New era begins for both Ireland and Women's Six Nations

A fresh start for Ireland, and an exciting leap into the unknown for women's rugby.

While this is the second year of the TikTok Women's Six Nations existing in their own standalone window, this time it's the real deal.

Last year's truncated version was an ideal testing ground for the championship's new late-spring window, with organisers citing increased TV figures, and greater online engagement as the reason for retaining it in 2022.

England won their third title in a row, with France just behind in second, and it's hard to see anything other than the same two-horse race when this championship is concluded at the end of April.

The widening gap between England, France and the rest is an issue, but one for another day as far as Irish fans are concerned.

Before Ireland can even think about closing the gap to the top, they need to get their own show on the road after a year of disappointment and controversy both on and off the pitch.

Since last year's championship in which Ireland fared reasonably - a heavy defeat to France was offset by comfortable wins against Italy and Wales - there has been monumental change.

The failure to qualify for this year's Rugby World Cup knocked the first domino over, and it's led to a coaching change, a captaincy change, a public standoff between the players and the union, and ultimately a complete overhaul of how women's rugby is run in this country.

Greg McWilliams (below) is the new man in charge, taking over from former head coach Adam Griggs, who stepped down in the wake of the World Cup qualification disaster in Parma.

McWilliams returns to Ireland after several years spent in the USA, where he was part of the USA Eagles coaching staff, as well as being head coach of Rugby United New York in the