Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRELAND V ITALY, 2014. Think back to that Six Nations weekend, and the first images that spring to mind probably involve Brian O’Driscoll, be it the large poster of the iconic centre floating across the Aviva Stadium pitch or indeed, the trio of beautiful passes which led to tries in a 46-7 win in his last home game for Ireland.
Without a doubt, it was O’Driscoll’s day, with his send-off utterly overshadowing a notable milestone which followed later in the evening. As O’Driscoll left the pitch with his teammates and most of the stands emptied, around 6,000 supporters stayed around to watch the first-ever Ireland Women’s international played at the ground.
A historic fixture and a strong crowd, but the sight of tens of thousands flooding out before kick-off wasn’t the symbolism anyone would want to associate with the occasion.
Twelve years later, the Ireland Women are heading back to Lansdowne Road and this time, not only are they the main attraction, they’ve generated a crowd that warrants hosting the game at the home of Irish Rugby. This is no token event; it’s a sign of the growing popularity of Scott Bemand’s team.
As of Monday, ticket sales had passed the 28,000 mark, and the hope is that 30,000 will be smashed by the end of the week.
It will be a new experience for this group, but it is no one-off. This squad has been getting used to the bigger stages as interest in the women’s game continues to surge.
Some of Bemand’s players have come through the Sevens system, where the 2024 Olympics brought them to knockout rugby in the Stade de France.
But the growth of the 15s game has also hit new levels over recent years.
Last year’s World Cup in England generated record crowds, and it was incredible to see so many Irish fans swarming around Brighton before over 30,000 supporters took in their pool game against New Zealand at the Amex Stadium.
Fast-forward to this year, and Ireland were the visitors as England drew a record attendance of 77,120 to Twickenham for their Six Nations opener.
The records have continued to break across this Six Nations. A crowd of 9,206 in Galway for the visit of Italy marked the highest attendance for a women’s home fixture in Ireland. A few weeks later, they’ll triple that in Dublin.
On the pitch, the ambition is that Ireland make the most of the occasion by delivering their third home win of the campaign, and with it, secure their place as the competition’s third-best team behind England and France.
Off the pitch, the hope is that this is the start of another new chapter for the women’s game in Ireland.
Such a crowd would have been utterly unthinkable just a few years ago.
As recently as 2023, Ireland’s Six Nations campaign ended with the wooden spoon. This followed the demoralising low of 2021′s World Cup play-offs in Parma, soon followed by a group of 62 current and former players writing to the Irish government to express their loss of faith in the IRFU.
By the time Bemand came on board in 2023, Ireland were playing in the lowly ranks of the WXV3, where games against Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain largely went under the radar, even as they went on to win the Dubai-based tournament.
During these troubling times, the crowds for Ireland home games remained relatively healthy, as the squad bounced between Dublin, Belfast and Cork for their home fixtures, often landing between 3-6,000.
Naturally, an upturn in form put more bums on seats.
Bemand’s first home game, against Italy in 2024, attracted a record crowd of 6,605 to the RDS. The previous record of 6,113 had been set at the same venue against Wales two years previously. When Ireland lost 49-5 to England in Cork last year, the bar had pushed out again to 7,754.
A year later, the interest has soared into new territory.
The reasons for this are varied. Of course, it helps that Ireland are properly competitive again, with 2024′s WXV1 defeat of New Zealand proving a spur for the current squad. It’s no coincidence the first pro contracts for women’s rugby players in Ireland were introduced in 2022, and as more unions get their ducks in order, the general quality of rugby being played across the board has been moving in the right direction.
In Aoife Wafer, Ireland have a genuine world-class talent, while the likes of Beibhinn Parsons and captain Erin King are stars within the sport.
There are also personalities in the group, and this proves a huge part of the appeal. This writer felt his years covering the 2025 World Cup, waiting at the back of the line for good old-fashioned written interviews as the players were pulled between video spots for TikTok, Instagram, podcasts and whatever other form of new media you can think of.
If you know about ‘the fleece’, then you are one of the ones in the loop.
@annamcgann6 Job done @Eve Higgins ☘️ 😂 #irishrugby #womensrugby #rugbyworldcup #fleeces #releasethefleece ♬ original sound - will bottone
Led by Anna McGann and Eve Higgins on TikTok, videos showcasing an IRFU fleece generated huge interest and led to the item being released for general sale, and quickly selling out. Don Draper might be turning in his grave, but Canterbury could hardly have envisioned such an effective campaign coming from the players.
It’s hard to stress just how much attention this generated on the ground at the World Cup, and if it sounds a bit trivial, well, the knock-on effect is clear.
For a new generation, the players who become popular on TikTok are the players young fans want to go see live. Head along on Sunday and note how young the crowd is. As with any Ireland women’s game, that number will be comfortably larger than you’d see at a men’s international.
This encourages young girls and boys to follow the team and, hopefully, take up the sport themselves. That power is not lost on the players counting down the days to their milestone match at the Aviva this weekend.
One Ireland player has heard of 190 supporters being bussed down from Navan Rugby Club this weekend. There are surely similar plans being formed all around the country, and that forms part of the players’ motivations this week.
“It just shows the trajectory of the game and how the game’s going,” captain Erin King told The 42 on Monday, “and it’s getting more entertaining.
“Some of the athletic performances that are being put out there are outstanding and we do it at the end of the day to see the young girls and the young boys at the games, and when we ask them who their favourite players are, (and) they say it’s people on our team, that’s so inspiring.
“I think a few years ago that wouldn’t have been the case, it probably would have been more men’s players as role models, so the fact that we are people’s role models these days is really nice and it shows the way the game’s going.”
As part of the ceremonies around Sunday’s fixture, many of the trailblazing 2014 Ireland squad have been invited to the Aviva Stadium to receive their caps.
Those players laid the foundations before the women’s game lost its way here. The current group has helped revitalise the sport, and if they continue on this trajectory, then Sunday will be just the latest step to becoming a more central part of the Irish sporting landscape.
Written by Ciarán Kennedy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say