Scott Bemand: Top three finish Ireland's target in Women's 6N

Ireland coach Scott Bemand says qualification for the 2025 Rugby World Cup is the number one priority, ahead of the Guinness Women's Six Nations which gets under way later this month.

The Englishman is gearing up for his first Six Nations championship since taking charge last summer, when he replaced outgoing coach Greg McWilliams.

Ireland finished bottom of the table last year, losing all six games and collecting the wooden spoon for the first time since 2004, but the new boss has set an ambitious target for 2024, looking for a top-three finish which would see them qualify for next year's World Cup in England.

"If anybody is to ask me what we want out of this Six Nations, it's World Cup qualification," he told RTÉ Sport.

"It’s one of our strategic priorities for the IRFU, it’s something we’ve got to go after."

Ireland open their campaign away to France in Le Mans on Saturday 23 March, while they also face England away from home in the penultimate round.

The realistic targets for wins would be their three home games, as they welcome Italy to the RDS on Sunday 31 March, before taking on Wales in Cork (13 April), before closing off the championship against Scotland on 27 April in Belfast.

"How we go after it [qualification], there's some home games we want to do really well in, there are some away games that we believe we can go and fire some shots in.

"We know what we want out of this, we’d like to pick out wins, we’d like to fire some shots but ultimately, we’d like to qualify for the World Cup.

"We know where we need to get to. We know where the north star is, and we know the gaps that we've got to close, so it allows us to know exactly where we’re heading and it gives us a bit of purpose, and that’s the journey we’re on now.

"WX