IRELAND AREN’T PLAYING for a title, but this Sunday’s clash with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium promises to be a special occasion.
The final-round Women’s Six Nations sees Ireland host their first-ever standalone game at the Dublin venue, with more than 26,000 tickets sold by late last week.
That will make it the biggest home crowd ever for an Ireland Women’s game, smashing the record of 9,206 that was set just last month against Italy at Galway’s Dexcom Stadium.
Ireland have played at the Aviva before, when they took on Italy after the men’s game there in 2014, but the reality is that most punters who had watched the men’s match left after that.
This weekend, the huge crowd will all be there to see the women’s team play.
“Now we can really look forward to it,” said Ireland captain Erin King after last weekend’s 33-12 win over Wales in Belfast.
“We talk about enjoying our rugby and enjoying the build-up to that game. I think we really deserve it. We’ve been growing in this tournament in the last few years. I think this is where the game is and where we should be playing.
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“Hopefully, we’ll sell loads of tickets. We’ve said openly that we do want to win them three home games, and we haven’t done that in a while. Performance first for us.
“If we go and get that win, it will make it all the sweeter. Our heads turn to Scotland now, and putting in a big performance against them.”
Not only will Ireland be eager to finish this Six Nations on a big high with their best performance yet, but they’ll also be motivated to put on a show with so many people attending.
This team have played in front of some big crowds, including a record Women’s Six Nations crowd of 77,120 at Twickenham last month, but there should be lots of emotion involved on Saturday.
Ireland boss Scott Bemand said his side won’t shy away from that.
“You’ve got to feed off the energy, haven’t you?” said Bemand.
“I think it’s our first opportunity to play a standalone game there. The experiences that we’ve had in this competition, and even in the World Cup, where you look at Brighton and how many green shirts there were in the crowd, it’s something that I think the group feed off now.
“Maybe a couple of years ago it was a bit daunting, that many people watching and what have you, but now I just see it as being the 16th person on the pitch with you.
“And hopefully, like I say, we get our performance right and we work hard back at the HPC, which we always do, and we get the best performance out there and then we get people talking about it.”
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'This is where we should be playing' - Ireland set for historic day at Aviva
IRELAND AREN’T PLAYING for a title, but this Sunday’s clash with Scotland at the Aviva Stadium promises to be a special occasion.
The final-round Women’s Six Nations sees Ireland host their first-ever standalone game at the Dublin venue, with more than 26,000 tickets sold by late last week.
That will make it the biggest home crowd ever for an Ireland Women’s game, smashing the record of 9,206 that was set just last month against Italy at Galway’s Dexcom Stadium.
Ireland have played at the Aviva before, when they took on Italy after the men’s game there in 2014, but the reality is that most punters who had watched the men’s match left after that.
This weekend, the huge crowd will all be there to see the women’s team play.
“Now we can really look forward to it,” said Ireland captain Erin King after last weekend’s 33-12 win over Wales in Belfast.
“We talk about enjoying our rugby and enjoying the build-up to that game. I think we really deserve it. We’ve been growing in this tournament in the last few years. I think this is where the game is and where we should be playing.
“Hopefully, we’ll sell loads of tickets. We’ve said openly that we do want to win them three home games, and we haven’t done that in a while. Performance first for us.
“If we go and get that win, it will make it all the sweeter. Our heads turn to Scotland now, and putting in a big performance against them.”
Not only will Ireland be eager to finish this Six Nations on a big high with their best performance yet, but they’ll also be motivated to put on a show with so many people attending.
This team have played in front of some big crowds, including a record Women’s Six Nations crowd of 77,120 at Twickenham last month, but there should be lots of emotion involved on Saturday.
Ireland boss Scott Bemand said his side won’t shy away from that.
“You’ve got to feed off the energy, haven’t you?” said Bemand.
“I think it’s our first opportunity to play a standalone game there. The experiences that we’ve had in this competition, and even in the World Cup, where you look at Brighton and how many green shirts there were in the crowd, it’s something that I think the group feed off now.
“Maybe a couple of years ago it was a bit daunting, that many people watching and what have you, but now I just see it as being the 16th person on the pitch with you.
“And hopefully, like I say, we get our performance right and we work hard back at the HPC, which we always do, and we get the best performance out there and then we get people talking about it.”
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Erin King hosts Ireland Scott Bemand Women's Six Nations