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'One of the most comprehensive wins and performances that I have seen'
By Anna Caplice
Players and management who were busy last weekend have at this stage filed away the debrief from performances good and bad after yet another epic weekend of women’s rugby.
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Italy logged a comprehensive win against visitors Japan by beating them 24-8, while England welcomed the Black Ferns to a busy Allianz Stadium in Twickenham and came out 24-12 winners.
Scotland were among the happier of teams after the weekend after an impressive scoreline of 59-15 over Fiji assured their rise in world rankings to their highest ever at 5th. It was also the biggest home victory for Scotland in over a century. They will head to South Africa full of confidence for the WXV 2 series kicking off at the end of the month.
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A significant weekend in Scotland was emulated just across the Irish Sea in Belfast where Ireland played host to Australia in a fixture that marked the beginning of celebrations of 150 years of Irish Rugby.
The players were the first to wear a one-off commemorative jersey that was absolutely beautiful and a real favourite of fans and the players themselves. The men will get the chance to wear the same jersey once again against Australia on the 30th of November.
It might seem small, but giving the honour to launch both the jersey and the 150th celebrations to the women within Irish rugby is a welcome gesture.
Tributes and pleasantries aside, there were more than just the aforementioned reasons for Irish rugby to celebrate. Not only did Ireland score six fantastic tries with a combination of cohesive team and individual efforts, it was one of the most comprehensive wins and performances that I have seen from this side in recent years. It was brilliant!
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From the first moment, it was all go! Ireland were relentless in their attacking pressure and despite the ball not going to hand a couple of times, they were on the scoreboard within the first five minutes with Aoife Dalton cutting back against the grain to give no chance to the Australian defensive line.
Australia were next on the scoresheet with an unconverted try just a few minutes later, but from there Ireland were in control, racking up tries from driving mauls, opportunistic pounces, well-worked backs play and just dogged “go-forward” that made it look like the players were having an absolute ball.
Not without some homework to do, the set-piece will need a bit of focus before Ireland pack their bags for Vancouver for WXV 1. Some discipline issues at scrum time and a number of overthrown lineouts to work on, but in general forwards coaches will be happy with the return on some attractive driving mauls and scrum launches with some excellent stolen lineouts added to Ireland’s stats from the second half.
Ruth Campbell was one of the debutants in green making people learn her name with her attacking and defensive lineout work to be remarked. Seeing a young specialised second-row come into the fold and instantly start making herself a nightmare for opposition is an exciting prospect for Ireland.
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In fact, there are probably a few names that WXV 1 opposition will be taking note of. Molly Scuffil-McCabe’s snipes, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe‘s defence, Linda Djougang’s tip-on lines, Niamh O’Dowd’s line speed, Dorothy Wall’s carries, Dannah O’Brien’s boot, Neve Jones’ tackles, Edel McMahon’s leadership, the list goes on.
And probably the player earmarked the most is none other than 21-year-old Aoife Wafer who is going to need to invest in a small shed out the back for all the player of the match awards that will continue to come her way, because this girl is on fire.
Kingspan Stadium is becoming somewhat of a fortress for Irish women’s rugby. They’ve recorded some momentous wins there, not least the win versus Scotland a few months ago which secured their place in next year’s World Cup.
It hasn’t always been the kindest venue to Ireland though, as we recall the last time that Australia were in town they left Belfast with a win. In 2017, when Ireland hosted the Rugby World Cup their first pool game was in fact against Australia.
Ireland held out to win a 19-17 nail-biter but would come up against the Wallaroos a second time in the knockout stages for 5th place.
This time in Belfast – and this time Australia took the W. It ended 36-24 in a heartbreaking game that marked what many have described as the first stages of the unravelling of women’s rugby in Ireland that continued for a number of years.
I can’t describe the feeling when I see this new generation of women in green smiling and embracing each other and their coaches and staff after putting in a performance like that and the scenes after last Saturday’s match were powerful indeed.
It might have been a significant weekend in Irish rugby for a number of reasons, but the difference between the last and this visit by the Wallaroos to Belfast, might be the most significant of all.
