Ireland's women's rugby team won't be profitable 'any time soon' say union chiefs 

The IRFU increased investment into women’s rugby to a total spend of €8.3 million, according to annual accounts.

Thelma O’Driscoll, IRFU Chief Financial Officer. Pic: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

IRFU executives have admitted that the Ireland Women’s team will not be profitable “any time soon”, despite the great strides made on the pitch by Scott Bemand’s national side.

The governing body’s annual accounts published on Thursday revealed an increase in investment into women’s rugby to a total spend of €8.3 million for the year to the end of July 2024, €2.6m higher than the previous financial year, with chief executive Kevin Potts promising a further increase in budget for the current year.

Yet there was also an acknowledgement that the move towards professionalism for female international players and the desire to professionalise the provincial game was not adding up financially and the IRFU would continue to take a hit to make Ireland consistently competitive at the highest level of Test rugby.

Ireland finished third in last year’s Six Nations, qualifying for the 2025 World Cup in England and then enjoyed a successful step up to the WV1 series, landing a milestone victory in Vancouver over world champions New Zealand and then beating the USA to finish second in the top-tier competition.

Chief financial officer Thelma O’Driscoll said the women’s team generated income of more than €2m in the reporting period through Six Nations prize money and team sponsors.

“It's starting to grow but it’s not going to be profitable any time soon,” she added before calling on Irish businesses to back their efforts to take the women’s game in Ireland fully professional.

"Our strategic plan is that we want to get to four professional (provincial) teams, but we can't do that at the moment with the level of investment. We need corporate Ireland to really come out and help us if we want to get to the point of starting those teams.

"The money we have invested so far has resulted in increased success for the national team, but we're hoping we can super-charge it as we move forward."