{"id":963289,"date":"2026-05-16T07:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/963289\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T07:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:05:20","slug":"ireland-to-ignore-aviva-razzmatazz-to-focus-on-winning-finish-against-scotland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/963289\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland to ignore Aviva razzmatazz to focus on winning finish against Scotland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Women\u2019s Six Nations: Ireland v Scotland, Aviva Stadium, Sunday, 2.30pm \u2013 Live on Virgin Media One <\/p>\n

Ireland<\/a> will look to play the match and not the occasion at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday, knowing the colour, noise and backdrop razzmatazz at the final Six Nations<\/a> game will only be memorable in victory. <\/p>\n

Going into the game, the report card for the home side might read: shows promise but could do better. That\u2019s more a reference to results rather than performances. <\/p>\n

Scott Bemand\u2019s<\/a> team have periodically played excellent rugby throughout the tournament, passages that have secured a couple of high-scoring wins against Italy and Wales. And there was enough evidence in the defeats to England and France that Ireland can close that gap appreciably.<\/p>\n

The Irish head coach was asked to appraise his side\u2019s progress. \u201cIf we look at performances rather than the results \u2013 results often put a different twist on things \u2013 I think we\u2019re probably sitting in as expected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been well behaved, we\u2019re doing all right, but we\u2019ve gone after different bits in the competition. We didn\u2019t get off to a fast start against England. We got the fast start against Italy. We got the fast start but didn\u2019t get the ball down against France.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s trending up, because we\u2019re creating more problems for the World Cup contenders, but ultimately over the next year, the next two years, we want to be seeing those results home.\u201d <\/p>\n

The last point is a reference to a fine second-half display at Twickenham and a dominant opening 40 minutes against France in the Stade Marcel-Michelin. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a rebalancing required in calibrating aspects of the in-game patterns so that creativity doesn\u2019t perish because of a lack of vision and precision. And ruthlessness. Winning in the possession and territory stakes are decent metrics but worthless unless reflected on the scoreboard. That\u2019s a challenge for Ireland on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\"IrelandIreland Women\u2019s Rugby head coach Scott Bemand: \u2018We\u2019re energised by this sort of occasion.\u2019 Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

The record 30,000-plus crowd will provide a sense of occasion and pageantry. But for it to be a truly immersive experience, one that can recruit and capture hearts and minds, the team must front up, provide the Green Wave with reasons to shout and cheer.<\/p>\n

Bemand both understands and embraces the opportunity. \u201cThis is the world that we operate in and want to operate in \u2013 wanting very big stadiums and big crowds. And I\u2019ve got to say that the games that we\u2019ve played in this tournament so far, each one\u2019s been an unbelievable occasion for different reasons. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland\u2019s women ready to push on in final Six Nations tie against ScotlandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019re playing at home, playing in front of your people. Whether we\u2019re away in France, and going into a lions\u2019 den. Same with Twickenham, a Six Nations record [crowd]. This is what we want to do. We\u2019re energised by this sort of occasion. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve seen some of the players saying, we\u2019ve been waiting a while for this. The players have spoken about it this week, they\u2019ve spoken about it well. It\u2019s a confidence piece, we want the crowd to be behind us, we want them to be on their feet, we want them to be vocal. If they can operate as a 16th player, then that would be brilliant for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam Monaghan starts in the secondrow in the only change to the starting team. Vicky Elmes Kinlan gets a place on the bench as Bemand reverts to a five-three split.<\/p>\n

Scotland head coach Sione Fukofuka has made two changes to the team beaten 69-28 by France. Emily Coubrough comes in for her fourth appearance of the campaign at number eight, with Shona Campbell returning on the left wing. On the bench Coreen Grant comes into the match-day 23 for the first time in the tournament.<\/p>\n

Forget the history books. Ireland are currently a better side but that statement can only be endorsed on the pitch. And that\u2019s how it should pan out.<\/p>\n

IRELAND: <\/b>Stacey Flood (Leinster); B\u00e9ibhinn Parsons (Connacht). Aoife Dalton (Leinster), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Robyn O\u2019Connor (Leinster); Dannah O\u2019Brien (Leinster), Emily Lane (Munster); Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Linda Djougang (Leinster); Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury), Fiona Tuite (Ulster); Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks), Erin King (Leinster, capt), Aoife Wafer (Harlequins). <\/p>\n

Replacements:<\/b> Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sadhbh McGrath (Ulster), Eil\u00eds Cahill (Munster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs), Ruth Campbell (Leinster), Katie Whelan (Leinster), Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster), Niamh Gallagher (Trailfinders Women).<\/p>\n

SCOTLAND:<\/b> Chloe Rollie (Toulon Provence M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e); Rhona Lloyd (Sale Sharks), Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks), Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears), Shona Campbell (Sale Sharks); Helen Nelson (Loughborough, capt), Leia Brebner-Holden (Loughborough); Leah Bartlett (Sale Sharks), Elis Martin (Loughborough Lightning), Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears); Emma Wassell (Trailfinders Women), Louise McMillan (Saracens); Becky Boyd (Loughborough), Eva Donaldson (Sale Sharks), Emily Coubrough (Glasgow Warriors). <\/p>\n

Replacements: <\/b>Aicha Sutcliffe (Glasgow Warriors), Demi Swann (Exeter Chiefs), Molly Poolman (Edinburgh), Hollie Cunningham (Bristol Bears), Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors), Rhea Clarke (Bristol Bears), Lucia Scott (Loughborough), Coreen Grant (Harlequins).<\/p>\n

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Find the channel here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Six Nations: Ireland v Scotland, Aviva Stadium, Sunday, 2.30pm \u2013 Live on Virgin Media One Ireland will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":963290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,269193,4884,10153,712,117945,16,15,10152],"class_list":["post-963289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-erin-king","tag-great-britain","tag-ireland-womens-rugby","tag-scotland","tag-scott-bemand","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-women-s-six-nations"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116582988525009189","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=963289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/963290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=963289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=963289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=963289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}