Ireland Vs New Zealand Women
Ireland finished there November Test Series with a 38-8 defeat against New Zealand. Combine that with defeats to England and Canada. Ireland have tested out some new players in a bid to try and build a squad capable of competing at next year’s World Cup in Ireland.
Today’s game saw the return of a number of key players with Niamh Briggs , Marie Louise Reilly and Claire Molloy among the players to come back into the first XV after the record defeat to Canada last week. Tom Tierney will realise his charges are still a bit away from being the finished article.
They have gone 0 from 3 in this Test Series but if they learn the lessons of the past three weeks, this tough period will not have been in vain. Looking to the more positive points players like Mairead Coyne, Claire Molloy and Paula Fitzpatrick have led from the front during this Series.
Looking at this afternoon’s game, New Zealand only led 5-3 at the break and it could have been much better for Ireland had Nora Stapleton landed a second penalty effort but she was unsuccessful and New Zealand who had spent most of a very fractured 1st half on the front foot and it also saw either side give away a number of penalties.
New Zealand to their credit stuck to the game plan that saw them get the ball wide at every opportunity and into the hands of the dangerous pair Selica Winata and Portia Woodman, this tactic saw the pair contribute 5 tries between them, Woodman scoring a hat trick from outside centre.
This New Zealand side never took the foot off the gas when they got a sniff of an opportunity. Ireland for their part defended well in the opening 40 minutes but just could not live with the pace a precision of the Black Fern attack throughout a frantic 2nd 40 that saw them ramp up the pressure and totally dominate Ireland.
Looking to next season’s Six Nations, Tom Tierney will know he needs to get his team firing and taking advantage of the chances they create. The Set Piece was one facet of Ireland’s play that worked really well and it can be a key corner stone of the Irish recovery.
Here’s hoping that the harsh lessons of the past three weeks can be learned from and they can get the recovery going before the 2017 Six Nations. Only time will tell….
By
Cian Mc Gibney
27/11/2016
