November Review
So as November 2016 draws to a close for both our men’s and women’s teams, what a contrasting 4 weeks it has been for each team with the Women’s team playing a historic 3 match Series at the UCD Bowl where England, Canada and New Zealand were the visitors to the venue that will host these 4 teams in next year’s World Cup.
Unfortunately for Tom Tierney and his squad it won’t be remembered as a very successful Series because they were defeated by the three sides with Canada and New Zealand putting Ireland to the sword beating them comfortably each time Canada winning 48-7 and New Zealand winning 38-3.
These two heavy defeats coupled with the more modest defeat to England has presented Tom Tierney and his coaches with a number of issues before the 2017 Six Nations and with a World Cup on home soil it is hugely important for both coaches and squad that they get the chance to iron out the issues that have arisen. A lack of cohesion in attack was a real problem and poor defending was a constant problem.
All three teams targeted the 10-12 axis of Sene Naoupu and Nora Stapleton and had varying degrees of success with Canada and New Zealand really punishing poor Irish defending on many occasions. On the flip side , a few Irish players put in strong performances over the three games with Claire Molloy , Paula Fitzpatrick and Mairead Coyne in particular coming to the fore and really showing why they are some of our key players heading into a tough 2017.
Many players have now been capped and one hopes that the sobering results of the past three weeks can be learned from and Ireland rediscover something close to the form that saw them make the 3rd place World Cup play off at the 2014 World Cup.
Moving to the men’s team who played 4 games this November beginning with that historic win over New Zealand in the novel setting of Soldier Field in Chicago, 111 years of heartbreak was clinically put to bed with a fantastic performance that saw Ireland score 5 tries and beat New Zealand by 40 points to 29 and also playing the type of rugby that The All Blacks are famed for. It was so special to watch. Then onto Canada where players like Gary Ringrose, James Tracey and Luke Mc Grath got the opportunity to put their hand up for continued selection in future Joe Schmidt squads.
Ireland then played New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium in the 2nd Test between the two sides with The All Blacks winning a tough match 21-9. Finally it was Australia in the final Test match of the year with Australia looking to continue their quest for a Tour Grand Slam of wins last achieved in 1984. This game was absolutely crucial as a marker of how far Ireland have come since defeat to Argentina in Cardiff in October 2015.
The three wins gained in November have given Ireland a real confidence boost heading into the 2017 Six Nations. Beating the so called “Big Three” in the past 6 months has also shown how far the team has come. The work done by Andy Farrell as defence coach has been a massive plus since he joined up in June. The discipline shown by Ireland has been another huge step forward.
Joe Schmidt has always said the team that gives away the fewest penalties in a game will win and this theory has certainly been in practice over the past 4 weeks. It was a special month for all involved in Irish rugby with a win over the much vaunted All Blacks finally crossed off the “To Do List” The possibilities are now endless for Joe Schmidt and he ever improving squad.
2017 will be a big year for both the men’s team and women’s team with the women facing a home World Cup and the men facing a Six Nations where they have a real shot at glory with a Championship or even a Grand Slam on offer…..
By
Cian Mc Gibney
28/11/2016
