HAVING OPENED THE scoring for Ireland yesterday on an historic occasion at the Aviva Stadium, Robyn O’Connor has an exam today as part of her business management degree at the Technological University Dublin.
The 20-year-old wing is not the only member of this Ireland Women’s squad who has been working hard for her end-of-year exams in college at the same time as helping the national team to finish the Six Nations strongly.
This is just one illustration of how young this Irish group is. And this is why they feel that there is much more to come in the years ahead.
“I guess that just sums it up,” said Ireland captain Erin King after yesterday’s 54-5 win against Scotland. King, who is in her first campaign as skipper, is only 22.
“There’s a lot of girls that are doing other things, really young. Our squad is so young, which is so exciting. The likes of Dannah O’Brien and Aoife Dalton, they’re 22 and 23. Robyn is only 20. Some of our star players are so young, even Aoife Wafer [23].
“It’s so exciting that we have got all these years ahead of us to get better and keep growing. We all love playing together, which is great as well. We’re so lucky to have such talent coming through.
“There’s even more people that I got to play with in the Celtic Challenge that you haven’t seen yet. Women’s rugby in Ireland is in a really good place and it is only going up.”
At half time yesterday, the Ireland U18s and Ireland U21s did a lap of the pitch and received a warm reception in recognition of their recent exploits.
The U18s beat England, Scotland, and Italy at their Six Nations Festival, while the U21s won against Italy and Wales, as well as recording an impressive victory away to England. Clearly, there is lots more talent to come through.
Those youngsters will have their work cut out to break into Scott Bemand’s senior squad in the coming years, though.
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23-year-old Ireland centre Aoife Dalton. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland have just finished third in the Six Nations with three wins, their best performance since 2020. This comes on the back of narrowly missing out on a World Cup semi-final last year.
Yesterday’s hammering of Scotland was a sweet way to finish their campaign, yet this ambitious group will still be disappointed that they lost away to England and France in this championship.
It has always been the case that Ireland have been disappointed to lose to those traditional powerhouses, of course, but now it stings more because the Irish players have genuine ambitions of beating them. They certainly feel like they could have upset the French if they’d been more clinical in Clermont-Ferrand last month.
Expectations have changed. The young Irish players arriving in this set-up now are of a high calibre. They’ve come through the performance pathway that is the IRFU’s Women’s National Talent Squad. They get excellent support in S&C, nutrition, and everything else that feeds into being a top-end rugby player.
And they have a winning mindset. O’Connor, who has been outstanding in her debut campaign with Ireland, is a case in point.
The Wexford woman appeared to be completely unfazed by any of it, including the crowd of 31,294 people in Dublin yesterday. It was the combative left wing who opened the scoring for Ireland in their eight-try win over Scotland, as well as dominating collisions, and setting Wafer up for a score.
O’Connor is clearly not surprised to be beating Ireland’s Celtic cousins.
Bemand, Ireland’s head coach, has seen a mindset shift in Irish players over the last few years.
“It is probably highlighted by the level of disappointment after the France game,” he said. “We said we didn’t want to be plucky losers, and we’re not operating in that space anymore.
“I like the little bit of expectation we place on ourselves. I think people said that we appeared confident… we should be, we should be confident.”
Ireland captain King is another example of a player who aims to compete with and beat the very best.
She initially starred in 7s for Ireland but has been a roaring success in 15s since switching after the 2024 Olympics. It’s easy to forget that she had barely played 15s rugby before the autumn of 2024. Now she’s a world-class back row and the Ireland captain.
“We’ve probably discovered some sort of superstar captain who embodies what we want to become, leads from the front, passion, wears it on her sleeve,” said Bemand.
“This is the first time Erin’s done this role, and I would say five games in, she’s becoming massively accomplished already.”
Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald was also among the try-scorers yesterday.
At 32, she is among the senior players in the squad. Moloney-MacDonald has been there in very different times for Ireland, and not that long ago. She was part of the Irish side that failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Infamously, Moloney-MacDonald voiced her displeasure about the Irish set-up at that time, and she was jettisoned from the squad for a couple of seasons after that. But she has returned as an experienced operator in a group full of youth.
She sees how the new wave of Irish internationals expect to win in front of big crowds.
“This is normal for them,” said Moloney-MacDonald. “They’ve played in Twickenham [in front of 77,000 people]. They played in Clermont in France, which was fantastic. To be fair, the French really know how to turn up for rugby.
“I mean, I can’t wait to see what will shock them. I don’t think much!”
The next challenge for this Ireland group will be the WXV Global Series in September and October, with three games on Irish soil and two away from home, with both of those matches likely to be played in Cape Town, South Africa.
The 2027 Six Nations will involve another big home game at the Aviva Stadium against England or France. And that championship will be the final audition for Irish players hoping to secure a spot on the first-ever Lions Women’s tour to New Zealand.
Yesterday was a big one in the careers of lots of these young Irish players, but they’ll soon be thinking about bigger ones to come. This is a group with the best ahead of them.
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This is an exciting young Irish team with the best ahead of them
HAVING OPENED THE scoring for Ireland yesterday on an historic occasion at the Aviva Stadium, Robyn O’Connor has an exam today as part of her business management degree at the Technological University Dublin.
The 20-year-old wing is not the only member of this Ireland Women’s squad who has been working hard for her end-of-year exams in college at the same time as helping the national team to finish the Six Nations strongly.
This is just one illustration of how young this Irish group is. And this is why they feel that there is much more to come in the years ahead.
“I guess that just sums it up,” said Ireland captain Erin King after yesterday’s 54-5 win against Scotland. King, who is in her first campaign as skipper, is only 22.
“There’s a lot of girls that are doing other things, really young. Our squad is so young, which is so exciting. The likes of Dannah O’Brien and Aoife Dalton, they’re 22 and 23. Robyn is only 20. Some of our star players are so young, even Aoife Wafer [23].
“It’s so exciting that we have got all these years ahead of us to get better and keep growing. We all love playing together, which is great as well. We’re so lucky to have such talent coming through.
“There’s even more people that I got to play with in the Celtic Challenge that you haven’t seen yet. Women’s rugby in Ireland is in a really good place and it is only going up.”
At half time yesterday, the Ireland U18s and Ireland U21s did a lap of the pitch and received a warm reception in recognition of their recent exploits.
The U18s beat England, Scotland, and Italy at their Six Nations Festival, while the U21s won against Italy and Wales, as well as recording an impressive victory away to England. Clearly, there is lots more talent to come through.
Those youngsters will have their work cut out to break into Scott Bemand’s senior squad in the coming years, though.
Ireland have just finished third in the Six Nations with three wins, their best performance since 2020. This comes on the back of narrowly missing out on a World Cup semi-final last year.
Yesterday’s hammering of Scotland was a sweet way to finish their campaign, yet this ambitious group will still be disappointed that they lost away to England and France in this championship.
It has always been the case that Ireland have been disappointed to lose to those traditional powerhouses, of course, but now it stings more because the Irish players have genuine ambitions of beating them. They certainly feel like they could have upset the French if they’d been more clinical in Clermont-Ferrand last month.
Expectations have changed. The young Irish players arriving in this set-up now are of a high calibre. They’ve come through the performance pathway that is the IRFU’s Women’s National Talent Squad. They get excellent support in S&C, nutrition, and everything else that feeds into being a top-end rugby player.
And they have a winning mindset. O’Connor, who has been outstanding in her debut campaign with Ireland, is a case in point.
The Wexford woman appeared to be completely unfazed by any of it, including the crowd of 31,294 people in Dublin yesterday. It was the combative left wing who opened the scoring for Ireland in their eight-try win over Scotland, as well as dominating collisions, and setting Wafer up for a score.
O’Connor is clearly not surprised to be beating Ireland’s Celtic cousins.
Bemand, Ireland’s head coach, has seen a mindset shift in Irish players over the last few years.
“It is probably highlighted by the level of disappointment after the France game,” he said. “We said we didn’t want to be plucky losers, and we’re not operating in that space anymore.
“I like the little bit of expectation we place on ourselves. I think people said that we appeared confident… we should be, we should be confident.”
Ireland captain King is another example of a player who aims to compete with and beat the very best.
She initially starred in 7s for Ireland but has been a roaring success in 15s since switching after the 2024 Olympics. It’s easy to forget that she had barely played 15s rugby before the autumn of 2024. Now she’s a world-class back row and the Ireland captain.
“We’ve probably discovered some sort of superstar captain who embodies what we want to become, leads from the front, passion, wears it on her sleeve,” said Bemand.
“This is the first time Erin’s done this role, and I would say five games in, she’s becoming massively accomplished already.”
Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald was also among the try-scorers yesterday.
At 32, she is among the senior players in the squad. Moloney-MacDonald has been there in very different times for Ireland, and not that long ago. She was part of the Irish side that failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Infamously, Moloney-MacDonald voiced her displeasure about the Irish set-up at that time, and she was jettisoned from the squad for a couple of seasons after that. But she has returned as an experienced operator in a group full of youth.
She sees how the new wave of Irish internationals expect to win in front of big crowds.
“This is normal for them,” said Moloney-MacDonald. “They’ve played in Twickenham [in front of 77,000 people]. They played in Clermont in France, which was fantastic. To be fair, the French really know how to turn up for rugby.
“I mean, I can’t wait to see what will shock them. I don’t think much!”
The next challenge for this Ireland group will be the WXV Global Series in September and October, with three games on Irish soil and two away from home, with both of those matches likely to be played in Cape Town, South Africa.
The 2027 Six Nations will involve another big home game at the Aviva Stadium against England or France. And that championship will be the final audition for Irish players hoping to secure a spot on the first-ever Lions Women’s tour to New Zealand.
Yesterday was a big one in the careers of lots of these young Irish players, but they’ll soon be thinking about bigger ones to come. This is a group with the best ahead of them.
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