Following on from a loss against France last weekend, Ireland Women will look to get their W6N campaign up and running as they travel to Italy for Round 2. There are plenty of reasons for Scott Bemand’s squad to be confident, as they hold a strong win percentage against the Italians.
Ireland Women will tackle an Italian side that also suffered a defeat on the opening weekend, going down to England in their first foray of the 2025 W6N. However, with back-to-back home wins over the Irish, what threat will Le Azzurre pose to the women in green at the weekend?
Italy Women vs Ireland Women is on 30th March with a kick-off at 15:00 GMT. It is being played at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, which is located in northern Italy. Refereeing the match is Ella Goldsmith from New South Wales, Australia.
What happened in Ireland Women’s opener?
Ireland Women’s opening game of the 2025 W6N against France at the Kingspan Stadium was one of missed opportunities. After France had shattered Ireland men’s hopes of a historic third consecutive Six Nations, it was all eyes on the women to see if they could use that as fuel to defy their underdog odds and beat Les Bleues.
The first half in Belfast was a fairly even contest, as Ireland stood up well to the physical challenges of the French forwards. When France were reduced to 14 players after Gabrielle Vernier’s yellow card in the 45th minute was upgraded to a 20-minute red by the bunker, Ireland Women had a big chance to push on and record a famous victory.
However, they didn’t take advantage of the situation, and scored only five points before France were restored to 15. While they ultimately matched France by scoring three tries, Ireland Women failed to convert any of those scores. In contrast, France’s fullback Morgane Bourgeois finished the game with a 100% success rate at goal, knocking over three conversions and two penalties.
If the Irish had managed to put those conversions over, it would have put a little more pressure on the visitors. Ball-handling was another area that let Ireland Women down, as they made 31 handling errors in the match, which helped contribute to them not punishing the French when their opponents were a player short.
Despite at one point pulling to within just a couple of points of their opponents, Ireland suffered a 15-27 defeat.
Positives to look at
There were clear positives to take from the Irish performance though. Ireland had more possession and territory than the French did, and also produced almost twice as many carries as their opponents. Ireland’s total metres gained was 800 compared to 444 from their opponents.
Also, considering that France had scored at least 47 points on their three most recent visits to the Emerald Isle, it was a big step forward performance-wise from Scott Bemand’s squad, particularly in defence.
What the head-to-head records say
Ireland Women will need to be on their toes as they look to avoid falling to a three-match losing streak against the Italians. Last season on home turf, the Irish suffered a 21-27 defeat against Le Azzurre as they failed to recover from a poor first half, which ended with them having an eight-point deficit.
Despite a late flurry from the Irish with a couple of tries in the last 20 minutes, Italy held out for the victory. The result left Ireland Women’s record against Italy Women at W6 L3 in the last nine meetings. In the overall head-to-head, Ireland hold a W19 L4 record against the Italians, giving them an 82% success rate.
Italy Women vs Ireland Women last five results
- Ireland 21-27 Italy
- Italy 24-7 Ireland
- Ireland 29-8 Italy
- Ireland 25-5 Italy
- Ireland 21-7 Italy
Ireland Women’s record in Italy
Ireland Women hold a W6 L2 record in their eight previous Six Nations visits to Italy, but have fallen to back-to-back defeats on Italian soil. The first of those was a dramatic near miss back in 2019, with Ireland Women falling just short in a high-scoring 29-27 affair.
In their most recent visit in 2023, Ireland again came up short, this time by a long way as their only score in a heavy 24-7 defeat came from the awarding of a 67th-minute penalty try.
Ireland Women’s last six W6N in Italy
- Italy 24-7 Ireland
- Italy 29-27 Ireland
- Italy 3-27 Ireland
- Italy 5-30 Ireland
- Italy 3-6 Ireland
The World Cup is still on the horizon
Head coach Scott Bemand will have been pleased with aspects of his team’s performance against France, especially with the willingness to get stuck in upfront. Ireland Women are a team that are going in the right direction and they look a long way from the side that collected the 2023 W6N Wooden Spoon.
After finishing third in last year’s W6N, the challenge now is for the Irish to try to break through that third-place ceiling. Their missed opportunity against the 14 women of France was extra bitter because it was a chance for them to take a massive stride towards accomplishing that.
Bemand has spoken about wanting his team to take a few more shots in matches, and they looked strong and adventurous against the French in that area, but lacked finishing quality. Still, running in three tries against France was a notable return from them.
There’s still work to be done, of course, and the Irish did struggle in contact areas, where the French were much stronger physically. Still, overall, there were enough signs of progress in what is a World Cup year.
Ones to watch
Captain Amee-Leigh Costigan looks the right pick to carry this progressive team on her shoulders. The former sevens player was positive against France and looked to drive forward while marshalling her back line well.
Kicking was a bit of a weakness from Ireland last week, both at goal and out of hand. This is where Dannah O’Brien, who helped kick Ireland Women to victory over New Zealand in the WXVI last year, has to lead the way with the boot.
Neve Jones is the big ball-carrying leader upfront, while Erin King, the World Rugby Women’s Breakthrough Player of the Year, is one to watch as she stakes a claim for a World Cup spot. Number eight Aoife Wafer had the most carries and made the most metres in contact of any player in Round 1, and is a key element of Ireland’s competitiveness around the breakdown.
Some key stats
- Ireland have won only two of their last 11 W6N away matches (L10).
- The Irish are on a seven-match losing streak away from home, losing by an average of a 39-point margin.
- Italy Women completed more tackles and won more turnovers in Round 1 than any other team.
- Ireland successfully retained possession in 98% of their rucks in Round 1.
- Italy have lost their last three W6N home matches in a row.
- Le Azzurre have not won their first home game of a W6N campaign since 2014.
- Ireland have lost their opening two games of their last three W6N campaigns.
Italy Women vs Ireland Women – who will win?
Ireland Women’s record against Italy recently hasn’t been good. However, given their rapid rate of progress over the last 12 months or so, they look favourites for this encounter in Parma.
In Italy, they face a team that lost 38-7 against reigning champions England in their opener. They came under a lot of pressure early on but gradually were able to get some kind of foothold in the game.
Italy stuck to their defensive plan well in the 38-7 defeat, particularly in the second half, and in total managed to keep the Red Roses off the scoreboard for 38 consecutive minutes, limiting England to just five points after the break in an excellent performance that was full of heart and character.
However, this is a big opportunity for the Irish to snap this current losing streak against the Italians and get some momentum going in the 2025 W6N.
Round 2 of the 2025 W6N is here and you can follow all the latest odds at Tonybet for Ireland’s challenge in Italy, as well as for all the other games from the rest of this season’s tournament. Check out the current pre-match odds and look out for in-play updates through live betting odds.
