The Six Nations has been a tournament with plenty of positives for Ireland, who finished with one more win than they managed in 2025. They racked up 14 points, three better than last year and vastly improved their points difference, up from plus five to plus 67.
While they fell to defeats against eventual winners England and a strong France, failing in their World Cup revenge mission, Ireland responded well and channelled frustrations from those games to beat Italy, Wales and the Scots, saving their best performance for last.
Integral to their success has been Erin King, who started all five games after returning from a lengthy period out due to a knee injury.
The 22-year-old captained the side throughout the campaign and led by example, with Bemand keen to praise how she has thrived in the role.
“We spoke about what I’ve discovered this competition and I think we’ve probably discovered some sort of superstar captain, who embodies what we want to become,” Bemand said.
“She leads from the front and has passion, she wears it on her sleeve. She’s becoming massively accomplished already.
“We’re getting more layers to ourselves. I think we’ve kept momentum and in terms of year one of a work cycle, we’re exactly where we want to be.”
Since taking over as head coach in 2023, Bemand has focused heavily on developing young talent and building depth. That was highlighted by the fact he used 27 players in the campaign including four debutants.
Winger Robyn O’Connor impressed during her first Women’s Six Nations, while last year’s player of the tournament Aoife Wafer again showed her immense quality, contributing five tries and leading for Ireland in metrics such as carries, metres made, turnovers, offloads and dominant contact and tackles, to name a few.
“We’re in a really fortunate position where we’ve been able to get caps into people without it being wholesale changes,” Bemand said.
“We’ve had new caps but been able to be consistent with selections. Those girls get to come in with a high-functioning group around them.
“We’ve known about Robyn for a good while and she’s a little pocket rocket. I thought she had an excellent game against Scotland.”
Next up for Ireland is the inaugural WXV Global Series in the summer which Bemand hopes will prepare his side to break the England/France duopoly in next year’s Six Nations.
“Some slightly different challenges, but hopefully it tees us up nicely to come back in 12 months’ time and have a crack at England and France.”
