I Think The Green Wave Is Growing – Flood

Emotions ran high in the wake of Ireland’s dramatic loss to France in Exeter on Sunday afternoon but there was also plenty for the players to be proud of as the players have inspired a groundswell of support.

The impact of the popularity of the team will also be felt in numbers playing the game said try-scorer Stacey Flood, “I think our green wave is growing but also the number of players we have competing is growing, and I think the gap is shortening throughout all,”

“Even last week, a few scores at the end of that game make it a different game. And I think the more we grow rugby in Ireland, the more girls that are competing, we’ll keep closing those gaps.

Flood, whos is a dual 7s and 15s international and Olympian, went on to say, “And you can see the uptake in numbers and what it is doing for the country. And I think more young girls playing, even young boys playing, will get the snowball even more and that’s what we’re about.

“We didn’t get the performance we wanted or the result we wanted today, but we’ve inspired so many young girls to go take up a rugby ball, and that’s exactly what our team want to do. So that means, in four years’ time, there’s more people competing for a green jersey. We’re definitely going to close the gap even more.”

The Green Wave will wash over the home of Irish Rugby, Aviva Stadium, in 2026 when Ireland host Scotland in the final round of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations. This will be the first standalone Women’s international in the stadium and tickets are on sale now from ticketmaster..

Centre Eve Higgins echoed Flood’s sentiments, “I’m hearing back home about the impact this has had, I’ve heard multiple stories of young girls starting to play rugby because they are watching us on TV. Yeah, this is going to be huge for us.”

Check out the gallery of Ireland fans here.