Ireland will begin their 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations championship at home to France on Saturday, 22 March.

Scott Bemand’s side, who welcome Australia to Belfast on Saturday (2.30pm), finished third in the table last season and qualified for next year’s World Cup as a result.

They host Les Bleues in the opening round of fixtures before a trip to Italy eight days later on Sunday, 30 March.

Champions England visit in round three two weeks’ later, while Ireland are away to Wales in round four.

They conclude with an away game against Scotland in the first of three ‘Super Saturday’ games.

Wales will be in Italy, and England will host France in the final round.

RTÉ and Virgin Media will broadcast the games in Ireland.

The venue details will be announced shortly.

Six Nations said: “The 2024 Women’s Championship underscored its significance at the heart of international rugby with audience growth that included a 22% rise in matchday attendance, and a total global live audience of 16.2 million fans tuned in to watch the 2024 Championship (a 9% increase on the previous year).

“Positive signs of increased fan engagement with the women’s game were highlighted by a 52% increase in participants in the Women’s fantasy rugby game, and 32,000 votes for the Player of the Championship award, which was an impressive 140% increase on 2023’s votes.”

Ireland’s Women’s Six Nations 2025 fixtures

SATURDAY 22 MARCH

1300 Ireland v France

SUNDAY 30 MARCH

1500 Italy v Ireland

SATURDAY 12 APRIL

1645 Ireland v England

SUNDAY 20 APRIL

1500 Wales v Ireland

SATURDAY 26 APRIL

1215 Scotland v Ireland

Venues to be confirmed