Ireland Women will get their first taste of 2025 Six Nations action when they open their campaign against France in Belfast. The Irish finished third in last year’s competition, which was vitally important for them as it secured World Cup qualification.
Now, the nation’s eyes will be on Ireland Women to see if they can achieve a victory at the Kingspan Stadium against the French. Doing so would inject tremendous promise into the rest of the campaign, and signify that the women in green have taken further strides forward.
Ireland Women vs France Women match details
Ireland Women vs France Women is the opening fixture of the 2025 W6N and it’s going to be an amazing game at the popular Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. The match has a 13:00 GMT kick-off on Saturday 22nd March, and officiating the fixture will be Scotland’s Hollie Davidson.
Located in Greater Belfast, the Kingspan Stadium (also known as Ravenhill to locals) is the home of Ulster and has been the scene of plenty of top rugby action and drama during its time. Opened back in 1923, the Kingspan, with its iconic arch serving as the venue’s gateway, has a lot of history.
Occasionally, it has also operated as an international stadium, and has held fixtures in previous Rugby World Cups. However, the Kingspan is now known as one of the main stadiums used by Ireland Women, and the venue has a capacity of just over 18,000 thanks to the opening of a new stand a decade ago.
Kingspan delivers drama
During last year’s W6N, the Kingspan Stadium hosted a tense clash between Ireland and Scotland. This was a crucial encounter in what was not only a battle for third place in the final standings, but also for the final World Cup 2025 spot that was available, with England and France having already qualified.
It was a match that Ireland Women had to win to overtake the Scots for that precious third place, but it was the visitors who struck first, scoring the opening try of the game in the eighth minute. It wasn’t until the second half that Ireland got their first points on the board with a try through Katie Corrigan, before Scotland responded with another of their own just eight minutes later.
However, Ireland Women again found a way back into the game, with Cliodhna Moloney touching down for a converted try. This left things tensely in the balance at 12-12 with the game getting deep into the final 10 minutes. The tie would have been enough for Scotland to hold down third place in the standings, but there was one final twist.
Scotland Women coughed up a penalty for not rolling away from the tackle and Ireland took their chance. Dannah O’Brien sent the subsequent kick between the posts to put her side into the lead for the first time in the match. Ireland Women hung on to claim a 15-12 victory.
Even more remarkable about the result was that it completed an astonishing turnaround for Ireland Women, who had finished bottom of the 2023 W6N without recording a single point. Now, the Kingspan gets straight back into W6N hosting action for Ireland Women’s first game of the season, which is also the curtain-raiser for the new championship.
More Ireland vs France drama?
There was plenty of drama in the men’s 2025 Six Nations when France paid a visit to the Aviva Stadium in Round 4. The match was billed as the 2025 Six Nations title decider, with Ireland knowing that they would have one hand on the trophy with a victory.
After taking the lead in the second half of the match, and with France’s superstar Antoine Dupont off the field, Simon Easterby’s men had a chance of something big. But instead, it was the French who turned on the afterburners, running in four second-half tries to post what was for them a record 43 points away against Ireland in the Six Nations championship.
It was a thrilling performance from France, who moved to the top of the standings with the victory and bonus point. This left them in full control of the title chase heading into the final round of action, leaving Ireland with only a slim chance of lifting the trophy and writing themselves into the history books as the first men’s team to win three consecutive Six Nations Crowns.
If anything, perhaps Ireland Women will look to that tough result at the Aviva Stadium and see a chance of claiming some revenge for the Emerald Isle against France.
Perfect timing – World Cup 2025 preparation
This year’s W6N has a major sub-context to it, because 2025 is the Women’s Rugby World Cup year. So, there is extra incentive for the players to try to hit top form, to work their way into contention for a role in Ireland Women’s World Cup squad.
Ireland have landed in Pool C for the tournament and will be going up against New Zealand, Japan and Spain. Given the relative world rankings of the teams, New Zealand’s Black Ferns are favourites to win the group. However, Ireland have a very good chance of progressing to the knockouts with them, as the top two will go through.
Ireland Women begin their World Cup campaign on 24th August against Japan in Northampton, where they will also face Spain on 31st August, before rounding off the pool stage action against New Zealand on 7th September in Brighton.
So, the timing of this year’s W6N has huge importance as it’s the only competitive action that Ireland Women will have before the autumn. From the W6N, head coach Scott Bemand will have a good picture of which players he will want in the World Cup squad, and performances in the Six Nations could go a long way to dictating who actually makes the starting line-up.
Irish players to watch for 2025
Ireland Women have been working with a 40-player squad ahead of the 2025 Women’s Six Nations Championship. Of those, there are eight uncapped players, as Bemand potentially opens the door for the likes of Celtic Challenge standout performers Jane Clohessy, Alma Atagamen, Jane Neill and Beth Buttimer. Sophie Barrett, who was named the Women’s Summer Series MVP, has also been called up to the training squad.
In those squad selections, the head coach has taken a close look at the development of future talent, because besides Atagemen, who was one of the top Ireland performers in the Women’s U18 Six Nations Festival, all the others impressed for Ireland Women’s U20 side last season.
Rugby Sevens internationals Amy Larn, Caitríona Finn and Katie Heffernan have been called into the squad. So, there is a lot of variety and versatility in the squad, but more likely than not, the starting XV that Bemand will send out at the Kingspan Stadium to face France will be as strong and experienced as possible.
In terms of experience, Ireland will unfortunately be missing Sam Monaghan for the opening round of 2025 W6N action, as last season’s co-captain has been ruled out due to an injury. Experienced faces such as Linda Djougang, Béibhinn Parsons, Enya Breen and Neve Jones are back with the international set-up.
Ireland Women’s head-to-head record against France Women
France Women have had the upper hand over the Irish, as nine of the last 10 meetings between the two nations have gone the way of Les Bleues. Ireland Women’s only victory over France happened in the 2017 Six Nations, when they scored a narrow 13-10 home victory.
No meeting between the two sides has been as close as that since. In fact, Ireland Women have suffered some heavy losses against the French. In last season’s competition, they lost 17-38 in France, but it was the first time in five meetings that they had kept Les Bleues to under 40 points on the scoreboard.
France Women have won the last half-dozen Six Nations clashes by at least 21 points, with their biggest margin of victory being a 53-3 win in 2023. Their largest tally of match points against the Irish came in a 56-15 win in 2021.
Ireland vs France last five Six Nations results
- 2024 France 38-17 Ireland
- 2023 Ireland 3-53 France
- 2022 France 40-5 Ireland
- 2021 Ireland 15-56 France
- 2019 Ireland 17-47 France
Ireland Women’s history in the W6N
Ireland are currently ranked sixth in the world, but two of the teams ranked higher are France and the reigning Six Nations champions, England. So, winning the 2025 W6N title is going to be a big ask for Ireland Women. However, after the success of last season, they can look at this as an opportunity to try to close the gap a little further to the big two.
Ireland have met France a total of 32 times before in all competition formats, and hold just a W3 D1 L28 record against them. Of all the teams they have played at least five times, they only hold a worse win percentage record against England.
In the Six Nations, Ireland Women have entered 27 times and have claimed two titles, the only other team besides England and France to have won it more than once. Those Six Nations Championship wins happened in 2013 (Grand Slam) and in 2015, with Ireland scoring the Triple Crown in both of those title runs.
Ireland Women vs France Women W6N prediction
Despite holding home advantage in Belfast, Ireland Women are match underdogs and that is down to the might of France. The French scored 152 points in last season’s Women’s Six Nations, compared to 99 by Ireland.
France have a very powerful pack and they are dangerous around the fringes. Les Bleues have deep quality throughout their ranks, such as Pauline Bourdon Sansus, Kelly Arbey and Teani Feleu.
There is strength all over the pitch for the French, who have proven time and time again that they can run up big scores when they cut loose. However, as this is the opener of the campaign, and on the road, they may just be a little more cautious.
The French won’t want to risk an early slip-up in their ultimate pursuit of beating favourites England to the title. So, will this open the door a bit for Ireland Women? Will they be able to hit their opponents hard and fast from the start to put some pressure on the French in Belfast?
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