Ireland Vs France
24 hours have passed since Ireland were beaten by France 21-5. In that time I am sure there has been a lot of soul searching done by the Ireland squad. The time for reflection after this particular defeat can happen in the aftermath of this World Cup. The defeat will sting for a long time because of the manner of the defeat.
France came to play last night in the UCD Bowl and were well worth the win given that they managed to nullify the Irish threat in the scrum, line out and in the backs as well. Looking at how France dismantled the Irish challenge, they went after Ireland in the area’s where Ireland managed to get the better of them back in the Six Nations earlier in the year.
Watching France play such an open brand of off loading rugby was a pleasure and will serve them really well next Tuesday when they play England in the Semi Final in The Kingspan Stadium. Looking at the Irish performance they will know they never really got going in this group narrowly beating both Australia and Japan respectively.
While both victories showed great courage in the face of failure both wins also showed Ireland had a plenty of work to do in attack. The lack of tactical kicking throughout the first two games showed that Ireland were struggling to get to the pitch of each game in the first half of each game in particular.
Larissa Muldoon started alongside Nora Stapleton in the opening against Australia and they failed to get the back line firing although the forwards were in control led by Ciara Griffin and Paula Fitzpatrick , the lack of threat from the backs caused major problems because for all the forward dominance , Ireland were not putting enough points on the board. Ireland managed to secure a late win through a Paula Fitzpatrick try.
The manner of this win should have set the management team thinking that they had issues to solve before game 2 against Japan. You can put up the defence that they suffered opening night nerves and once they managed to secure that win, they should have noted this trouble that Ireland were having in the backline and tried to address those problems before the second game.
Unfortunately this didn’t seem to happen; looking at that Japanese game they used some of the tactics that served the Japanese team well under Eddie Jones in the 2015 World Cup against South Africa. They were very clever in the scrum and line out, they forced South Africa to do things differently than they normally would. It was amazing to watch that Japanese side do the do things very well , they were sharp and well drilled like the Japanese team last Sunday in the Bowl.
To the French game last night, given the evidence of the previous two games, one feels that it was going to take serious effort and a lot of luck to secure that coveted win to get them to a Semi Final. Alas that win never came and they have to plan for a game against Australia next Tuesday afternoon at 2pm.
The IRFU will have a review after this tournament and it will be very interesting to see what comes out of that review and what recommendations will be acted upon once the review is complete. The IRFU will have some tough questions to ask and answer. That particular job will come after this campaign and will take time.
Time now to focus on Australia next Tuesday and see what will happen when they clash. The Irish team have had time to lick the wounds of last night. Let’s hope they can dust themselves off and really tear into Australia and take out all the frustration of last night on them. Over to you Ladies…
By
Cian Mc Gibney
18/08/2017
Ireland Vs Australia World Cup 2017 Day 1
So Tom Tierney has named the 23 that will face Australia in The UCD Bowl at 7pm tomorrow evening. He has made 4 changes with Heather O Brien coming into the team at number 8, Ashleigh Baxter will take over the number 6 jersey from Ciara Griffin who will have to make an impact from the bench.
Shannon scrum half Nicole Cronin is the only uncapped player in the 23 tomorrow evening and that is a good testament to what Tom Tierney and his coaches have done over the last 3 years in trying to build some squad depth in the build up to this World Cup.
Looking to tomorrow, Ireland will have a full house shouting them on as the Bowl in UCD is a sell out, hopefully there will be a good atmosphere to help the girls in green get the win they need to get this show off to the perfect start.
UCD has been transformed over the last few months and it is the perfect place for the next two weeks and the festival of rugby that will follow. Some of the world’s best female rugby talent will be in UCD and I urge people to take the time out over the next three Ireland games and sit and watch these ladies in action.
I realise that the next few weeks is not everyone’s cup of tea but trust me if this group of players can get the right result tomorrow evening, nothing will stop them and they will be well placed to try and better what was achieved in 2014.
I have always said if Ireland won a World Cup I’d love to see the country’s reaction, well over the next three weeks that dream may become a reality. England and a number of other sides will have something to say about that particular dream.
I have spent the last few years trying my best to educate people on the merits of this sport, I travelled to France on a whim three years ago with no French even though I did French at school, sorry Ms Mc Sweeney!!
These ladies deserve huge credit for the time and effort they put in. The time is now for this team to go out a show the world what this team is made of!! A quick word for another Irish lady in action over the next few weeks, referee Joy Neville will officiate at this World Cup. It is a huge honour for her and her family.
Sit back and enjoy the next three weeks, you won’t be disappointed, Trust me!!
By
Cian Mc Gibney
08/08/2017
Ireland World Cup Squad
Tom Tierney this morning announced his squad that will play in the 2017 World Cup on home soil between August 9th and 26th in UCD in Dublin and the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Tierney has selected only one uncapped player in the shape of scrum half Nicole Cronin who has ample 7s experience and will get the opportunity to test herself against a number of top sides and players over the coming weeks.
Ireland will take on France, Australia and Japan in Pool C at this year’s renewal of the competition in which Ireland finished 4th at the World Cup in 2014 out in France. Niamh Briggs will lead the charge from the front after recovering from an injury that has restricted her over the last 12 months. Her last appearance in Green came in November 2016 when she led out Ireland against New Zealand at the UCD Bowl.
Players like Jenny Murphy , Ruth O Reilly and Sophie Spence make a welcome return after injury ruled them out a various stages over the past few months. Tom Tierney has spent the past three years shaping this squad to take on the challenge of a home World Cup. The 2015 Six Nations win showed that the Grand Slam win of 2013 wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Since the World Cup in 2014 the Women’s game has gone from strength to strength in Ireland with an ever improving league where all the home based players are in regular competition against each other.
The first XV probably picks itself for game 1, all the heavy hitters will be given the first bite of the cherry in the match against Australia. From there they will face two familiar foes in the shape of France and Japan who they recently faced in a warm up fixture in early May.
Having beaten France in the Six Nations earlier this year on home soil Ireland will know they will need to be 100% for each fixture because one lapse in concentration could cost them dearly. I am sure Tom Tierney and his coaching staff will drill that particular point into the players as the World Cup draws ever nearer.
Over the last season or so , Ireland have had to chop and change the starting XV to facilitate the ever expanding demand for players due to their commitments on the 7s circuit. The game of 7s has had a renascence in Ireland over the last few years in both the Women’s and Men’s codes. Both squads will participate in World Cup campaign’s next summer.
This particular experiment has benefitted both the 7s and 15s games in this country. Anthony Eddy who is the 7s director of Rugby at the IRFU and hewill be part of Tom Tierney’s coaching team and will be crucial over the next few weeks in helping to shape this squad into a team capable of going a step further than 2014 where they finished 4th behind France , Canada and Champions England.
England of course will feel there are best placed to defend the crown they won in the Stade Jean Bouin 3 years ago. They have moved on from that triumph by handing out over 50 full time contracts in the aftermath of that win. It now seems that this will be the final few weeks of those players contracts as the RFU seems set to only hand out a smaller number of full time deals when the 2017 World Cup ends. The RFU is going to concentrate on qualifying for Tokyo 2020.
This competition is going to be a very interesting one where a number of the 12 sides will fancy their chances at dethroning England. Ireland , France , Canada and New Zealand are 4 sides well equipped to challenge the Red Rose.
Enjoy the competition over the next few weeks and admire the skills on show. I would dearly love Ireland to better their 4th place finish from 2014, only time will tell….
By
Cian Mc Gibney
24/07/2017