Ireland assistant Denis Fogarty believes his side are capable of causing an upset against one of the Guinness Women's Six Nations’ 'big two' this year.
Ireland open their 2026 championship away to England on Saturday, with the Red Roses looking to win an eighth Six Nations in a row, with England and France finishing as a one-two in each of the last six seasons.
It’s 11 years since Ireland last defeated England at this level, while it’s nine years since their last win over the French, whom they also lost out to narrowly in the quarter-final of the World Cup last year.
With 2026 being an even year, Ireland will be away to both this year, starting with England on Saturday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) before they face France in Clermont-Ferrard in Round 3.
And while Fogarty insists three home wins against Italy, Wales and Scotland will be the benchmark for Ireland this year, he believes they are also capable of breaking up the Anglo-French stranglehold.
"The last couple of years, I think we've only won two games in the Six Nations and it didn't feel right even speaking about that. We felt like we were better than that," the Ireland scrum coach (below) said.
"So definitely our home games, and we looked at these occasions [like England].
"I think it's really important that we make our mark in these games and not let the games go past us, even in the back end of the game.
"So we've spoken about that and - especially against England and France - we want to turn one of these teams over.
"That's the mindset going into it and obviously the home games will be really, really important for us overall.
"The occasion itself will be really big and obviously we're very much aware of the challenge that England will give us, but I think we've prepped really well.
"The big thing for us going out there is making sure that we can impose our game on the occasion as well, but we expect a massive challenge."
'They'll know that these are teams we should be beating' - World champions England are first up but Ireland should be confident taking on the rest of their #WomensSixNations rivals, says @HannahOConnor22 on the #RTERugby podcast pic.twitter.com/wYPIWAUhvf
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Saturday’s meeting with England will be unlike any before, with more than 75,000 tickets already sold for Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, which will be England’s first game since winning the World Cup in September.
Two years ago, England thrashed Ireland 88-10 in this fixture, played in front of just under 50,000 supporters at Twickenham, but there were signs last year that Ireland are closing the gap on the Red Roses, as England led just 7-5 at the break before eventually pulling clear in the second half.
Scrum-half Emily Lane (below) believes she and her team-mates can't put too much stock in last year’s meeting, just as they won't be dwelling on their hammering the last time they visited Twickenham.
"You can obviously look back and take what you want from the last game," she said.
"I think we can take the positives of how we held them for the first 50 minutes, but England can come at us with anything this weekend. It's the same for us, we can bring anything to them.
"It's the start of a campaign, you can look back at any footage, it's all from the World Cup, which was eight months ago now, so I think that's really exciting for both sides, that we get to put on a performance that no one's expecting."
Lane didn't feature when Ireland last visited the home of England rugby two years ago, but the former Ireland Sevens international has a wealth of experience in front of big crowds and big stadiums, in particular the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
And the 27-year-old (below) says they won't be going into their shells in London.
"Daunting is probably not the word we're using, it's more exciting," she added.
"It's the start of our first campaign together since the World Cup, so I think everyone's really raring to go and we've been so lucky to be back in camp together and we're really looking forward to 75,000 [supporters], nothing better.
"I think this is exactly why you play rugby, you want to go and play at a sold-out stadium - hopefully it'll get to a sell-out - but it's what you dream about when you're growing up, playing rugby, you want to get out on that world stage and just do your country proud.
"I think we just need to stick to our game plan. We've been working on it the past two weeks now and even back in our calibration camp, back in January, we just need to stick to our game plan and trust. We've got an unbelievable boot in our back line, we've got great kickers, we've got such speed, we've got power.
"I think we've got a lot of things to put England under the pump, but it's just about staying together, sticking together."
Head coach Scott Bemand is due to name his team to face England on Thursday morning at 11am.
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Watch England v Ireland in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday from 2pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
