Ireland 54-5 Scotland: ‘More to come’ from Ireland after Aviva win – Scott Baymond

The Six Nations is a tournament full of positives for Ireland, who finished with one more win than they managed in 2025. They gained 14 points, three better than last year and greatly improved their point differential, from plus five to plus 67.

While they fell short in their World Cup revenge mission with defeats to eventual winners England and mighty France, Ireland responded well and shed frustration from those games to defeat Italy, Wales and the Scots, saving their best performances for last.

Integral to their success was Erin King, who started all five games after returning from a long layoff with a knee injury.

The 22-year-old has captained the team throughout the campaign and led by example, with Baymond keen to praise how he has thrived in the role.

“We’ve talked about what we’ve discovered in this competition and I think we’ve probably discovered a sort of superstar captain who embodies what we want to be,” Baymond said.

“He leads from the front and has passion, he wears it on his sleeve. He is already becoming greatly accomplished.

“We’re getting more layers of ourselves. I think we’ve kept up the momentum and in terms of a year into the work cycle, we’re right where we want to be.”

Since taking over as head coach in 2023, Baymond has focused heavily on developing young talent and building depth. This was highlighted by the fact that he used 27 players in the campaign, including four debutants.

Winger Robin O’Connor impressed during her first Women’s Six Nations, while last year’s player of the tournament Aoife Wafer again showed her outstanding quality, contributing five tries and leading Ireland in metrics such as carries, meters made, turnovers, offloads and influential contacts and a few tackles.

“We’re in a really fortunate position where we’ve been able to get the cap into people without wholesale change,” Baymond said.

“We’ve got the new cap but to be consistent with the selection. These girls can come in with a high-performing team around them.

“We’ve known about Robin for quite a while and he’s a bit of a pocket rocket. I thought he had a great game against Scotland.”

Next summer’s inaugural WXV Global Series for Ireland is what Baymond hopes will prepare his side to break the England/France duo in next year’s Six Nations.

“Some slightly different challenges, but hopefully it will set us up nicely to come back in 12 months’ time and have a crack at England and France.”