Ireland Women will host England and Canada in November 2016 in their first ever home Autumn International Series.

Ireland, who played their first Autumn International test this November away to England, will host the return fixture in Dublin on the weekend of the 12th/ 13th November before taking on Canada the following weekend.

Director of Women’s Rugby, Anthony Eddy, commented, “We’re delighted to be welcoming England and Canada next autumn. These additional fixtures are really important for the development of our squad as we build towards the World Cup in 2017. To continue to improve as a team, we need to test ourselves as often as possible against strong opposition, and with England and Canada being the finalists in the 2014 World Cup they will certainly give us the opportunity to do that.”

Ireland Women’s coach Tom Tierney, believes that the addition of Autumn Internationals to the Women’s calendar is a very positive step forward for the development of the national squad. “It’s fantastic to have these games next November. There were nine new caps for the England game last month and that will really stand to the players and the squad as we look towards the Six Nations. Adding these fixtures to the calendar for the 2016-17 season will mean we can get a strong build up to what will be a huge year in 2017”

Ireland Women’s International Fixtures -

Ireland vs England

Saturday 12th/ Sunday 13th November KO TBC

Ireland vs Canada

Saturday 19th/ Sunday 20th November KO TBC