Exciting to think where Ireland can go - Hogan

Ireland will play at the World Cup for the first time since 2017

Back-row Brittany Hogan says she wants World Cup qualification to be only the start for Ireland.

Thanks to last weekend's 15-12 victory over Scotland in Belfast, Ireland finished third in the Six Nations table for the first time since 2020 and sealed their place at next year's World Cup in the process.

The side missed out on qualification for the tournament in New Zealand two years ago, so have not featured at a World Cup since doing so on home soil in 2017.

Now that their place at England 2025 is confirmed, Hogan believes there is more to come from Scott Bemand's group.

"We've drawn another line in the sand and we go from there," she said.

"We have not reached any form of peak. We're a group that's still building, still learning to play with each other.

"It's really exciting to think where we can go. We've the World Cup next year to show that."

In September 2021, Hogan was part of the side that lost to Spain and Scotland in Parma to confirm they would miss out on the World Cup in New Zealand, an outcome that contributed to the undertaking of an independent review into the women's game in Ireland.

"I've been involved in the lows and the highs with this squad," she said.

"It just makes this win a little bit sweeter for those of us that were involved in Parma. It just means so much because we had that low.

"We experienced what was a very low part of our careers, to be honest.

"It will show next year whenever we're in the World Cup in England. I just can't wait to be there."

Ireland lost all five of their Six Nations games a year ago

Their third-place Six Nations finish came despite losing 88-10 to England at Twickenham in the penultimate round, a game where the visitors shipped 14 tries.

That loss to the eventual Grand Slam champions could have dented confidence before the crucial hosting of Scotland, but Hogan said it instead provided motivation.

"It just made us more hungry," she said.

"We had a feedback session on Monday, where we were all very honest with each other, and then we wiped it clean.

"We knew the challenge we had. We knew it was going to be a tight game. We just had to front up."

Ireland will gain greater exposure to opposition of that quality later this year, with their Six Nations showing also ensuring promotion to the top tier of the WXV competition.

Last year, Ireland won WXV3 thanks to victories over Kazakhstan, Colombia and Spain.

"We wanted to qualify for the World Cup but we want to contend at that World Cup," added Hogan.

"It'll definitely give us good games where we can improve ourselves and see where we sit, what we have to work on for the Six Nations after that, and then the World Cup."