Scott Bemand is calling for Ireland to bring the "best version" of themselves to Aviva Stadium for Sunday's landmark fixture with Scotland.
More than 30,000 tickets have been sold for the Guinness Six Nations finale, which is a first ever standalone women’s Test at Lansdowne Road.
A win for Ireland will secure a third successive third-place finish in the championship since Bemand’s arrival as head coach, although it would be their first time since 2020 to end the championship with three wins from five games.
And while the former England assistant admits their campaign has largely gone "as expected", he’s confident they have saved their best for last.
"I'm not going to give you a score out of 10," Bemand said.
"If we look at performances rather than the results - results often put a different twist on things - I think we're probably sitting in as expected.
"We've been well behaved, we're doing alright, but we've gone after different bits in the competition. We didn't get the fast start against England, we got the fast start against Italy, we got the fast start but didn't get the ball down against France.
"So it's trending up, because we're creating more problems for the World Cup contenders, but ultimately over the next year, the next two years, we want to be seeing those results home.
"We're tracking up, we're improving, but we're not there yet."
"It's kind of like a full circle moment"
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) May 14, 2026
Ireland's Aoife Wafer is relishing the opportunity to line out at Aviva Stadium on Sunday in their final fixture of the Women's Six Nations campaign pic.twitter.com/0v5RgaZa6H
To mark the significance of this weekend’s game, Ireland’s first ever women’s international rugby side from 1993 will visit the squad on Saturday evening to present the current group with their jerseys.
As well as that, a special function at Aviva Stadium will take place after Sunday’s match, where all current and former women’s international players from both the XVs and Sevens team will be presented with a special "Heritage Cap".
"'The Legends are coming in, and there's going to be a piece around celebrating what they achieved back in the day, connecting with what they went through," Bemand added.
"It was a different world [in 1993]. Let's be honest, what the players have now in terms of support; what the programme can offer, what the world looks like now, we're playing in front of over 30,000 people at the home of Irish rugby.
"And in terms of where they used to play, there's a really big part around connecting it all up and increasing the Green Wave, if you like.
"I know the current players have always been keen to reach out to the legends that have gone before them.
"So I think it's a hugely, hugely positive piece."
The Ireland head coach has made one change to his starting team for Sunday's meeting with Scotland, as Sam Monaghan (above) comes into the second row in place of Dorothy Wall.
Bemand has had a settled approach to his selections throughout the campaign, particularly in the pack, where seven of his eight forwards have started every game so far.
Second row has been the one area that has changed, with Monaghan, Wall and Ruth Campbell all rotating in and out as a partner to Fiona Tuite.
"It's been an absolute pleasure to have an hour and a half discussing who's in your engine room in selection. So we enjoy selection," he said of their second row depth.
"We've moved it to a point now where we've got genuine competition for who can start, who can come on and bring impact off the bench.
"We're at the level now, that we're starting to consider who we're playing against and what best fits for how we think the game is going to pattern out.
"So, yeah, we're well stocked in that area. We've got some talent."
Given how well ticket sales have gone for this week, it’s expected that Ireland will return to the Aviva for another women’s Six Nations fixture in 2027, with England the most likely visitors to Lansdowne Road.
And the Ireland coach believes the most obvious way to ensure the big crowd keep coming back, is to give them a performance to remember.
"We've got a group that I really believe will feed off the confidence that a home, 30,000 crowd will give them. We want to show our best to people to keep people coming on board.
"We also understand what our role in this is, and our role is to get a great performance that people want to get on the back of to produce a great result.
"We want to get people on their feet, we want to get people shouting and cheering, and the more we can do that, it'll bode even better for the future in terms of selling grounds, selling tickets, merchandise, more people playing rugby, and to keep the wave going. So, we're pretty clear on what our role in this is.
"We'll enjoy the occasion, undoubtedly. If we get the sweet spot of emotion, clarity, and execution under whatever pressure exists, that'll be the tonic for it, and that'll get the crowd on their feet and noisy at home."
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Follow our live blog on Ireland v Scotland in the Guinness Women's Six Nations on Sunday from 2.30pm and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch Wales v Italy (12.15pm) and France v England (4.45pm) on RTÉ Player
