Preview: Winning finale must be only focus for Ireland against Scotland

Ireland host Scotland in Belfast this afternoon looking to sign off their Guinness Women's Six Nations campaign on a high.

Already this year’s renewal is better than last season’s wooden spoon championship.

An emphatic win over Wales in round three franked the team’s progress under their new head coach Scott Bemand.

There was another victory there for the taking when Italy came to the RDS but a failure to execute cost Ireland dearly, with Bemand's side currently fifth in the standings.

The opening-day loss to France, and last weekend’s 88-10 hammering at the hands of England belong to a different category with both of those sides operating on another level.

Indeed, the Red Roses' game later today against France – where they are looking for a fifth successive Grand Slam – may illustrate that England are on another level still to France.

That’s not Ireland’s concern today and even if there is more on the line than four or five points, or a third or fourth-place finish, they must solely focus on getting over the line against a Scottish outfit that won last year’s fixture 36-10.

For the record, should Ireland finish in third – which would happen if they win with a bonus point and better Italy’s points difference – it would mean World Cup qualification and promotion to WXV1. They are currently two points behind the Italians.

A win of any description for Scotland would seal third place. With Italy starting against bottom of the table Wales at 12.15pm, Ireland will know their target before they kick off.

The downside of the upside is that qualifying for the top tier of WXV would mean fixtures against England, France and one of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA.

It’s probably not what Ireland need at this point in their development,