hooker, there are areas we are similar in, but the main difference is she loves defence.
"Her tackle stats are through the roof, and she plays like a seven, I am more of a breakdown or attacking hooker."
