| Ireland | |
| Type: | Women |
| Badge: | Irish rugby union textlogo.svg |
| Bage Size: | 150 |
| Emblem: | Shamrock |
| Union: | Irish Rugby Football Union |
| Coach: | Scott Bemand |
| Captain: | Edel McMahon Sam Monaghan |
| Home Stadium: | Virgin Media Park RDS Arena Kingspan Stadium |
| Pattern La1: | _thinwhiteborder |
| Pattern B1: | _whitecollar |
| Pattern Ra1: | _thinwhiteborder |
| Pattern So1: | _whitetop |
| Leftarm1: | 00845C |
| Body1: | 00845C |
| Rightarm1: | 00845C |
| Shorts1: | ffffff |
| Socks1: | 00845C |
| Pattern La2: | _thinblackborder |
| Pattern B2: | _claretcollar |
| Pattern Ra2: | _thinblackborder |
| Pattern So2: | _blacktop |
| Leftarm2: | 86205B |
| Body2: | 4C223A |
| Rightarm2: | 86205B |
| Shorts2: | 000000 |
| Socks2: | 86205B |
| World Rugby Rank: | 6 |
| World Rugby Rank Date: | 28 October 2024 |
| First Game: | 10–0 (Edinburgh, Scotland; 14 February 1993) |
| Largest Win: | 109–0 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 13 October 2023) |
| Largest Loss: | 79–0 (Worcester, England; 17 February 2002) |
| World Cup Apps: | 7 (First in 1994) |
| World Cup Best: | Fourth, 2014 |
| Website: | www.irishrugby.ie |
| World Rugby Max: | 2 |
| World Rugby Max Date: | 11 August 2014 |
| World Rugby Min: | 9 |
| World Rugby Min Year: | 2024 |
The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Women's European Championship. Ireland won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. In 2013 they also achieved both a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. They finished fourth in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the pool stages. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. The team was originally organised by the Irish Women's Rugby Football Union. However, since 2009, it has been organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union.
The Irish Women's Rugby Football Union was established in 1991.[1] Ireland made their international debut on 14 February 1993 with an away friendly against . This was also Scotland's first international. The match was played at Raeburn Place in front of a crowd of over 1,000. The Ireland team was coached by Alain Rolland while the Scotland coaches included Sandy Carmichael. Scotland won 10–0 with two tries from their captain, Sandra Colamartino. Ireland's first captain was Jill Henderson. A year later, on 13 February 1994, Ireland made their home international debut when a return match was played at Ravenhill. This time Scotland won 5–0.[2] [3] [4] In 2001 the IWRFU became affiliated to the Irish Rugby Football Union, in 2008 it effectively merged with the IRFU and since 2009 the IRFU has managed the women's national team.[1] [4] [5]
Ireland have competed in every Women's Rugby World Cup since making their debut in the second tournament in 1994. They made their World Cup debut on 13 April 1994 with an 18–5 win against a Scottish Students XV. This was also Ireland's first competitive match in any competition.
Ireland's best performance at a World Cup tournament came in 2014 when they finished fourth after defeating New Zealand and winning Pool B. After defeating the United States 23–17 in their opening pool game, Ireland faced New Zealand, the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup winners in their second game. With tries from Heather O'Brien and Alison Miller and two conversions and a penalty from Niamh Briggs, Ireland defeated New Zealand 17–14. It was just the second match New Zealand had lost in a World Cup tournament. It was the first time the Ireland women had played New Zealand and they became only the second Irish team, after Munster in 1978, to defeat a New Zealand national rugby union team.[6] [7] [8] The result has been described as "one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history".[9] Ireland subsequently qualified for the semi-finals with a 40–5 win against Kazakhstan.[10] [11] Ireland eventually finished fourth in the tournament after losing 18–25 to in the third place play-off.[12]
They failed to qualify for the 2022 Rugby World Cup, after ending in third place of the qualifying round of September 2021 in Italy.
Ireland made their debut in the Women's Six Nations Championship, then known as the Women's Home Nations Championship, in the inaugural 1996 competition. They played their first game against on 21 January 1996.[2] During the 1990s and early 2000s, Ireland never challenged for the championship. They regularly finished in the wooden spoon position at the bottom of the table. Before winning their first championship in 2013, the highest position they ever finished in the competition was third. They did not enter in 2000 and 2001 and were replaced by . When Ireland returned in 2002, the competition became known as the Six Nations for the first time. In 2002 Ireland also suffered their biggest ever defeat when they lost 79–0 to . Ireland won their first Six Nations match in 2005 when they defeated 11–6.[1] Ireland defeated Scotland for the first time on 10 March 2007 with an 18–6 win at Meggetland.[2] In 2009 Ireland defeated France for the first time.[13]
Ireland won their first championship in 2013, winning both a Triple Crown and a Grand Slam at the same time. In their opening match of the campaign, Ireland beat 12–10. Then on 9 February 2013 they defeated for the first time. Alison Miller scored a hat-trick of tries as Ireland won 25–0. On 23 February 2013 they clinched their first Triple Crown with a 30–3 win against Scotland.[14] [15] [16] On 8 March 2013 Ireland effectively won the championship after they defeated France 15–10. It was confirmed the following day after failed to defeat England.[17] [18] Ireland eventually finished four points clear of runners-up France.[19] Ireland secured the Grand Slam with a 6–3 away win against Italy on Saint Patrick's Day. Two penalties from Niamh Briggs gave Ireland their fifth win in a row.[19] [20] [21]
In 2015, Ireland won their second championship and second Triple Crown in three years. They won the championship on points difference over France, after both teams had won four of their five matches. Ireland had to win their final game, against Scotland, by a margin of 27 points or more to win the title and achieved this with a 73–3 win. The result is also Ireland's biggest ever win.[22] [23] [24]
Ireland has also competed in the FIRA Women's European Championship. They first played in the tournament in 1997. Their best performance in this tournament was a third-place finish in 2008. In 2004 they won the Plate competition after defeating 20–12 in the final.
On 17 September 2024, Ireland announced their 30-player squad for the WXV 1 competition in Canada.[25] [26]
The following Ireland players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[27] [28]
| width=40 align=center | Year | width=150 | Nominees | width=150 | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Niamh Briggs | align=center rowspan=2 | — | ||
| 2015 | Sophie Spence | ||||
| width=40 align=center | Year | width=150 | Nominees | width=150 | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Erin King | Erin King | |||
| width=40 | Year | width=40 | width=150 | Players | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6. | Aoife Wafer | |||
The following Ireland players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020:[29] [30] [31]
| width=40 rowspan=2 | Year | Forwards | Backs | width=40 rowspan=2 | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=40 | width=170 | Players | width=40 | width=170 | Players | |||
| align=center rowspan=3 | 2022 | 1. | Linda Djougang | align=center rowspan=3 | 13. | Eve Higgins | align=center rowspan=3 | 4 |
| 2. | Neve Jones | |||||||
| 5. | Sam Monaghan | |||||||
| 2023 | align=center colspan=4 | — | 0 | |||||
| align=center rowspan=2 | 2024 | 2. | Neve Jones (2) | align=center rowspan=2 colspan=2 | — | align=center rowspan=2 | 2 | |
| 6. | Aoife Wafer | |||||||
| width=40 | Year | width=170 | Nominees | width=170 | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Aoife Wafer | — | |||
See List of Ireland women's national rugby union team matches
| Against | First game | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | % | ||
| 2002 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.00% | ||
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | ||
| 1996 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 30 | % | ||
| 1993 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 28 | % | ||
| 1997 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | ||
| 1997 | 23 | 19 | 0 | 4 | % | ||
| 1994 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | % | ||
| 1998 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | % | ||
| 1998 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | ||
| 2014 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67% | ||
| 2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00% | ||
| 1993 | 33 | 16 | 0 | 17 | % | ||
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | ||
| 1997 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | % | ||
| 1994 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | % | ||
| 1996 | 31 | 14 | 0 | 17 | % | ||
| Total | 1993 | 206 | 85 | 1 | 120 | % |
| Coach | Years |
|---|---|
| 1993 | |
| Johnnie Neary | 1998 |
| 2003–2006 | |
| John O'Sullivan | 2006–2008 |
| Steven Hennessy | 2009–2010 |
| Kevin West | 2010–2012 |
| 2012–2014 | |
| 2014–2017 | |
| Adam Griggs[33] [34] | 2017–2021 |
| Greg McWilliams[35] [36] | 2021–2023 |
| Scott Bemand[37] | 2023– |