SCOTT BEMAND SAID that securing qualification for next year’s World Cup in England is something that could have a transformative effect for women’s rugby within Ireland.

Part of the English set-up when they reached RWC deciders in 2017 and 2021, Bemand will be returning to his native land in 2025 as the head coach of the Ireland women thanks to their 15-12 victory over Scotland at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast this afternoon. Coupled with an agonising defeat for a fancied Italian side away to Wales in Saturday’s earlier kick-off, the win saw Ireland claim third spot in the final standings for the 2024 Six Nations Championship.

Ireland had entered this tournament knowing that finishing this high would see them returning to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2017, and Dannah O’Brien’s 74th minute penalty – in front of a record crowd of 7,468 for a standalone Women’s Six Nations game on these shores – ultimately helped them to achieve this objective.

“I think there’s a bigger piece actually than just the confidence of the group,” Bemand said.

“We know where we’re heading now. We’ve got a World Cup to go and prepare for. There’s some bits we need to tidy up on, of course. We need to keep growing our game and the game doesn’t sit still long.

“You can’t just base it on trying to kick people into a corner and get what you get out of that, but there’s so much potential within the group. It changes a lot of things. There’s a lot of these girls have never been to a World Cup.

“There’s a lot of supporters out there that are now taking an interest in the game, that have never been able to support Irish women in a World Cup. We’re seeing it with crowds, they’ve grown. We’ve got an amazing opportunity now for these girls to show the influence they can have on the younger generations and people playing rugby.”

In addition to World Cup qualification, this third-place finish also means Ireland have been promoted to the top-tier for the second season of the WXV tournament – which is set to take place between 27 September and 13 October later this year.

This is a significant leap forward for Ireland when you consider that their winless run through the 2023 Six Nations saw them taking part in WXV 3 last autumn – albeit they triumphed in that particular tier of the tournament with consecutive wins at the expense of Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain.

While their Championship rivals Wales struggled to make an impact in last year’s edition of WXV 1, Bemand welcomes the opportunity for his squad to test themselves against some of the best nations in international women’s rugby.

“We’ve always said we want to try and learn faster than anybody else. This is a great opportunity to pitch ourselves against New Zealand, Canada, Australia, if that’s how it rolls out as last year,” Bemand added.

“It’s a great opportunity for us and we’ll try and learn as fast as we can. Take as many moments from it to propel us into a World Cup. A lot of this opposition we wouldn’t have played recently, so it gives us an opportunity to pitch ourselves against people that we could meet in England 2025.”

Sitting beside Bemand during a post-match press conference in Kingspan was Ireland’s precocious right-winger Katie Corrigan. Still just 18 years of age, the Wicklow native scored an international try for the third home game in succession.

It proved to be a crucial effort as it finally got the hosts up and running in the opening minute of the second half after they had trailed 5-0 at the interval in Belfast. Considering she is still very much in the infancy of her international career – her Ireland senior debut came against France in the opening round of this year’s Six Nations – Corrigan is thrilled to already have a World Cup campaign to look forward to.

“Obviously it has been such a rollercoaster between starting the AIL, then doing the Celtic Challenge. Doing the Six Nations and then qualifying for the World Cup. It couldn’t get any better. It’s crazy and it’s so nice to get to do it with the girls. It’s such a lovely group. I’m so happy and proud of the group,” Corrigan said.

Daire Walsh