Ireland have had a storied history with the Women’s Rugby World Cup since their first appearance in 1994.
From the highs of fourth in the 2014 tournament – at which they became the first team to beat New Zealand at a World Cup in 23 years – to the rock-bottom of failing to qualify in 2022.
This time around, Ireland head into the tournament following a middling Six Nations and mixed results from the warm-ups (a win over Scotland followed by a loss to Canada). But aided by being that bit closer to home, Scott Bemand’s side may be able to replicate the impressive performances shown in last year’s WXV1.
Ireland are back at the World Cup. How will they fare?
What’s happening?
The Women’s Rugby World Cup takes place from August 22nd to September 27th in England, opening with the hosts against the USA.
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Games will be stage across England, with the final and bronze final to be played at Twickenham on September 27th.
What’s the format?
There’s four pools of four teams, with the top two teams from each pool proceeding to the knockout stages.
Ireland have been drawn in Group C with Japan, Spain, and New Zealand.
Bemand’s side have beaten Japan in all but one of their seven previous encounters and it’ll be expected that they’ll do so again in their opening game on August 24th.
Spain, who surprisingly thwarted Ireland’s last World Cup qualification attempt, are next up for the Girls in Green on August 31st, before the big one against New Zealand on September 7th.
Who’s included in the Irish squad?
Ireland will be glad to have got through the two warm-up games without any injuries, Scott Bemand including Edel McMahon and Aoife Wafer in his 32-player squad on Monday.
[ Ireland name one uncapped player in World Cup squadOpens in new window ]
However, they are without Dorothy Wall and 2024 World Rugby breakthrough player of the year Erin King, both out due to ACL injuries, while Christy Haney misses out on account of a hamstring injury.
The squad features two recently Irish-qualified players, Ellena Perry and Nancy McGillivray, and uncapped hooker Beth Buttimer, who impressed in the recent u20s Summer Series but who was left out for the recent warm-up games.
Can I get tickets?
Tickets remain available for Ireland’s opening two games, which will be played at Franklin’s Gardens, home of the Northampton Saints.
For the game against New Zealand, Ireland will travel south to Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium. A very limited number of resale tickets for the game are available on the official Rugby World Cup website but all first release tickets have sold out.
The two stadiums have capacities of 15,148 and 31,800 respectively, so Ireland look set to break their previous attendance record of 7,745 set in Cork during this year’s Six Nations.
How do I get there?
For the games in Northampton, the nearest airports are Birmingham and Luton, with flights from Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Shannon. Rail services operate from both Birmingham and Luton to Northampton.
For the game in Brighton, the easiest route is flying in to one of the London airports and getting the train south. From Gatwick, there’s a direct train to Brighton.
Will Ireland’s games be televised?
RTÉ will be providing live coverage of all three of Ireland’s pool games.
In terms of wider coverage, they will also televise six further pool stage games from across the tournament and nine more will be available to watch live on the RTÉ Player, making for 18 games in total.
In the knockout stages, two quarter-finals will be televised, with a third available to stream on the player, followed by the first of the semi-finals on September 19th and the final on September 27th.
Ireland Pool C schedule
Ireland v Japan: Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton. Sunday, August 24th, 12pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Ireland v Spain: Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton. Sunday, August 31st, 12pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Ireland v New Zealand: Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton Stadium, 2.45pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Knockout rounds schedule
Quarter-final 1: Sandy Park, Exeter. September 13th, 1pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Quarter-final 2: Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol. September 13th, 4pm
Quarter-final 3: Sandy Park, Exeter. September 14th, 1pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Quarter-final 4: Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol. September 14th, 4pm (Live on RTÉ Player)
Semi-final 1: Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol. September 19th, 7pm
Semi-final 2: Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol. September 20th, 3.30pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
Bronze final: Twickenham Stadium, London. September 27th, 12.30pm
Final: Twickenham Stadium, London. September 27th, 4pm (Live on RTÉ 2 & RTÉ Player)
