Sunday will be a landmark day for women’s rugby in Ireland, as Scott Bemand’s side play their first ever standalone Test at Aviva Stadium.
Twelve years on from the then-depending Grand Slam champions hosting Italy at Lansdowne Road as part of a double-header with the men’s team, Ireland will have the Aviva all to themselves as they look to finish their championship on a high.
At the time of writing, ticket sales have tipped just above 30,000 for Sunday afternoon’s finale, more than three times the current Irish record, which was set in Galway earlier in this championship.
Scotland are the visitors to the Aviva this weekend at 2.30pm, the middle fixture of a super Sunday triple-header, which culminates in a title decider between England and France in Bordeaux.
Ireland had ambitions of breaking that top two up this year, and while the best they can hop for is another third-place finish, a 100% home record would at least mark their best championship since 2020.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of what promises to be a landmark day for Irish rugby.
TV
Ireland v Scotland is live on Virgin Media.
Wales v Italy and (12.15pm) and France v England (4.45pm) are both live on RTÉ Player this Sunday.
ONLINE
We’ll have a live blog, report and reaction from Ireland v Scotland on www.rte.ie/sport.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Ireland v Scotland on RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday Sport.
WEATHER
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the weather will be co-operating on Sunday afternoon, with showers expected during the day, and temperatures of around 12C.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie
While the occasion itself has dominated conversation this week, there is still a game to be won on Sunday afternoon.
The coaching staff and players have made it crystal clear across the last six weeks that three home wins is the minimum standard they expect this year, and so falling short of that mark would make Sunday feel like a real anticlimax.
The recent Ireland-Scotland rivalry is almost the exact opposite to last week’s Ireland-Wales match-up. While Ireland and Wales had traded wins in recent seasons, they were almost never close, but barring one exception Ireland and Scotland’s meetings have generally gone down to the wire.
While the Scots hammered Ireland in 2024 in Edinburgh, eight of their last 10 meetings across all competitions have been decided by seven points or less.
So many of those games have also been won and lost in the most dramatic of circumstances; a last minute try to win if for Scotland at the Hive last year, Ireland pulling it out of the fire to secure third place in Belfast in 2024, Enya Breen’s late try in 2022 and Scotland’s World Cup qualifier win in 2021 all jump to mind.
The Scots looked like a team on the up when they defeated Ireland a year ago, before enjoying a solid World Cup campaign, but they have struggled in this championship under new head coach Sione Fukofuka, with three heavy defeats in a row since their opening round win against Wales in Cardiff.
They have shipped a combined 194 points in those last three losses to England, Italy and France, which is more they conceded in any full championship since 2015.
Injuries haven’t helped their cause with captain Rachel Malcolm the latest to be ruled out, after Emma Orr, Evie Wills, Rachel McLachlan and Hannah Walker all picked up knocks which have taken them out of the equation.
TEAMS
Ireland:
Replacements:
Scotland:
Replacements:
OFFICIALS
Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Berenice Loubet (FFR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandra Ferre (FFR)
TMO: Julien Castaignede (FFR)
FPRO: Paulo Duarte (FPR)
WHAT THEY SAID:
Scott Bemand (Ireland head coach):
Sione Fukofuka (Scotland head coach):
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
2026: Ireland 27-21 Scotland, Virgin Media Park, Cork (World Cup warm-up)
2025: Scotland 26-19 Ireland, The Hive, Edinburgh
2024: Ireland 15-12 Scotland, Affidea Stadium, Belfast
2023: Scotland 36-10 Ireland, The Hive, Edinburgh
2022: Ireland 15-14 Scotland, Affidea Stadium, Belfast