‘We Can’t Wait To Be At Home Again In Cork’ – Dalton

Ireland (sponsored by Aon) laid down a marker for the rest of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations with a record victory against the Italians in Parma, scoring eight tries in all with Dalton powering over for the opener inside two minutes.

The strong-running centre made 32.2 metres – and 17.8 post-contact metres – from nine ball carries, and had two linebreaks and beat two defenders.

She made 15 tackles as Ireland’s leading defender in the back-line, and had one crucial intervention to hold up Gaia Maris as Italy looked to turn a late bout of pressure into points just before half-time.

“I think just after coming on the back of last week we knew we left a lot out there, and our execution just really let us down at times,” said Dalton afterwards, reflecting on how they bounced back from the first round defeat to France.

“To come out here today and to be able to score 50 points, that’s huge for us. I’m just delighted for the whole squad.

“Delighted for all the girls, all our staff, because the work we’ve put in this week, just so much went into it because we knew we weren’t good enough last week.”

Winning away from home in the Six Nations has proven difficult for Ireland in recent seasons, and you have to go back to Cardiff in April 2021 for their last away triumph in the tournament before Scott Bemand’s side put the Azzurre to the sword.

It meant even more for the players to do it at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, a venue which holds bad memories of their unsuccessful bid to qualify for the last Rugby World Cup, and to also overcome a team they lost to in frustrating circumstances at the RDS last year.

Dalton was just pleased that they were able to translate what they had done in training into five well-earned match points, particularly cutting down on those individual errors that hampered them against France in the first round.

“To be honest, I think we came under pressure last week and we weren’t able to deal with it. All training we worked on that and spoke about it in our reviews,” admitted the 21-year-old.

“You know Italy are a fantastic side, they came to Dublin last year and beat us so we knew what we were facing this week, and the challenge that it would be. But yeah, we’re just delighted.”

Hailing from Clara, County Offaly, Dalton has experienced her share of ups and downs in the green jersey since her try-scoring debut as a teenager during the 2022 tour to Japan. Ireland were winless in the following year’s Six Nations, finishing bottom of the table.

Thankfully the squad has been back on an upward trajectory in the last 18 months. She has played in all bar one of the 14 matches under Bemand, making 10 starts and scoring tries against Kazakhstan (2), France, Australia, and Italy.

She wore the number 12 jersey for five Tests during the 2023/24 season, before switching to the number 13 shirt for the current campaign with her run of starts bookended by try-scoring displays in Belfast and Parma.

Pairing up with either Eve Higgins or Enya Breen in midfield, Dalton continues to quietly go about her business, her effectiveness on both sides of the ball making her a pivotal member of an Irish back-line that now boasts the speed and spark of those Paris Olympians.

“Oh God I’m definitely not the star in the back-line, with all the Sevens girls here now! The girls are brilliant, I’ll go back and share this (award) with them.

“I feel like it was a complete team performance, and I’d say there were a good few names up for it (the player-of-the-match).”

In addition, Dalton’s influence across the 80 minutes against Italy earned her a nomination for the Guinness Women’s Six Nations player of the round honour. She is shortlisted along with England’s Ellie Kildunne, and France duo Manaé Feleu and Pauline Bourdon Sansus. Click here to vote.

The Old Belvedere star’s centre partnership with Higgins got an opportunity to grow further during the recent Celtic Challenge. The pair made eight appearances each and scored 12 tries between them as they helped the Wolfhounds to become back-to-back champions.

Earlier this season she was ever-present at outside centre as Leinster retained the Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship title. Maintaining her presence in the Ireland team is the aim for the rest of the Six Nations, with the Rugby World Cup looming large on the horizon.

Having opened their win account for the calendar year and climbed up to third in the Six Nations table, Ireland will make the most of the rest week ahead of an exciting round 3 clash with England at Virgin Media Park on Saturday week (April 12).

Bemand’s charges last played in Cork last April, when they ran out 36-5 winners over Wales in front of over 6,000 fans. Dalton is looking forward to their return next week and having the backing of that vocal home support.

“We’ll definitely celebrate in the dressing room, but I’m sure when we come back next week, and we’ll have a bit of rest, then we’ll be back in and get ready for England.

“It’s our second home game so we can’t wait to be at home again in Cork, and hopefully have loads of fans come support us,” she added.