AFTER THE MILESTONE days of the 2026 Six Nations, the Ireland women are set for a rather more low-key start to their WXV Global Series campaign on Sunday.
Scott Bemand’s team are on new ground, heading to Tallaght for their opening clash with the US Eagles [KO 1.45pm,TG4 Player/TG4 YouTube], but there will be no record-breaking crowds, with ticket sales pushing toward 3,000 late in the week.
There is further disappointment in the fact the game is not available on free-to-air TV, with TG4 instead providing live coverage on both their player and YouTube channels. This is not the ideal way to build on the surge of momentum evident when the squad attracted a bumper crowd of 31,000 to the Aviva Stadium back in May.
But then again, the newer, more wordy WXV Global Series doesn’t hold the same prestige as the Six Nations. All that matters now is getting the performances on the pitch, and using this window to keep the interest up ahead of the bigger days that await down the line.
Bemand already has the 2029 World Cup on his mind. Hand out new caps now, and those players could be pushing toward 30 caps by the time that tournament rolls around.
With that in mind, his intention is to sprinkle in some fresh faces across this block of fixtures, while still leaning on the more established core of his squad.
Scott Bemand speaking to the media during the week. Bryan Keane
Bryan Keane
First up, that opportunity lands with 20-year-old flanker Jemima Adams Verling, who found out she was playing after hearing the roars erupt from her room on a walk through the team hotel.
“We’ve got to blood talent and get to become like a tournament team,” says Bemand.
“You never try to go mass swaps in and mass swaps out, (because) basically everyone leaves a bit disappointed. So we’re going to select pretty strong, but we’re going to drip feed in over games.
“So Jemima gets to go in the back row with two world-class operators (Erin King and Aoife Wafer) inside of her. It gives her every chance to succeed, so that’ll be interesting.
“She’s been grafting away, she’s been part of the centralised program here now for just under a year, and it’s a bit of credence really, going, well, look what we can achieve with a player physically, technically, tactically.”
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Connacht’s Jemima Adams Verling wins her first cap. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
While this is Adams Verling’s first cap, the Connacht back row is no stranger to the system, having trained with the squad during the Six Nations and playing with/against many of her Ireland teammates through interpros and Celtic Challenge games.
“She has had so many experiences, I think she was the highest-minute player for the Celtic Challenge last year, so she’s stacks of minutes, has learned to become robust. It’s interesting to see what can she’ll do. She’s got a bit about her, you wouldn’t put a score past her.”
At the other end of the scale sits a spine of nailed-on starters, including King, Wafer, out-half Dannah O’Brien and centre Aoife Dalton, to name but a few. As much as Bemand wants to push the next generation through, there’s also a focus on lifting those more experienced internationals to the next level. After all, this is a team who have designs on cracking the top-two of the Six Nations and climbing the world rankings (Ireland are currently fifth).
“We’ve spoken about it. We’ve had a couple of games, namely the last two French games – the could-have, would-have, should-have, and we’ll get more luck in games the more we can stick in there. That’s a fact.
“So we’ve had some bits that we can say, the ball hasn’t bounced our way, there’s a refereeing call. That happens, so what we keep doing is, that group is understanding more and more how to control games, how to play in different weathers, different environments.
“There’s a core of backs that have got a bit of experience and have come through together, their skill sets are increasing all the time. So is it going to be a question of just relying on Dannah’s boot? Absolutely not.
“We’ve got the hook into people now, it’s a bit interesting coming to watch Ireland, ‘what are they going to do?’ Well, we’ve got a couple of games that we can go on now. We’ll play, we’ll kick, we’ll counter-attack, we’ll push. We’ll score more and more.
“We’ve shown that our performances are on the cusp of getting some quite significant victories,” he adds.
“But we’ve got to do it from the front, and we’ve got to become reasonably un-Irish and do it as the favourites, I’d say.
“But that’s all right. Learning to perform with that expectation is becoming a good tournament team. It’s not all about world rankings, but I think we’ve closed the gap on what you would perceive as a top four, and we’re going to start taking lumps out of that lot now.”
Following Sunday’s game, Ireland will play Japan twice (with the second of those games outside the WXV window) before a two-game tour to South Africa.
Sam Monaghan and Beibhinn Parsons are unavailable through injury, with Monaghan ruled out for the whole window, while the visitors arrive without social media and Olympic superstar Ilona Maher.
The US Eagles, ranked eighth, are in something of a transition, working under Skerries man Jack Hanratty since the turn of the year. Still finding their feet under a new head coach who has big hopes for the future of this squad, the Eagles’ 2026 has taken in games against New Zealand (loss), Australia (win), Canada (loss), and a two-game trip to South Africa, losing the first Test 34-12 before coming back to win the second 26-19.
Skerries man Jack Hanratty coaches the US team. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“I get along very well with Scott, I think he’s doing a wonderful job and he’s created a team that’s very hard to beat, quite obviously,” says Hanratty.
“I thought they were excellent in the World Cup, but you could see it coming. They’ve got world-class players and it’s not as if you’re looking for who’s playing. Our athletes know who they are because of their performances, not just because of analysis.
“There were interviews this week with players like Erin King and Aoife Wafer, saying they want to be world-class. Everyone can say that, but I think realistically there’s a bit of belief there.
“We know we’re the underdogs, they’ve got players that can shove it on their left foot to pin us down in a corner, their centre partnership is working very well and they’ve got unbelievable go-forward players in the two I just mentioned.
“They’re playing a good brand of rugby, and they’re very hungry to steal the ball, so if we don’t look after number one there, we’ll struggle and we’ll have a long day.
“We have to front up in the front line of both attack and defence, meeting momentum with momentum is kind of a line that we’ve said here, and that’ll be a massive one for us on Sunday.
“This is a huge challenge, we know we’re underdogs, but sometimes you don’t mind that title.”
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Ireland women challenged to be more 'un-Irish' as latest chapter kicks-off with Tallaght Test
AFTER THE MILESTONE days of the 2026 Six Nations, the Ireland women are set for a rather more low-key start to their WXV Global Series campaign on Sunday.
Scott Bemand’s team are on new ground, heading to Tallaght for their opening clash with the US Eagles [KO 1.45pm,TG4 Player/TG4 YouTube], but there will be no record-breaking crowds, with ticket sales pushing toward 3,000 late in the week.
There is further disappointment in the fact the game is not available on free-to-air TV, with TG4 instead providing live coverage on both their player and YouTube channels. This is not the ideal way to build on the surge of momentum evident when the squad attracted a bumper crowd of 31,000 to the Aviva Stadium back in May.
But then again, the newer, more wordy WXV Global Series doesn’t hold the same prestige as the Six Nations. All that matters now is getting the performances on the pitch, and using this window to keep the interest up ahead of the bigger days that await down the line.
Bemand already has the 2029 World Cup on his mind. Hand out new caps now, and those players could be pushing toward 30 caps by the time that tournament rolls around.
With that in mind, his intention is to sprinkle in some fresh faces across this block of fixtures, while still leaning on the more established core of his squad.
First up, that opportunity lands with 20-year-old flanker Jemima Adams Verling, who found out she was playing after hearing the roars erupt from her room on a walk through the team hotel.
“We’ve got to blood talent and get to become like a tournament team,” says Bemand.
“You never try to go mass swaps in and mass swaps out, (because) basically everyone leaves a bit disappointed. So we’re going to select pretty strong, but we’re going to drip feed in over games.
“So Jemima gets to go in the back row with two world-class operators (Erin King and Aoife Wafer) inside of her. It gives her every chance to succeed, so that’ll be interesting.
“She’s been grafting away, she’s been part of the centralised program here now for just under a year, and it’s a bit of credence really, going, well, look what we can achieve with a player physically, technically, tactically.”
While this is Adams Verling’s first cap, the Connacht back row is no stranger to the system, having trained with the squad during the Six Nations and playing with/against many of her Ireland teammates through interpros and Celtic Challenge games.
“She has had so many experiences, I think she was the highest-minute player for the Celtic Challenge last year, so she’s stacks of minutes, has learned to become robust. It’s interesting to see what can she’ll do. She’s got a bit about her, you wouldn’t put a score past her.”
At the other end of the scale sits a spine of nailed-on starters, including King, Wafer, out-half Dannah O’Brien and centre Aoife Dalton, to name but a few. As much as Bemand wants to push the next generation through, there’s also a focus on lifting those more experienced internationals to the next level. After all, this is a team who have designs on cracking the top-two of the Six Nations and climbing the world rankings (Ireland are currently fifth).
“We’ve spoken about it. We’ve had a couple of games, namely the last two French games – the could-have, would-have, should-have, and we’ll get more luck in games the more we can stick in there. That’s a fact.
“So we’ve had some bits that we can say, the ball hasn’t bounced our way, there’s a refereeing call. That happens, so what we keep doing is, that group is understanding more and more how to control games, how to play in different weathers, different environments.
“There’s a core of backs that have got a bit of experience and have come through together, their skill sets are increasing all the time. So is it going to be a question of just relying on Dannah’s boot? Absolutely not.
“We’ve got the hook into people now, it’s a bit interesting coming to watch Ireland, ‘what are they going to do?’ Well, we’ve got a couple of games that we can go on now. We’ll play, we’ll kick, we’ll counter-attack, we’ll push. We’ll score more and more.
“We’ve shown that our performances are on the cusp of getting some quite significant victories,” he adds.
“But that’s all right. Learning to perform with that expectation is becoming a good tournament team. It’s not all about world rankings, but I think we’ve closed the gap on what you would perceive as a top four, and we’re going to start taking lumps out of that lot now.”
Following Sunday’s game, Ireland will play Japan twice (with the second of those games outside the WXV window) before a two-game tour to South Africa.
Sam Monaghan and Beibhinn Parsons are unavailable through injury, with Monaghan ruled out for the whole window, while the visitors arrive without social media and Olympic superstar Ilona Maher.
The US Eagles, ranked eighth, are in something of a transition, working under Skerries man Jack Hanratty since the turn of the year. Still finding their feet under a new head coach who has big hopes for the future of this squad, the Eagles’ 2026 has taken in games against New Zealand (loss), Australia (win), Canada (loss), and a two-game trip to South Africa, losing the first Test 34-12 before coming back to win the second 26-19.
“I get along very well with Scott, I think he’s doing a wonderful job and he’s created a team that’s very hard to beat, quite obviously,” says Hanratty.
“I thought they were excellent in the World Cup, but you could see it coming. They’ve got world-class players and it’s not as if you’re looking for who’s playing. Our athletes know who they are because of their performances, not just because of analysis.
“We know we’re the underdogs, they’ve got players that can shove it on their left foot to pin us down in a corner, their centre partnership is working very well and they’ve got unbelievable go-forward players in the two I just mentioned.
“They’re playing a good brand of rugby, and they’re very hungry to steal the ball, so if we don’t look after number one there, we’ll struggle and we’ll have a long day.
“We have to front up in the front line of both attack and defence, meeting momentum with momentum is kind of a line that we’ve said here, and that’ll be a massive one for us on Sunday.
“This is a huge challenge, we know we’re underdogs, but sometimes you don’t mind that title.”
IRELAND: Stacey Flood; Robyn O’Connor, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Niamh O’Dowd, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite-O’Sullivan; Jemima Adams Verling, Erin King (capt), Aoife Wafer.
Replacements: Neve Jones, Sadhbh McGrath, Eilís Cahill, Jane Clohessy, Brittany Hogan, Aoibheann Reilly, Anna McGann, Niamh Gallagher.
US EAGLES: Kayla Canett; Telesi Uhatafe, Tessa Hann, Emily Henrich, Erica Coulibaly; Bella Vogel, Abigail Paton; Hope Rogers, Kathryn Treder, Mae Sagapolu; Hallie Taufoou, Rachel Ehrecke; Hann Humphreys, Georgie Perris-Redding (co-capt), Freda Tafuna.
Replacements: Alivia Leatherman, Chloe Hill-Huse, Reece Woods, Erica Jarrell-Searcy (co-capt), Kapoina Bailey, Kate Zackary, Cassidy Bargell, Nina Mason.
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