Women’s Six Nations preview

Why should we expect this? Because it will be less than seven months from a record-breaking Women’s Rugby World Cup that spotlighted the women’s game like never before.

The tournament in England broke all records. According to recent reports released by World Rugby, a total of 444,465 tickets were sold, making it the most attended Women’s Rugby World Cup in history and tripling the turnout of the previous edition with 92% of all tickets sold across the tournament.

The final at Twickenham drew a record-breaking 81,885 fans which was a new world record for a women’s rugby match and was the second most attended Rugby World Cup final of all time, across both men’s and women’s events.

I was lucky enough to be at that World Cup final between England and Canada, which the Red Roses won 33-13, and the atmosphere was truly incredible. And sitting close by us was England men’s captain Maro Itoje supporting the Red Roses which was great to see. And it was also an unusual sight to see ticket touts outside the stadium and fake merchandise which are all traditionally byproducts of the popularity of the men’s game.

But what does it all mean through the gaze of Irish rugby?

One lasting image for me from that World Cup was the utter devastation and heartbreak on the faces of the Ireland players after their 18-13 defeat to France in their quarter-final at Sandy Park, Exeter. The game was played in monsoon-like conditions in the first half in particular but when Ireland led 13-0 at half-time it was hard not to get giddy about the possibility that history could be in the making with an Irish team winning a knock-out game at a World Cup for the first time ever.

But it wasn’t to be. I spoke with Aoife Wafer a few months later before she was named the Rugby Writers of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year and she said at the time that she didn’t know if she’d ever get over that disappointment.  

We’ve seen with Six Nations in the past that there can be an initial sense of a World Cup hangover - think of the Ireland men’s team in 2024 after they lost their quarter-final at the 2023 World Cup and the start of a whole new four-year cycle again. But remember how well Andy Farrell managed that with Ireland winning their first game of the ’24 championship against France in Marseilles and the team going on to win the title.

This new cycle for the Ireland women’s team comes with a real optimism. Despite the disappointing finish, the close of last year’s World Cup didn’t feel like the end of something in the women’s game, it felt very much like the beginning of something.

Erin King will take over as Ireland captain, and what a deserved boost for her after the disappointment of missing out on England because of injury. Just imagine how fired up she is going to be! She definitely has a star quality about her and has the kind of qualities on the pitch that her team-mates will want to follow.

What Ireland will look to do in this Women’s Six Nations is to further close the gap on England and France. Last year’s Six Nations finished in a disappointing manner for them with that defeat to Scotland in Edinburgh on the final day – they were cursed with injuries that day – but they still managed to finish third in the table despite winning just two games. This year their aim should be to win all three of their home games and the big away game for me is their test with France in round three in Clermont. Ireland will scent revenge for that game and the way they’ve been closing the gap on them in recent years should give them plenty of confidence.

There will be no-easing in for Ireland in this Women’s Six Nations. It will be the opposite as they open against the Red Roses in Twickenham on Saturday, April 11.

Rewind to the men’s Six Nations in 2004. Back then, England were crowned World Cup champions the previous year but in their first home game of that 2004 Six Nations Ireland pulled off a stunning upset by beating them 19-13 at Twickenham.

Now, we’re not expecting the Ireland women’s team to repeat that but they will want to make it a tricky day for the Red Roses compared to the last time they played them there in 2024 when they lost 88-10. That was a tough day.

Ireland’s three home games are spread throughout the country. Galway will host its first ever Women’s Six Nations game when Ireland host Italy at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday, April 18 and the championship will finish with back-to-back home games in Belfast and Dublin. Wales are the visitors to Affidea Stadium on Saturday, May 9 before Scotland come to the Aviva Stadium on the final weekend on Sunday, May 17 with over 15,000 tickets already sold for the first ever standalone women’s match at the home of Irish Rugby.

If you want another taste of the Six Nations, another edition is fast coming around.