‘We’ve got an amazing opportunity now’ – Ireland head coach Scott Bemand’s pride at World Cup qualification

The home side in Belfast came from behind to record a 15-12 win over Scotland in a dramatic Women’s Six Nations endgame at Ravenhill.

The win meant Ireland finished third in the table to also qualify for Tier 1 of the WXV competition later this year.

Ireland trailed Scotland 0-5 at half-time at Ravenhill but produced a much-improved performance in the second half. Katie Corrigan and Clíodhna Moloney scored the tries, while Dannah O’Brien also kicked the winning penalty to help Ireland to a memorable second win of the championship.

After failing to qualify for the rescheduled World Cup two years ago, it will be Ireland’s first appearance at the global event since 2017.

"I'm really proud,” Bemand beamed after. “Pride, because the whole thing has taken a step forward. Plenty to go at. Look, we have WXV1 coming up which will come with its own challenges. We're going to have to keep learning faster and faster but we're getting there.

“We’ve got a World Cup to go and prepare for. There’s some bits we need to tidy up on, of course. We need to keep growing our game and the game doesn’t sit still long. You can’t just base it on trying to kick people into a corner and get what you get out of that, but there’s so much potential within the group. It changes a lot of things.

“There’s a lot of these girls who have never been to a World Cup. There’s a lot of supporters out there who are now taking an interest in the game, who have never been able to support Irish women in a World Cup.

"We’re seeing it with crowds, they’ve grown. We’ve had three home games, they’ve grown. We’ve got an amazing opportunity now for these girls to show the influence they can have on the younger generations and people playing rugby.”

Bemand praised the second-half comeback by the team after their half-time team talk.

“So we got back to the changing room and said, ‘no panic’, we’re fine, we’re putting ourselves in good positions and we identified things we can go and do and then we were able to come out pretty swiftly after half-time and execute and start putting points on the board,” Bemand added.

“How the girls managed to come through that first half, and it could have rattled them, and it didn’t and they came back on the front foot and what we are seeing now is a group that is stacked full of charisma and resilience whether the game is going for you or against you, they can find a way to win.”

It’s been quite the turnaround by this Ireland squad. From their bottom-placed finish in the 2023 Women’s Six Nations to third a year later. They go into Tier 1 of the WXV, where they will have to mix it with the likes of England and New Zealand.

“Good debate. We’ve always said we want to try and learn faster than anybody else. This is a great opportunity to pitch ourselves against New Zealand, Canada, Australia, if that’s how it rolls out as last year.

"It’s a great opportunity for us and we’ll try and learn as fast as we can. Take as many moments from it to propel us into a World Cup. A lot of this opposition we wouldn’t have played recently, so it gives us an opportunity to pitch ourselves against people that we could meet in England 2025.”

It's been a debut Six Nations to remember for Katie Corrigan. She scored Ireland’s first try of the day against Scotland, her third try of the championship. What’s it like to be going to a World Cup?

"Oh my god, obviously, it's been such a rollercoaster going between starting the AIL and then doing the Celtic Challenge and doing the Six Nations and then qualifying for the World Cup. It couldn't get any better,” Corrigan said. “It's crazy and it's so nice to get to do it with the girls. It's such a lovely group. I'm so happy and proud of the group.”