Ireland Vs Canada

Ireland Vs Canada

So Ireland were convincingly beaten by Canada in The UCD Bowl where Ireland made a number of changes to the XV that had faced England the previous week with Mary Healy and Nikki Caughey partnered at half back. Canada were beaten by England at the 2014 World Cup Final in Paris.

 Canada of course have been doing extremely well on the 7s circuit and with a World Cup on Irish soil in August 2017 they certainly put down a marker to each team that will play in that tournament. The Canadians had a very strong pack that carried ball right into the heart of the Irish defence and time and again made major strides forward round the fringes with skipper Kelly Russell and second rowers Kayla Mack and Laytoya Blackwood carrying hard and causing Ireland all sorts of trouble in defence.

When Ireland got the ball and were able to put a cohesive attack together they looked extremely dangerous with Alison Miller and Sene Naoupu to the fore. Canada managed to put 48 points past Ireland with a very sharp attack and a strong set piece. Full Back Julieanne Zussman contributed two tries along with the star of the 2014 World Cup Magali Harvey scoring a good try aswell.

Canada showed the new caps in the Irish team what the step up to Test match rugby will be like and for the most part, Ireland struggled to match Canada’s aggression at the breakdown and also the all-round speed with which Canada got the ball wide to a very impressive back division.

With the Black Ferns next up for Ireland, Tom Tierney will have to work extremely hard to try and get Ireland focused for a huge final Test match before the 6 Nations next year. Tierney has some big choices to make does he restore the heavy hitters to the first XV or does he stick with some of the same 23 that faced Canada and give them the chance to atone for a hugely disappointing performance against The Black Ferns who will come here after a game against England.

With a home World Cup on the horizon, Ireland will need to finish this November Test Series with a strong performance and having beaten New Zealand that last time these two sides met , they will know what is required to get the desired result.

They were only touched off by England, they were ruthlessly dispatched by Canada and now they have one final chance to register a win to end the 2016 season on a high note.

There have been terrific crowds in UCD over the past 2 weeks and I encourage everyone who can to get out and support the Women’s team this Sunday at 2pm.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

21/11/2016

Ireland – November Tests

Ireland – November Challenge

Ireland take on the All Blacks in Chicago this weekend and then they face Canada, New Zealand again and Australia. 4 tough weekend’s ahead for Joe Schmidt and his squad but after a win in South Africa back in June along with pushing them close in the two other Test’s will give the squad great confidence.

This November could be very special indeed with two chances to beat New Zealand and also a shot at defeating Australia. Ireland will want to start on the right foot and that is with a game in Chicago, New Zealand are back in a Stadium where they defeated the USA back in 2014 winning 74-6.

Ireland have a chance at immortality in becoming the first Irish men’s side to defeat New Zealand. This particular fixture is littered with hard luck stories from an Irish perspective. It’s time those stories changed and Joe Schmidt has proven he can prepare a team to face big challenges. Although people will point at the Argentina game at the 2015 World Cup as a major mishap in the Joe Schmidt reign.

November 2013 will be a major motivating factor over the next few weeks, Ireland can use Canada as a game to give some new talent the chance to shine. Guys like Joey Carbery and Gary Ringrose will get an early chance to show the world what they have shown in the blue of Leinster during the early weeks of the Pro 12 campaign.

Focus will be firmly on Chicago this weekend with the other Tests against Canada, New Zealand and Australia on the back burner until next Monday. Ireland beat Australia in 2014 and will feel they can do something similar in a few weeks’ time.

 Australia for their part will need to start showing some real quality to stand any hope of winning any of their Test matches during this November. Michael Cheika knows the quality he processes in his squad and I feel we will begin to see the start of a new era for Australia. That starts with a game against Wales who for their part will want to reset the clock after a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand.

Ireland as I already stated have a shot at immortality and with Joe Schmidt on board until after the 2019 World Cup Ireland can begin the preparations toward that tournament. First up its New Zealand and time to lay the biggest ghost of Irish rugby to bed. 

Can Ireland cope with the intensity with which Steve Hansen’s men will play the game. The time is now to end this famine and beat a team that look unbeatable but as is always the case its 15vs 15. They almost did it back in 2013, I am extremely hopeful that either in 2 days’ time or on November 19th Ireland will beat New Zealand.  Immortality awaits, go out and grasp it boys……

By

Cian Mc Gibney

03/11/2016