Bemand notes 'mindset shift' in Irish women's game

Bemand's side have won one of their three Women's Six Nations game so far Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says he can see a notable "mindset shift" across all levels of the women's game in the country. The Ireland senior side have moved up to fifth in the world rankings after a positive 2025 and are aiming to finish off this year's Women's Six Nations campaign with two home victories against Wales and Scotland, following a disappointing defeat by France last time out. Bemand also pointed to the positive strides made at underage level, referencing Ireland Under-21s' historic first victory over England in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday and the under-18s' win over the Red Roses last month.

"Yes, I do see that [mindset shift] and it is highlighted by the level of disappointment after the France game. We said we didn't want to be plucky losers and we're not operating in that space anymore," he said. "I like that little bit of expectation we place on ourselves.

People say we appear confident and we should be, we have good players a group that can score tries. We hadn't scored a maul try against a top-four side and over in France last week we got a maul try. We're developing and showing we have the capability.

"Two or three years ago we were talking about belief and confidence but now we have the tools to keep going after it. I think there has been a mindset shift. The under-18s beat England recently, under-21s have just beaten England, the mindset now is we have the capability.