The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Women's European Championship. Ireland won the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual Women's rugby unio ...

s. In 2013 they also achieved both a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. They finished fourth in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup after defeating

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the pool stages. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. The team was part of the by the Irish Women's Rugby Football Union ( IWRFU) . In 2009, the women were taken on by the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

History

Early years

The Irish Women's Rugby Football Union was established in 1992. Ireland made their international debut on 14 February 1993 with an away friendly against . This was also Scotland's first international. The match was played at Raeburn Place in front of a crowd of over 1,000. The Ireland team was coached by Alain Rolland while the Scotland coaches included Sandy Carmichael. Scotland won 10–0 with two tries from their captain, Sandra Colamartino. Ireland's first captain was Jill Henderson. A year later, on 14 February 1994, Ireland made their home international debut when a return match was played at Ravenhill. This time Scotland won 5–0. In 2001 the IWRFU became affiliated to the

, in 2008 it effectively merged with the IRFU and since 2009 the IRFU has managed the women's national team.

Rugby World Cup

Ireland have competed in every Women's Rugby World Cup since making their debut in the second tournament in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. They made their World Cup debut on 13 April 1994 with an 18–5 win against a Scottish Students XV. This was also Ireland's first competitive match in any competition. Ireland's best performance at a World Cup tournament came in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

when they finished fourth after defeating

and winning

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. After defeating the

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23–17 in their opening pool game, Ireland faced New Zealand, the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup winners in their second game. With tries from Heather O'Brien and Alison Miller and two conversions and a penalty from

Niamh Briggs Niamh Briggs (born 30 September 1984) is a former Ireland women's national rugby union team, Ireland women's rugby union international. She represented Ireland at the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup squads, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup sq ...

, Ireland defeated New Zealand 17–14. It was just the second match New Zealand had lost in a World Cup tournament. It was the first time the Ireland women had played New Zealand and they became only the second Irish team, after

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

in 1978, to defeat a New Zealand national rugby union team. The result has been described as "one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history". Ireland subsequently qualified for the semi-finals with a 40–5 win against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. Ireland eventually finished fourth in the tournament after losing 18–25 to in the third place play-off. They failed to qualify for the 2022 Rugby World Cup, after ending in third place of the qualifying round of September 2021 in Italy.

Six Nations Championship

Ireland made their debut in the Women's Six Nations Championship, then known as the Women's Home Nations Championship, in the inaugural

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

competition. They played their first game against on 21 January 1996. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Ireland never challenged for the championship. They regularly finished in the

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position at the bottom of the table. Before winning their first championship in

, the highest position they ever finished in the competition was third. They did not enter in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and were replaced by . When Ireland returned in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, the competition became known as the Six Nations for the first time. In 2002 Ireland also suffered their biggest ever defeat when they lost 79–0 to . Ireland won their first Six Nations match in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

when they defeated 11–6. Ireland defeated Scotland for the first time on 10 March 2007 with an 18–6 win at Meggetland. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Ireland defeated

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for the first time. Ireland won their first championship in

, winning both a Triple Crown and a Grand Slam at the same time. In their opening match of the campaign, Ireland beat 12–10. Then on 9 February 2013 they defeated for the first time. Alison Miller scored a hat-trick of tries as Ireland won 25–0. On 23 February 2013 they clinched their first Triple Crown with a 30–3 win against Scotland. On 8 March 2013 Ireland effectively won the championship after they defeated France 15–10. It was confirmed the following day after failed to defeat England. Ireland eventually finished four points clear of runners-up France. Ireland secured the Grand Slam with a 6–3 away win against Italy on

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chris ...

. Two penalties from

gave Ireland their fifth win in a row. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, Ireland won their second championship and second Triple Crown in three years. They won the championship on points difference over France, after both teams had won four of their five matches. Ireland had to win their final game, against Scotland, by a margin of 27 points or more to win the title and achieved this with a 73–3 win. The result is also Ireland's biggest ever win.

FIRA Women's European Championship

Ireland has also competed in the FIRA Women's European Championship. They first played in the tournament in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Their best performance in this tournament was a third-place finish in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

they won the Plate competition after defeating 20–12 in the final.

Players

Current squad

Bemand announced Ireland's 40-player squad for the Women's Six Nations Championship on 11 February 2025.

Award winners

World Rugby Awards

The following Ireland players have been recognised at the

World Rugby Awards The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby (until November 2014, known as the International Rugby Board), the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in ru ...

since 2001:

Six Nations Awards

The following Ireland players have been recognised in the Women's Six Nations Awards since 2020:

Records

Overall

''See List of Ireland women's national rugby union team matches'' ;Full internationals only ''Correct as of 20 April 2025''

World Cup

Six Nations

Head coaches

Honours

* Women's Six Nations Championship **''Winners'':

* Grand Slam **''Winners'':

* Triple Crown **''Winners'':

* WXV **''WXV3 Winners'':

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* FIRA Women's European Championship Plate **''Winners'':

References

{{Women's national rugby teams European national women's rugby union teams Women's rugby union in Ireland 1993 establishments in Ireland