That 31,294 raised the Aviva Stadium roof on Sunday afternoon because their team delivered in their first standalone game at the Dublin venue is a testament to the steep trajectory Ireland have taken under head coach Scott Bemand from the dark days of back-to-back wooden spoons in this championship in 2022 and 23. This victory, forged on the back of a powerhouse first-half, 47-0 demolition of an injury-stricken Scotland side, made it three in a Six Nations campaign for the first time since 2020, and
there has been frustration that away losses to England and France in rounds one and three, while not unexpected, felt like ones that got away. Even on Sunday, after Erin King lifted the Siobhan Cattigan Trophy, introduced to this fixture for the first time this year in honour of the Scotland back-row who died at the age of 26 five years ago, Bemand tempered his pride in a campaign neatly negotiated with a sense he is still waiting for a complete 80-minute performance. Yet as
campaigns go, this has undoubtedly been a step forward, with more lessons learned, greater growth, a deepening squad and a new benchmark set as Ireland turn towards their next tournament, the new WXV Global Series in September and October. “We’ve always been quite open, and we want to keep the momentum going. We want to keep growing the wave,” Bemand said. “So, we’ve been able to achieve that both on and off the pitch. We’ve got our three home wins, which we haven’t won three
games in this competition for a good while, even predating myself. So, we’re starting to convert some performances into wins. “Results are massive. Results are everything in this game and we want to give people something to cheer. So, I think we’ve achieved that. “From what the players have experienced, and the programme has experienced, playing in front of 77,000 people at Twickenham, going to Clermont, which was one of the best rugby experiences in a partisan away sense. And then we follow it up
by having a crowd, a 16th player if you will, here at the Aviva. “We’re becoming so rich in terms of experiences that we’ve been through. Next one for us is to get out to those fast starts and keep them going longer in games. “You (could) probably argue, this game, Italy, unbelievable performances but there’s more in them as well. We’ve got new caps, we’ve got people adding into the on-pitch stuff, we’re growing our wave. I leave here with a sense that there’s
only more to come.” Sunday’s dominant performance would be quite the launching off point if that momentum continues. The biggest crowd of a weekend in Irish rugby which saw the men of Leinster, Munster and Ulster all at home on the final weekend of the URC regular season, witness the highlight of the lot of them as Ireland outpowered and outplayed their opponents with seven of their eight tries coming in a first-half blitz for which the Scots could find no answer. No.8 and player
of the match Aoife Wafer claimed two of the seven tries in the first 40 minutes. Hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and captain King scored off the back of an excellent driving maul while King’s fellow flanker Brittany Hogan also scored her first of two tries, one in each half, from close range as Ireland’s forwards bossed the physical battle, in contact and at set-piece. There was also finesse out wide as rookie wing Robyn O’Connor and full-back Stacey Flood showed great footwork and changes of pace
to claim their tries, all to the delight of an enthusiastic and committed crowd that delivered a joyful atmosphere on a day of bright sunshine mixed with spells of heavy rain. It should have been a whitewash; Ireland’s replacement forward Ruth Campbell’s time-added on yellow card opening the gate to allow the Scots to save their blushes with a maul try of their own. Yet for a first campaign in a new World Cup cycle the future for Ireland looks incredibly bright, a belief endorsed
by the 22-year-old captain. “I think we’ve got a really good thing going and all the clocks are turning and we all work really well, and we’ve got a great system going,” King said. “The losses are tough, but we’ve got invaluable lessons from that game in Twickenham and that game in Clermont. They’re amazing experiences. “And for such a young crew to keep building these experiences, by the time it’s the next World Cup, we’re going to have three or four years of incredible
occasions under our belt and high-pressure situations that you can’t get anywhere else. “It shows how close-knit this team is and how honest we are with each other.” IRELAND: S Flood; B Parsons (N Gallagher, 60), A Dalton, E Higgins, R O’Connor (V Elmes Kinlan, 49); D O’Brien, E Lane (K Whelan, 60); E Perry (S McGrath, 49), C Moloney-MacDonald (N Jones, 49), L Djougang (E Cahill, 49); S Monaghan (D Wall, 49), F Tuite (R Campbell, 49); B Hogan, E King – captain, A
Wafer. Yellow card: R Campbell 83. SCOTLAND: C Rollie (C Grant, 55); R Lloyd, R Philipps, M Smith (L Scott, 4 – HIA), S Campbell (M Poolman, 73); H Nelson – captain, L Brebner-Holden (R Clarke, 63); L Bartlett (D Swann, 55), E Martin (A Sutcliffe, 55), E Clarke; E Wassell, L McMillan (H Cunningham, 67); B Boyd (H Bogan, 51), E Donaldson, E Coubrough. Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (France).
Ireland Women's Rugby, Six Nations, Scott Bemand, Aviva Stadium, Erin King, Aoife Wafer, Women's Rugby