The IRFU is today delighted to announce Central Contracts for 35 players across the Women’s High Performance Programme, as preparations continue for an exciting 2025/26 season.
Coming off the back of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, players from the centralised programme have returned to training at the IRFU High Performance Centre in recent weeks, building towards the upcoming Celtic Challenge campaigns and the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
Seven players have been awarded their first national contract having progressed through the Women’s National Talent Squad (WNTS) Pathway and impressed for Ireland Women’s U20s last season.
Forwards Ailish Quinn, Beth Buttimer, Ivana Kiripati, Jane Neill and Jemima Verling have joined the full-time centralised programme for the 2025/26 season, while backs Caitriona Finn and Chisom Ugwueru have also earned their first senior contracts.
Quinn and Kiripati made their Test debuts in green during the Women’s Rugby World Cup warm-up fixtures in August, with Kiripati and Buttimer included in Scott Bemand‘s final tournament squad, while both Finn and Ugwueru have also been involved in senior Ireland squads in recent seasons.
A number of players – including Linda Djougang, Meabh Deely and Siobhan McCarthy – have left the programme but remain players of national interest, while Niamh O’Dowd and Brittany Hogan have taken up playing opportunities with Gloucester Hartpury and Sale Sharks respectively.
O’Dowd joins Gloucester for the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) campaign as injury cover, while Hogan will move to Sale from January 1, 2026.
The new Celtic Challenge campaign gets underway on Saturday, 20 December as the Clovers host Gwalia Lightning and the Wolfhounds go head-to-head with Edinburgh in a double-header at Energia Park, with the competition providing centrally contracted players and players of national interest with valuable exposure to game time and high-level coaching in the build up to the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
Bemand’s Ireland get their Championship underway against England at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on Saturday, 11 April before hosting Italy in their first home outing on Saturday, 18 April.
Bemand’s side then travel to France for a Round 3 encounter on Saturday, 25 April before back-to-back home fixtures against Wales on Saturday, 9 May and the historic visit of Scotland to Aviva Stadium on Sunday, 17 May conclude the Championship.
The Round 5 clash at Aviva Stadium will be the first standalone women’s fixture at the Home of Irish Rugby and ticket sales are already surging for what promises to be a memorable occasion. Venue details for the home matches against Italy and Wales will be announced in the coming weeks.
Before then, the Ireland Women’s Sevens squad return to action at the Dubai Invitational Tournament this weekend.
James Topping‘s side will kick off their campaign against Poland at The Sevens Stadium on Friday, with the travelling squad to be announced tomorrow.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Head of Women’s Performance and Pathways, Gillian McDarby, said: “We are delighted to confirm the roll out of 35 centralised contracts for Women’s players for an exciting season ahead.
“As we continue to create sustainable pathways and develop competition structures, it is pleasing to see a number of young players from our Ireland underage teams step up and be rewarded with senior contracts within our High Performance Programme at the IRFU High Performance Centre.
“The continued development of players through out WNTS programme is testament to the work being done within the Provinces and is a key focus for us as we strive to develop depth in our playing resources moving into the 2026 season and beyond.
“We are determined to evolve, grow and develop off the back of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and we look forward to seeing more players exposed to high-level international rugby in both the XVs and Sevens formats, starting with our first team back in green this weekend in Dubai.”
The new Celtic Challenge campaign gets underway on Saturday, 20 December as the Clovers host Gwalia Lightning and the Wolfhounds go head-to-head with Edinburgh in a double-header at Energia Park, with the competition providing centrally contracted players and players of national interest with valuable exposure to game time and high-level coaching in the build up to the 2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
Bemand’s Ireland get their Championship underway against England at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on Saturday, 11 April before hosting Italy in their first home outing on Saturday, 18 April.
Bemand’s side then travel to France for a Round 3 encounter on Saturday, 25 April before back-to-back home fixtures against Wales on Saturday, 9 May and the historic visit of Scotland to Aviva Stadium on Sunday, 17 May conclude the Championship.
The Round 5 clash at Aviva Stadium will be the first standalone women’s fixture at the Home of Irish Rugby and ticket sales are already surging for what promises to be a memorable occasion. Venue details for the home matches against Italy and Wales will be announced in the coming weeks.
Before then, the Ireland Women’s Sevens squad return to action at the Dubai Invitational Tournament this weekend.
James Topping‘s side will kick off their campaign against Poland at The Sevens Stadium on Friday, with the travelling squad to be announced tomorrow.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Head of Women’s Performance and Pathways, Gillian McDarby, said: “We are delighted to confirm the roll out of 35 centralised contracts for Women’s players for an exciting season ahead.
“As we continue to create sustainable pathways and develop competition structures, it is pleasing to see a number of young players from our Ireland underage teams step up and be rewarded with senior contracts within our High Performance Programme at the IRFU High Performance Centre.
“The continued development of players through out WNTS programme is testament to the work being done within the Provinces and is a key focus for us as we strive to develop depth in our playing resources moving into the 2026 season and beyond.
“We are determined to evolve, grow and develop off the back of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and we look forward to seeing more players exposed to high-level international rugby in both the XVs and Sevens formats, starting with our first team back in green this weekend in Dubai.”