An emotional Erin King has dedicated Ireland's thumping win against Scotland to the original 1993 "trailblazers", as they marked their long-awaited Aviva Stadium date with a dominant victory.
Ireland finished their Guinness Women's Six Nations off on a high as they trounced Scotland 54-5, scoring seven tries in a blistering first half to finish the championship in third place with a 100% record from their three home games.
The attendance of 31,294 is more than three times the previous record, which had been set earlier in this Six Nations for an Ireland women’s game, with all signs pointing towards a return to Lansdowne Road next year when world champions England will be visiting.
Appropriately, Scotland were also the opposition when Ireland played their first ever women’s Test 23 years ago, with the players from that 1993 side presenting the current group with their jerseys ahead of this week’s Six Nations finale.
And King said those players were front and centre of her mind in the moments before kick-off at the Aviva.
"It's kind of hard to put into words the feeling of walking out and leading the girls out," the Ireland captain (below) said.
"I feel really privileged and really lucky to have this opportunity and be part of the 23 that get to make history today.
"But there's a lot of girls and a lot of people that have been part of this journey. And the founding team from 1993, we have them to thank really. They're the reason that we're here.
"They began all this for us and everyone in our green wave, everyone who's ever worn the green jersey, all the little girls and boys and anyone that was here today. Everyone's part of that.
"I just feel it's kind of beyond my wildest dreams, hard to put into words the feeling. And I just feel really lucky and I'm really, really proud of the girls."
It was a dream day for Scott Bemand’s side, who cemented their position as Best of the Rest in the Anglo-French dominated championship with three resounding home wins.
And for King, it was vital that Ireland brought a performance to match the size of the occasion.
"Obviously, we put out there that we wanted three home wins and we haven't gotten that in a while.
"So to put that out there and then get that done, we're really proud of that. And just the performance in itself. I think that first half we really came out the blocks and we've talked all campaign about having a fast start.
"And I think we showed that we can do that," King added.
For Bemand, 2026 can be marked down as another campaign of progress.
While there had been ambitions to break up the big two this season, a win against England or France will have to wait another year.
Considering the age profile of the side though, it was a championship where they will have gained valuable experience, particularly in front of bumper crowds at Twickenham, Stade Marcel-Michelin and the Aviva.
"We've always been quite open and we want to keep the momentum going," the Ireland head coach (below) said.
"We want to keep growing the wave. So, we've been able to achieve that both on and off the pitch.
"We've got our three home wins, which we haven't won three games in this competition for a good while. Even predating myself. So, we're starting to convert some performances into wins.
"Results are massive. Results are everything in this game and we want to give people something to cheer. So, I think we've achieved that.
"From what the players have experienced, and the programme has experienced, playing in front of 77,000 people at Twickenham, going to Clermont, which was one of the best rugby experiences in a partisan away sense. And then we follow it up by having a crowd, a 16th player if you will, here at the Aviva.
"We're becoming so rich in terms of experiences that we've been through.
"We've got new caps, we've got people adding into the on-pitch stuff, we're growing our wave. I leave here with a sense that there's only more to come."
