Women’s Six Nations: Ireland v France, Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, Saturday, 1pm – Live on Virgin Media One and BBC Two Northern Ireland
It is a measure of the huge strides made by the Irish team compared to the corresponding first round game 12 months ago in Le Havre that Scott Bemand and his players are embracing much higher expectations of themselves.
A year ago the Irish head coach spoke of firing a few shots at the French in that opening game, and succeeded to some extent with two tries in the last 10 minutes. Out of little acorns and all that. Now, having won five of their last seven games, including victories over Australia and New Zealand this season, they expect to be competitive against France and believe they can beat opponents whom Ireland have only overcome three times in 32 previous meetings.
Bemand accepts that this year is the tougher schedule, with the big two of France and England (who have finished first and second since 2017) at home whereas they are away to their Celtic and Italian rivals.
Yet in insisting they have to move their game further forward in this 2025 Six Nations, Bemand went so far as to say: “We’re hungry to close the gap on the monopoly held by England and France to a degree. They’ve always been the top two in the Six Nations for a good while.”
Recalling last year’s Six Nations, Bemand said: “We were able to spend time developing our game, becoming harder to beat, sorting our set-piece out, getting more tries on the board, scoring against France for the first time in three years, scoring against England for the first time in I don’t know how long.
“There’s little moments in games that we’ve been able to build. When we went to WXV1, we got more of those moments. We were more in games to the point that we beat a Tier One nation and secondly we were disappointed to lose to Canada.
“France are no mugs. France are a very good team, incredibly talented group. Last World Cup they were a kick away from being in the final against the Red Roses. They’re a good group but we believe we’re going to cause more problems this time. We’re going to be a harder team to beat.
“Coming out of this fixture on the weekend, this could very well be a quarter-final in a World Cup. So we want to come out of this knowing we can beat them, whether that means beating them or whether that means we’ve got the game to beat them. And by the time we get to a World Cup hopefully, it’s the next step on from whatever we achieve in this Six Nations.”
Ireland retain only seven of the starting XV from last year’s 38-17 defeat to the French, while Les Bleus also retain just seven as Gaelle Mignot and David Ortiz make six changes to the French side compared to their last outing, a 39-14 defeat to a New Zealand side which Ireland had beaten 29-17 in the WXV1 last autumn, which suggests the gap has closed further this season.
“They’ve had a relatively tough WXV1, and they said they’re reviewed hard,” said Bemand. “Bringing them to our shores gives us a great opportunity to test ourselves.”
Still, the centre partnership of Gabrielle Vernier and Nassira Konde remains intact, while inside them Carla Arbez will make her first appearance for France since November 2023 and alongside the heartbeat of their team, the 61-times capped Toulouse scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon Sansus.
Ireland perhaps exceeded expectations slightly last season with a third-place finish to secure qualification for both the WXV1 and the World Cup later this year. Although results and the schedule fell their way, they made the most of their luck and have benefited from competing against more elite teams in WXV1.
“Getting the same position again is harder to do this year,” admitted Bemand. “So, if we came third, and we win three games, we’ve done better than we did this year. We also want to stretch ourselves. We’re targeting trying to close that gap on the top two, we want to become World Cup contenders. At some point, we got to take some chunks out of a Tier One nation and for us that’s doing something against a France or an England.
With the successful reintroduction of the Sevens players, this Irish team has more firepower and more of a cutting edge than the side which lost to France a year ago. Brittany Hogan, Erin King and Aoife Wafer give them more go-forward carrying, Dannah O’Brien brings a strong kicking game and with Stacey Flood hitting the line, Amee-Leigh Costigan’s head-to-head with her French counterpart as captain and winger, Marine Menager, could be worth the admission money alone.
France have usually brought more power and pace to this fixture but Bemand is an astute user of his replacements, and has opted for a 6-2 split in the belief that the benches will go some way toward determining the outcome.
If Ireland are still in the mix at that stage, then anything is possible.
Ireland: Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC); Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC), Amee-Leigh Costigan (Railway Union RFC/Munster, capt) Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC); Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs/Munster), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC), Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster). Replacements: Cliodhna Moloney (Exeter Chiefs), Siobhán McCarthy (Worcester Warriors/Munster), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Grace Moore (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht), Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht), Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC/Munster).
France: Morgane Bourgeois (Stade Bordelais); Melissande Llorems Vignères (Blagnac RF), Nassira Konde (Stade Bordelais), Gabrielle Vernier (Blagnac RF), Marine Menager (Montpellier HR, co-capt); Carla Arbez (Stade Bordelais), Pauline Bourdon-Sansus (Stade Toulousain); Yllana Brosseau (Stade Bordelais), Agathe Sochat (Stade Bordelais), Rose Bernadou (Montpellier HR), Manae Feleu (FC Grenoble Amazones, co-capt), Madoussou Fall-Raclot (Stade Bordelais), Charlotte Escudero (Stade Toulousain), Seraphine Okemba (LOU Rugby), Teani Feleu (FC Grenoble Amazones). Replacements: Manon Bigot (Blagnac RF), Ambre Mwayembe (FC Grenoble Amazones), Clara Joyeux (Blagnac RF), Axelle Berthoumieu (Blagnac RF), Lea Champon (FC Grenoble Amazones), Alexandra Chambon (FC Grenoble Amazones), Lina Queyroi (Stade Toulousain), Emilie Boulard (Blagnac RF).
Referee: Hollie Davidson (Scotland). ARs: Holly Wood (Eng) & Amelia Luciano (USA). TMO: Rachel Horton (Aus). FPRO: Quinton Immelman (SA).
Overall head-to-head: Played 32. Ireland 3 wins, 1 draw, France 28 wins.
Last five meetings: (2019) Ireland 17 France 47. (2021) Ireland 15 France 56. (2022) France 40 Ireland 5. (2023) Ireland 3 France 53. (2024) France 38 Ireland 17.
Five-game formguide: Ireland − W 15-12 v Scotland; W 36-10 v Australia. W 29-27 v New Zealand. L 8-21 v Canada. W 26-14 v USA. France − L 21-42 v England. L 19-38 v England. L 24-46 v Canada. W 22-14 v USA. L 14-39 v New Zealand.
Betting (Paddy Power): 5-1 Ireland, 22-1 Draw, 1-8 France. Handicap odds (Ireland + 13pts) 4-5 Ireland, 19-1 Draw, Evens France.
Forecast: France to win.
