women
international women
Ireland Head coach Scott Bemand believes his team’s all-time leading scorer Béibhinn Parsons still has room to grow.
On Sunday, the 24-year-old scored two tries in her side’s 31-24 win against Japan to take her individual tally to 24 tries in 37 appearances – surpassing previous record holder Alison Miller in the process.
If that wasn’t a special enough achievement, Parsons achieved the feat in her home province of Connacht. Born and raised in Ballinasloe, she made her Test debut as a 16-year-old in 2017 and represented Ireland at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“Beibhinn is such an important player for women’s rugby in Ireland,” said Scott Bemand. “She’s incredibly professional. She showed up. She came back from her ankle sprain over the summer.”
“Two weeks ago you could say that she was very rarely playing, and we managed to keep her for one week.
“We’ve got a good stack of wingers. It’s a competitive figure. It’s nothing like Bey wants to show and put his stamp on it, saying ‘just listen here, you guys. I’m still in the game, I’m still here’.”
“Bei will continue to score tries for however many years to come, so it’s really exciting to see how good she can become as she continues to do so.
“She knows she’s still not the finished article, but every time we challenge her, she gets better and edgier, keeps scoring tries, so please more of that.”
Ireland got back to winning ways in their second WXV Global Series autumn setting. In the first game in September, Bemand’s team was defeated by a score of 40-36 USA Women’s Eagles.
A week later at the Dexcom Stadium, Ireland saw off a strong Japanese team in Galway to get right back to winning ways.
They will play Japan again next weekend in a non-WXV Global Series game in Cork. Ireland will play two Tests in October South Africa in Cape Town.
In those games, Parsons will have a chance to extend his try record even further.
“It’s not something I went into, playing at 16, thinking it was ever going to be associated with me,” she said. “It sounds good. That’s the main thing, just to get back into the team and start training and playing. I love training, so being part of the group is special.
“So yeah, I’ve definitely missed a few games, a few campaigns and games, but it’s all about the team and where we are now. And I think this team is going places. So to be a part of it now and to be there is really important.”
