Ireland Women Aiming For Record Crowd Against France
Young fans cheering on the Ireland Women's team at Energia Park ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
The opening game of the Women’s Six Nations may not have brought the result we wanted on the pitch but it was a major success in the promotion of Women’s Rugby with a record turnout for a standalone Women’s game at Energia Park.
4,637 supporters attended the game – a record only eclipsed last weekend by England’s attendance of 4,674 in Doncaster in round 2 – and now the Ireland Women’s team are aiming to try and build on that with even bigger support against France on Saturday, March 9 (kick-off 7pm).
The match takes place a day after International Women’s Day and what better way to celebrate than seeing some of Ireland’s best international women in action with a bumper crowd in Donnybrook. Fans can avail of a special two-for-one ticket offer right now – click here to buy
The record crowd for the England game was part of the IRFU ‘Women In Rugby’ Action Plan which aims to increase match attendance by encouraging more young girls to come along to the game and see what they can achieve in rugby.
The IRFU specifically targeted schools that have taken part in previous ‘Give It A Try’ initiatives and the Girls’ Rugby X7s tournaments. The offer included subsidised bus and ticket packages and was taken up by over twenty schools and clubs that had participated.
We are also supporting the #20×20 campaign that aims to increase awareness, media coverage and participation in female sport by 20% by 2020. By encouraging more young girls to watch rugby and by providing a variety of pathways (Sevens, Tag, Touch and full contact rugby), the IRFU will demonstrate the value of rugby for all.
If your club or school would like to attend the Ireland Women’s game against France on Saturday, March 9, please click here to email us.
Nora Stapleton, IRFU Women’s and Girls Rugby Development Executive, said
From a promotions point of view, it was fantastic to see over 4,600 people come to support our girls in green. We put a huge effort into targeting young supporters, in particular, this year and have increased the awareness and visibility across all our platforms while assisting schools and clubs with the cost of travel to and from the games.
“Our ambition is to get even more people along to support the team as they take on France in Energia Stadium. We are inviting everyone to come and support our international women, and to bring young supporters so that we can inspire more girls to take up sport.”