Sinéad Kissane: Béibhinn Parsons is pure box office and Ireland have a mantra – get the ball to her

The last time the RDS hosted a championship game two years ago, the Ballinasloe winger was a sub, but there was an audible frisson of excitement every time she touched the ball when she came on. Parsons is a crowd-puller and women’s rugby needs a crowd.

Ireland captains run ahead of Women’s Six Nations game with Italy at the RDS tomorrow

Playing in Ireland has become a rare occurrence for one of our most talented sportswomen. Parsons was chasing the five-ringed dream last year, along with her sevens team-mates on the international circuit, so she didn’t play in the disastrous 2023 Six Nations. She reckons she played two Women’s All-Ireland League games last year, while the last time she played a home Six Nations game was the 29-8 win over Italy in Cork two years ago.

​It was after that game that the sevens players were pulled from the final two rounds of the Women’s Six Nations. This year, however, Parsons confirmed she will be with the Ireland squad for the entirety of the championship, which at least gives consistency and clarity. She also does a good line in diplomacy when asked if her preference is sevens or 15s.

“If I could be in two places at once, I would love to do that,” Parsons says about missing last year’s Six Nations. “But it was such a really important year for us in the sevens and we got our goal over the line of qualifying for the Olympics, so mission was accomplished. If I could be in two places at once, of course.

“It’s like choosing a favourite child. I couldn’t tell you.”

It’s five years since Parsons made her Six Nations debut as a 17-year-old wunderkind when she came on as a sub against France in Donnybrook in 2019. The following week, she scored her first Ireland try in her first Test start against Wales in Cardiff. She’s now 22, has 22 Ireland caps and scored 14 Six Nations tries. After concentrating on sevens last season, she returned to the 15s game last October when she played all three WXV3 matches in Dubai, where she scored six tries. But compared to that opposition and the sevens game, space was of the premium real estate kind against France in Le Mans last weekend.

“I actually didn’t get too much ball, so hopefully, I’ll get my hands on a bit more ball this weekend. But yeah, it’s definitely different. You don’t get as many one-on-one opportunities, but when you do, they’re like gold dust, so you really have to take those opportunities.

“Of course, playing your first 80 minutes after a while, there’s a few things to iron out.”

When Ireland failed to qualify for the Women’s Rugby World Cup three years ago, one of the many, many regrets was the opportunity lost of seeing Parsons’ talent on a global stage. But she will get to perform on the biggest stage of them all at this summer’s Paris Olympics.

It’s a common occurrence to see video clips on social media of another liquid try from Parsons as she burns opponents with her pace and footwork to score in some exotic location. The Ireland women’s team won their first sevens series tournament in Perth in January, underlining what’s possible for them in Paris.

“It’s incredible. It’s a really pinch-me moment (to qualify for the Olympics), but it’s hard to think too far ahead. But our win in Perth shows that on our day we can do it against anyone, but we just need to be a lot more consistent. So we want to go into that Paris Olympics being competitors, but there’s a lot of work to do still.”

​One of the mantras going into Ireland’s game with Italy tomorrow is this: get the ball to Béibhinn. The last time she scored a Six Nations try was April 2021, when she scored two against Wales. She’s played against Italy four times, including a World Cup qualifier, and has always been on the winning side (she wasn’t there for the two defeats in 2019 and 2023).

“A win would be absolutely massive. We’re desperate to be part of a successful Ireland. That’s something that we talk about a lot. Yeah, we had a defeat against France – and we’re not completely happy losing to France – we don’t want to go there and just surrender and take a loss. We want to go there and compete with these teams.

“Italy coming to our shores is something that we don’t take lightly. We want to go out fighting, show them a physical game, impose ourselves and fire shots. We definitely want to come away with a win.”

And Parsons and company will be out to show that there is meat to that sales pitch.