'The story's still being written': Bemand throws hat in ring to lead Ireland to next World Cup

ARM IN ARM: Ireland Head Coach Scott Bemand speaks to the team huddle after the game

Head coach Scott Bemand threw his hat into the ring to lead Ireland into the next Women’s Rugby World Cup as he backed his young players to make the leap into the top tier of the international game over the next four years.

Bemand’s Ireland exited the current tournament on Sunday as they were edged out 18-13 by France in their quarter-final at Sandy Park. It marked the end of a two-year cycle under the Englishman during which they were promoted from WXV3 to WXV1 having qualified for Ireland’s first World Cup since 2017 on his watch. Bemand also arrested a run of successive Six Nations wooden spoons and has a year to run on the three-year IRFU contract he signed having served on England’s women’s coaching staff.

Speaking in Exeter following the last-eight defeat, Bemand spoke of optimism for the future of Irish women’s rugby, having fielded a matchday 23 for the quarter-final containing just three players aged 30 or over.

“Yeah, you’ve got me for another year, and it works quite well. I believe they do something similar over here in England where you get to transition the next piece,” Bemand said.

“Obviously, all conversations need to be had. Nothing’s been had to this point but when you look at opportunities and you look at ambition you can see that the IRFU are ambitious with where they can take the women’s programme here.

“You can see that it’s not based on nothing, you can see there’s girls coming through that are only going to add. So as an opportunity you can see this is a very good opportunity to be a part of.

“In terms of what we’re doing it doesn’t feel like we’re anywhere near the end point. The story’s still being written and if it’s me to go forward, if I’m the right fit; if it works for myself and the players then brilliant. We keep talking about taking this next step and cracking into the World Cup contenders, it’s gutting to not do it today is the reality of things, especially when we look back on it.

“There were opportunities to take today. I believe we were going to score at the end of that game today because I’ve seen the girls practising it, I’ve seen what they’ve been doing in training, the amount of pressure that we’ve been able to deal with in training. So, it’s going to happen at some point and if it’s me, that would be brilliant.”