Bemand urges Ireland women to embrace physical test against South Africa on historic tour

Ireland women’s head coach Scott Bemand has challenged his squad to embrace the physical demands of a two-match WXV Global Series tour to South Africa, the first time the two nations will have faced each other in 20 years and Ireland’s first-ever Test on South African soil.

The tour arrives at a complicated moment for Ireland. Their autumn campaign has been uneven — a defeat to the USA Women’s Eagles and a 31-24 win over Japan in the WXV Global Series, plus a 43-19 victory over Japan in a separate fixture in Cork — but Bemand believes the experience of touring will be as valuable as the results themselves.

“How many times do we actually get to go on tour?” Bemand said. “It’s not as regular as everybody thinks. The last one was WXV when we came second in the WXV tournament [in Canada]. That gave us so many layers. We learned so much about people being away from home, being on tour, being a good tourist while still maintaining levels of performance and expectations.”

The coach also pointed to the longer-term purpose of the trip, with the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029 on the horizon. “In three years’ time we’re going to be away for about nine weeks,” he said. “Having a three-week tour to Africa is well placed at the right time for us.”

Ireland’s inconsistency this autumn — particularly their tendency to concede penalties and turn over possession — will be tested sharply by a South Africa side built around set-piece dominance and defensive aggression. The September loss to the USA, in which Ireland surrendered a 19-point lead to lose 40-36 at home, underlined the vulnerability Bemand’s team still carry against physically imposing opponents.

South Africa arrive in their own period of transition. The Springbok Women reached the quarter-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 under Swys de Bruin, but he departed abruptly ahead of their clash with the Black Ferns in Soweto. The side is now led by co-head coaches Laurian Johannes-Haupt and Franzel September, and their recent form has been mixed — wins against Italy and Spain, but a defeat to Wales.

Despite the uncertainties on both sides, Bemand is not approaching the tour with caution. “We’ve got some learnings from the last three weeks that we’ve got to take over there to a completely different physical challenge,” he said. “But in two weeks, we’ll be ready.”