'We owe them one'

Ireland will travel to France this week in search of "revenge" according to captain Erin King.

Saturday's 57-20 bonus-point win against Italy at Dexcom Stadium saw Ireland return to their best as they picked up their first win of this year’s Guinness Women's Six Nations.

Before that, Ireland travel to Stade Marcel Michelin this weekend to take on the French, and their nine-try victory against Italy means they will go there high on confidence, and with belief that they could end a long wait for a win against Les Bleues.

"I guess we do kind of owe them one, and I think we are raring to go against them," King said, as attention turned to Saturday’s game in Clermont-Ferrand.

In the opening round of last year’s championship Ireland lost by 12 in this fixture in Belfast, a game which they believe was there for the taking.

And there was further heartbreak at the Rugby World Cup when Ireland led 13-0 in their quarter-final in Exeter, before France came back to win 18-13.

"I think we'd be lying if we said it wasn't a bit of a revenge game," added King, who missed the World Cup due to injury.

"I think we're that little bit more eager because of that.

I suppose we showed in that game what we're capable of and that we are able to compete with the top four in the world and break into that top two of Six Nations.

"So, it'd be great to do it and put our talk into action."
The French, now under the coaching of Francois Ratier, have won two from two to start their Six Nations championship.

In Round 1, they were slow to start against Italy, leading just 5-0 at the break before cruising to a 40-7 victory, and they followed that up with a stress-free 38-7 win away to Wales.

And while England are the only team to beat France in the championship since 2019, head coach Scott Bemand (above) knows his side are capable of doing it.

"What we know are the things we took from the quarter-final, the game of 'could have, should have, would have’.

"You know, if you play that 10 times, eight of them, probably go your way.

"So, we know we've closed the gap.

We're confident in our ability, are growing our ability to get to fire shots in such occasions.

But going over to France, call it as it is, going over to France is one of the ultimate tests."
Toulouse and Le Mans have been the venues for Ireland’s last two trips to France, with one of the game’s iconic rugby grounds, Stade Marcel Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand, the destination on Saturday night.

And although Bemand recognises it will be an altogether different experience than they have experienced before, he believes the game will go right down to the wire.

"It's going to be an incredible place.

People that have been to Clermont know it's not a hostile environment, but the stands are steep, people are on top of you, people are going to have flags, there's going to be a band.

It's the next layer for us.

"Now, we go there and if we're in a position to win it, we know it's going to be a tight game.

If we go there and France come out on top, we know it's going to be a tight game.

So, we're now starting to talk about margins and not about occasions and coping.

"So, we've got to go over there and we've got to take our best game with us.

We've got to train for that this week, but we're developing a group that becomes more experienced as we go.

"So, is it this year?

Could be.

Why not?

We get our best game out there and we believe we've got the characters and the firepower in the group to do that.

"And if it's not this time, then we'll go after it again next year, but we're definitely closing the gap."
Follow our live blog on France v Ireland in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 8.10pm on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1