It was a great day for the girls in green in Belfast, as Ireland's 15-12 win over Scotland in the Guinness Women's Six Nations saw them qualify for the World Cup.
A late Dannah O'Brien penalty was enough to see Ireland leapfrog both Scotland and Italy into third place, with the latter falling to their defeat against Wales today. This saw Ireland finish third in the table, which was enough to earn a spot in the 2025 World Cup.
It will be Ireland's first appearance tournament since hosting the event in 2017, having failing to qualify for the last edition in 2021.
The win also will see them compete in the WXV1 tournament later this year, where they will face Southern Hemisphere giants New Zealand and Australia alongside England and France.
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Brittany Hogan Emotional After Ireland's World Cup Qualification
There were emotional scenes at the final whistle this afternoon, with the team just 12 months on from finishing rock bottom and failing to win a match in the 2023 Women's Six Nations. By finishing third on this occasion, this young Ireland side did what very few thought was possible before the championship.
Speaking to RTÉ post-match to receive her player of the match award, Brittany Hogan couldn't hold back the tears after being told Ireland qualified for the World Cup.
It means so much, we came out for a performance today. We didn't know what was going to happen today, if we qualified or not but we just wanted to do it together.
I'm so proud, I literally heard before I came over here that we qualified and I'm just so happy, we've gone through so much as a group
Hogan would then talk about the impact qualification can make for the future of women's rugby in Ireland and the growing support at the matches.
It shows that it's growing and it shows that we're inspiring the next generation to actually put on a jersey and try the game and we needed that support in the last two minutes.
An emotional Brittany Hogan sums up Ireland's mood after securing World Cup qualification.
📺 Watch live on @rte2 & @rteplayer https://t.co/b2OI4OoWVJ
📱 Live blog https://t.co/pkWwDmm8VC
📻 Listen to live commentary on @rteradio1 https://t.co/Od8FxnL2On pic.twitter.com/g4mxqXfo0V— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 27, 2024
It's been a rough few years for women's rugby in Ireland.
However, the strides Scott Bemand and his squad have made in the last year have been immense. Hopefully this is the start of a new era of women's rugby in this country.
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