Anna Caplice column: 'Improving ticket sales underline growth of the game in Ireland'

Attendance records broken, milestones achieved, scintillating tries, heart stopping moments, tournament-ending injuries, runaway France, revived Wales, and a healthy scoreline for Ireland versus the world champs – that was the story of round one of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations 2026.

Last September, 81,885 fans piled into Twickenham to watch the Red Roses lift the World Cup trophy on home soil. Six months later, just under 5,000 shy of that showed up for the opening round of the Six Nations. That crowd of 77,120 is now the new Six Nations record and a fantastic milestone to reach straight out of the traps. Although other unions are showing much more ambition to fill stadia for women’s fixtures – the Red Roses is a brand that is leading the way both on and off the pitch.

In Ireland’s case we are starting small and growing each week. Now, when I say small, I actually mean big. Over 7,000 tickets have already been sold to welcome Italy at the spang new Dexcom Stadium at the Sportsgrounds in Galway. If they surpass 7,754 mark it will be a new record for a home Ireland game, but that is already set to be smashed on May 17th with 20,000 tickets already sold for the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. While welcoming Wales to the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast in between gives Ireland another opportunity to get fans in seats.

Fixture

Womens Six Nations

Ireland Women

09:40

18 Apr 26

Italy Women

All Stats and Data

Some day, and I’m hoping in the very near future, I won’t have to dedicate a paragraph or two to the significance of attendances at women’s rugby matches, but for now it remains a key part to the story of the growth of the game. As much as it makes it so much harder for me to find my friends at the games, it’s a wonderful development and we must ensure that the trajectory continues.

While we push for things to expand off the field, the on-field action needs to match that energy. It was a huge ask for Ireland to open this year’s ticket with an almost full house at Twickenham versus an England side who has delivered nothing other than a thrashing to Ireland over the last decade.

Although it was a creaky start for both sides, there were some decent moments of entertainment for the spectators and a scoreline that you wouldn’t bat an eyelid at on a normal weekend of rugby. Ireland scored two tries in the second half, the first time they have managed to do so in 11 years. It finished 33-12 which is not too dissimilar to what the men’s team were able to poke out in Paris in round one of their campaign which finished 36-14. Let’s not forget that Ireland were in it to win it right up until the very last kick of the entire tournament.

Taking that second half momentum into this weekend versus Italy, I think that Galway is going to be a cracker. Italy also had a tough first outing, visiting France in Grenoble where a reinvigorated French side took them down 40-7. Italy, however, had an impressive defensive showing at times and have a few lethal players that Ireland will have to earmark and contain. They made France work very hard for anything at all in the first half but were not able to contain their defensive connection into the later stages.

Replacements Stevanin and Buso teamed up for a beautiful cross-field kick and try to get on the scoresheet right before the final whistle. Probably a useful warning for Ireland that Italy will look to use that space in the Sportsground if it’s left unattended.

Round one of any tournament is always a cagey affair, but for round two the engines have been oiled, and the cards are on the table. With a few quiet days out in London last week there will be some very hungry appetites for more work in a green jersey this weekend.

While the unions have to be credited for finally giving the women’s game the platform it deserves, the players themselves are doing just as much to engage fans and get bums in seats. Fans absolutely adore the insight into the lives of the players that is being delivered so expertly by so many in the women’s game. If you’ve always wanted to know what a professional player gets up to in training or in their free time that window is open for you to see.

It’s something that players of the men’s game never had to deal with and are therefore now significantly behind their female counterparts. The rise of social media alongside the rise of women’s sport has been exploited brilliantly – and I suggest that if you don’t know where to start – flick open your TikTok and get your tickets.