Youth providing hope for Ireland says number eight Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird amid Six Nations struggles

Ireland No.8 Deirbhile Nic A Bhaird insists 'good things are coming' despite a difficult start to the 2023 TikTok Women's Six Nations.

While results have been difficult to come by, the performance of their young forwards has been a cause for optimism.

Of the four players to have started in the front row for Ireland this campaign, all are under the age of 30 including 18-year-old Sadhbh McGrath who has caught the eye in her first Championship.

Throw in victories for the Under-18s side against Italy and Scotland during the Six Nations Under-18 Women's Festival and there is renewed hope that the system is producing players who can compete on the Test stage.

"It's about building, it is a young squad, we have very mixed experience levels and the scrum was excellent," said Nic A Bhaird, speaking after Ireland's defeat in Italy.

"Even for younger props like Sadhbh coming through, Neve O' Dowd coming through, to see what we're capable of in terms of setting a benchmark for them is massive.

"Nichola and Sam are such incredible leaders from the second row driving us around the park. I know we have the people to do the job that we need to do, we just need to find the last little bits.

"We take great confidence from that and youth is a double-edged sword, you do need experience to end games like these on a high but it's a good thing. We know good things are coming."

Six Nations Rugby, the official organising body responsible for the TikTok Women's Six Nations, broke all fan engagement records in 2022 and highlighted its commitment to giving the women's game the best possible platform to grow. The 2023 edition of the Championship stands to build on this progress, with even bigger crowds expected, more international broadcasters covering all the action and unprecedented social and digital promotion for the heroes of the women's game.

Greg McWilliams' side threatened on numerous occasions in Parma but could only muster a penalty try as they fell to a third consecutive defeat.

After a cagey start it was Le Azzurre who settled better and took advantage of their opportunities, running in three tries to Ireland's one in a 24-7 victory.

Ahead of the visit of Grand Slam chasing England on Saturday, Nic A Bhaird hopes it's only a matter of time before the pieces fall into place.

"I think the fact there were positive patches and we didn't convert those is almost more disappointing," said Nic A BhÃird.

"You can never question the heart that the girls show. That's evident and I hope people see that at home, we are working extremely hard and things just aren't coming right for us.

"It's not an excuse, we just don't seem to have found the thing that clicks so we obviously need to find that and keep building on the positive things.

"Our set-piece has been really good and our scrum dominance has again been huge for us so we just need to find those little pieces at the end that we are missing out on."