Scott Bemand’s side got the fast start they wanted, surging into a 45-10 lead by half-time. Boosted by a Béibhinn Parsons hat-trick, they ended up scoring the most points and tries ever by an Irish team in a Guinness Women’s Six Nations home match, and their highest amount of both in the Championship in 11 years.
There were a number of notable firsts on what was an unforgettable day for Irish Women’s rugby, including a maiden double header involving the Ireland senior and Under-21 teams, a first Women’s Six Nations game in Galway, and a try-scoring debut for winger Robyn O’Connor.
The fans in the west and from across all four provinces turned out in force, making it a brilliant family occasion in the April sunshine. It was a record-breaking one too as the 9,206-strong crowd is the biggest attendance to date at an Ireland Women’s international on home soil.
The support at the home of Connacht Rugby certainly left a big impression on captain King, who said: “I want to thank everyone for being here. To break the record for the Irish crowd is unbelievable and we really appreciate all the support.
“It means that little bit more playing in front of your home crowd. Every game for us is just as important as the next, but I guess I’d be lying if I said it isn’t special getting to play in front of all our family and friends, and to have a record-breaking crowd just shows that.
“We talk about our Green Wave all the time, and it’s just growing, and we really, really felt everyone today, so we really appreciate the support. All the young girls coming through, we thank you so much for being here.
“Our Green Wave is getting bigger and that’s so important to us, and it’s why we play at the end of the day – to inspire that next generation. To see all these young girls here is one of the most important things to our squad.”
Saturday’s results point to a bright future for Irish Women’s rugby, both in the immediate sense and the longer term. Niamh Briggs’ Ireland U-21s kicked things off with a tremendous 55-8 victory over Italy, her young side gelling quickly with senior squad members Ailish Quinn, Jemima Adams Verling, Aoibheann McGrath, and Niamh Gallagher all involved.
The inaugural U-21 Six Nations Series, evolving from the U-20 Summer Series tournaments that were held in 2024 and 2025, is designed to strengthen the pathway to Test rugby and make the transition from age-grade to the senior international stage more manageable.
Wexford youngster O’Connor (20) became the latest Ireland U-20 graduate to win a senior cap this weekend, following in the footsteps of Ruth Campbell and Ivana Kiripati, who both previously played in the U-20 Summer Series. There are others in Bemand’s wider squad that are close to joining them.
King was pleased that they could give O’Connor a winning start to her Ireland senior career, and crucial to that was how they outplayed and outworked Italy. The starting XV laid down a big early marker with four tries in 23 minutes, while a largely experienced bench also brought energy and impact.
“You can see there from 1 to 23, everyone who came on that pitch worked so hard for each other, so just really proud of the squad and some unbelievable work from the girls.
“I suppose after last week there might have been some frustrations within the squad about how we started against England, so we probably placed a bit of an emphasis on that fast start.
“We know what this squad is capable of and we really showed it in that first half. We came out the blocks firing and, yeah, just really proud of the girls for that start.”
She continued: “I think we placed a lot of emphasis on putting our words into action. We talk a lot about working hard and enjoying the game that we play.
“I think we went out there and enjoyed the game of rugby and we played with smiles on our faces. We showed what we’re all about, and what we’re capable of.”
Next on the agenda is a mouth-watering rematch with France, just over seven months on from a fiercely-contested Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Exeter which ended 18-13 in les Bleues’ favour. King is itching to have another crack at them, especially as she missed the World Cup through injury.
Ireland have not beaten France since a 13-10 success in Donnybrook in 2017, but have been getting closer in recent years, including last season’s Six Nations encounter in Belfast where Aoife Wafer touched down twice. It was the same back trio of Brittany Hogan, King, and Wafer that started on Saturday.
All three reached double figures for carries against Italy, with Hogan and King leading the tackle count with 29 between them. The 22-year-old is already targeting improvements, both individually and collectively, as the girls in green look to upset the odds in Clermont-Ferrand in round 3.
“I suppose for us, it’s really one job at a time. Our focus after the England week was the Italy week, and now our focus changes to France week. I guess we do kind of owe them one, and I think we are raring to go against them.
“And today it was brilliant to get that confidence and show what the squad is capable of and just keep building on the performances that we’re putting in and then go into training.
“There’s probably a few fixes that we can take from today, a few learnings, and yeah, just keep improving at the end of the day.
“Probably a little bit disappointed that we did let Italy in on a few occasions. But a few little tweaks, minor tweaks, and we’ll regroup and go again. The main focus is ourselves, and if we can keep improving in our squad, we’re happy,” concluded King.