Third in this year’s Six Nations, which qualified Ireland for next year’s World Cup in England, beating Australia a few weeks ago in Belfast and stunning the world champions New Zealand in Vancouver at the WXV tournament makes for what any coach would see as verifiable progress.
Beating the Black Ferns 29-27 with a conversion from Dannah O’Brien in the last minute also moved Ireland up one place in the world rankings on Monday from seventh to sixth. Their opponents on Saturday, Canada, moved from third place to second in the world after beating France 46-24.
Ireland have now opened up the possibility of winning successive games against different world number two teams, New Zealand on Sunday and Canada this weekend.
When coach Scott Bemand was appointed in July 2023, Ireland were ranked a lowly 10th in the world. Things have changed dramatically.
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“We always, first and foremost, we want to be a hard team to play against,” said Bemand after the New Zealand game. “At 60 minutes when we were in it, we started to believe more and more.
“Obviously, they came out pretty fast and there was a bit of hanging on to start with but as the girls started to adapt to the pace of it then we really started to believe in what we doing behind the scenes and how that transmits to the pitch.
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“We are building minutes, we are building important moments within games, which feeds the confidence bank, so we’re getting there. It’s an important step, a really big moment for this group and a really big moment for Irish women’s rugby. But we’ll not get ahead of ourselves.”
Bemand pointed to an imperfect, but much more solid Irish set piece as well as the different units beginning to connect effectively. The arrival of new coaches over 12 months ago has added a different complexion to the back room team.
Hugh Hogan has come as defence coach, Alex Codling takes the forwards, while former Irish Under 21 and Exeter Chiefs outhalf, Gareth Steenson, is the kicking coach. Former women’s international Marie Louise Reilly has also taken up a role with the squad.
“The belief in one another, the connections . . . we’ve brought some new coaches in and [I’m] delighted to see their work come to fruition,” added Bemand.
“We’ve invested on our pack. We wanted more from our set piece and against a strong New Zealand team it wasn’t all perfect but we were able to drive them, we were able to hold our own in the scrum and the kicking game that can really only come to life if you can defend high up the pitch.
“We put them in the positions we wanted to and I think it’s pretty reflective of where we’ve put our work. So, the forwards piece, the defensive piece and the girls bringing it to life. We defended for our lives for each other inside our own half. It’s been a bit of heart, soul and effort that kept us in the game.”
Beating the Black Ferns, who have won six of the last seven World Cup tournaments, if nothing else has earned Ireland respect and with the World Cup draw taking place after the WXV is completed in October, they will be seen as a team to avoid when the pools are decided.
Canada are of a similar mindset to Ireland after beating France 46-24 in their opening game, which they see as one of the first steps towards meeting their ambition of being crowned world champions in Twickenham next year.
“Our goal is to win the World Cup, and that starts now,” said Canadian captain Tyson Beukeboom.
“But not everything’s gonna go perfectly right now. It’d be great if it does. But we’re here to build. We’re here to get better and be prepared when we do get to that World Cup final.”
Australian-born Erin King who came off the bench for her second cap to heavily impact the match with two tries, after competing at the Olympic Games in August for the Irish Sevens team, is one of the new look Irish players.
Amee-Lee Murphy Crowe, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Emily Lane and Stacy Flood, also Olympians from the summer, are influencing the shape the team is taking. While some of the cap numbers are low, their experience of the Olympics and World Series environment as well as their skill sets makes for a sharp learning curve but an exciting one.
Flanker Aoife Wafer who earned player of the match and, like King, scored twice, with nine caps is another of the relatively new faces and outstanding prospects punching through.
“I think we’ve got two superstars coming through but neither one can do it on their own,” cautioned Bemand.
“There’s performances across the board out there really. Not singling people out but we’ve got a couple of special players coming through. The rest of the group is giving them the platform to perform and that’s what it’s all about.”
The Round 2 game against Canada takes place at The Langley Events Centre in British Columbia on Saturday at 11.45pm Irish time.
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