Bemand aims for Ireland to excite in back-to-back home Six Nations games

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand wants his team to make an impact in their back-to-back home fixtures that conclude the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

For the next two weekends Ireland will host matches in Belfast and Dublin, starting with this weekend’s Round 4 visit from Wales at Affidea Stadium.

A week later Ireland are set to play their first ever standalone fixture at Aviva Stadium against Scotland. Over 26,000 tickets have already been sold for the fixture.

“The next two games in Ireland are massive for us,” Bemand said. “So for me, these next two games, starting with Wales, are big moments for us.

“Not just to beat Wales in Ireland – we want to win our three home games, of course we do – but to actually to put a performance out there, a performance that we can go, ‘yeah, actually we’re moving’, and a performance that people can get on the back of.”

Ireland are currently fourth in the Women’s Six Nations table having only registered one win from their match-ups against England, Italy and France.

Ahead of the fallow week Bemand’s side lost their Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 quarter-final with France 26-7 at Clermont’s Stade Marcel-Michelin.

A new face on the bench

To contend with Wales’ strong forwards pack Bemand has named a 6:2 split on the bench. The majority of Wales’ tries have come from their driving maul so far this Women’s Six Nations.

Ireland will hope that the heft of Neve Jones, Sadhbh McGrath, Eilís Cahill, Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan and Grace Moore can nullify the lineout threat.

There is also a place among the replacements for Trailfinders Women back Niamh Gallagher. Capable of playing across the midfield and at full-back, Gallagher has impressed with her performances in Premiership Women’s Rugby for Barney Maddison’s team.

Still aged just 20, she will be the fourth player to make her Ireland debut this Women’s Six Nations after Cahill, Katie Whelan and Robyn O’Connor.

“Niamh came in, we had a calibration camp in January,” Bemand said. “She’d been part of the, part of the 20s, 21s. She played against Italy for the 21s, when we played them [in Galway].

“And to be honest, she’s been training the house down. So we’ve known about her for a good while. She’s been a regular addition for Ealing [Trailfinders Women].

“She’s got a really rounded skillset, like she can kick the ball a mile. I was saying to a couple of the media personnel over in France, she was goal kicking from the halfway line. So we don’t see that very often in the women’s space.

“So she’s got a load of capability. And what we we’ve been looking to do is give her a chance to show it on the international stage. And she’s more than earned the crack.”