Ireland Women March Past Wales In Powerful Five-Try Performance

The Ireland Women reeled off five tries, including a last-minute penalty try, to comprehensively defeat higher-ranked Wales 31-12 in a Storm Ciara-affected clash at Energia Park.

Ireland put a poor first quarter-of-an-hour behind them to lead 17-5 at the interval, Beibhinn Parsons and Cliodhna Moloney both touching down for the second week running and Lauren Delany romping clear in the 33rd minute.

Wales made light of Gwenllian Pyrs’ sin-binning to get off the mark through Lauren Smyth, and their captain Siwan Lillicrap added a second half try. Yet Ireland were always at least twelve points clear, Linda Djougang powering over for a 42nd-minute bonus point try and the scrum delivering the final score.

The result saw Adam Griggs’ side avenge two recent defeats to Wales, who are ranked eighth in the world, and make it two wins-out-of-two in the 2020 Six Nations. They temporarily sit top of the table, given that England’s match against Scotland has been postponed until tomorrow afternoon.

A bonus point victory looked a hard ask early on, Ireland’s sloppy start summed up by Michelle Claffey’s fumble of the kick-off and her team-mates’ indiscipline. The visitors could not capitalise on the early platform offered by those penalties, with Anna Caplice, Delany and Sene Naoupu disrupting and forcing errors.

A maul near the right corner was the closest the Welsh came to scoring, and Parsons soon stung them with a 17th-minute try out of nothing. The swirling wind held up a Welsh kick outside their own 22, the teenage winger pouncing on the breaking ball and expertly jinking past three defenders to race over to the left of the posts.

The difficult conditions left Claire Keohane’s conversion attempt short of the target, but Parsons’ effort pointed the way for the girls in green. Kathryn Dane charged down Robyn Wilkins to spark another promising attack, although the Welsh scrambled well from prop Djougang’s initial charge.

The Ireland tighthead then pinched a Welsh lineout to set the wheels in motion for the second try. Djougang popped up with another carry and well-timed offload, and when Naoupu was released in midfield, she cleverly put pacy hooker Moloney away from the edge of the 22.

Keohane converted neatly for a 12-0 scoreline, and with their possession and territory continuing to rise, Ireland struck again seven minutes before the break. Lovely hands from Edel McMahon, Keohane and Eimear Considine allowed Delany to showcase her speed with a crisp cut in from the right wing and there was no one to catch her from 40 metres out.

However, despite losing prop Pyrs to the bin for a head-high tackle on Ciara Griffin, Wales clawed back a hard-earned five points right on half-time. Keira Bevan scampered through from a quick tap, and from a ruck five metres out, full-back Smyth went over untouched in the left corner.

Ireland hit back within two minutes of the restart, a strong set of phases owing much to Six Nations newcomer Judy Bobbett’s reliable carrying work. Claffey was also prominent in midfield before Lindsay Peat offloaded for Djougang to brilliantly shrug off two defenders, stay on her feet and crash over with Smyth hanging off her.

Topped up by Keohane’s close-in conversion, Ireland were now 24-5 to the good, yet the Welsh again showed their resilience. A nice lineout move almost paid dividends before Bevan’s flat pass put skipper Lillicrap over for a much-needed try, converted by Robyn Wilkins.

The worst of Storm Ciara’s impact was felt near the hour mark, heavy rain sheeting down right into the players’ faces and sending spectators scurrying for cover. Ireland stuck the ball up the jumper, showing admirable ball control and building sustained pressure through their forwards.

Number 8 Caplice impressed with a turnover and then a bullocking run up to the Welsh 22. Considine also had a smart counter-attacking run before her departure, and the freshly-introduced Dorothy Wall was determined to leave her physical imprint on the game.

Wales’ last hope of getting within a converted score was foiled by a turnover penalty from Moloney, the deserved player-of-the-match. Ireland made sure they ended the contest deep in Welsh territory with Wall’s terrific 35-metre run unfortunately spoiled by a subsequent knock-on from McMahon.

The hosts hunted down an elusive fifth try, aided by the energy and direction provided by replacement half-backs Nicole Cronin and Larissa Muldoon, who last played Test rugby at the 2017 World Cup. The pack responded, turning the scrum battle in their favour and driving up to the line to get their reward from referee Aimee Barrett-Theron.

TIME LINE: 17 minutes – Ireland try: Beibhinn Parsons – 5-0; conversion: missed by Claire Keohane – 5-0; 26 mins – Ireland try: Cliodhna Moloney – 10-0; conversion: Claire Keohane – 12-0; 33 mins – Ireland try: Lauren Delany – 17-0; conversion: missed by Claire Keohane – 17-0; 35 mins – Wales yellow card: Gwenllian Pyrs; 40 mins – Wales try: Lauren Smyth – 17-5; conversion: missed by Robyn Wilkins; Half-time – Ireland 17 Wales 5; 42 mins – Ireland try: Linda Djougang – 22-5; conversion: Claire Keohane – 24-5; 47 mins – Wales try: Siwan Lillicrap – 24-10; conversion: Robyn Wilkins – 24-12; 80+1 mins – Ireland try: Penalty try & con – 31-12; Full-time – Ireland 31 Wales 12

IRELAND WOMEN: Eimear Considine (UL Bohemians/Munster); Lauren Delany (Firwood Waterloo Ladies/IQ Rugby), Sene Naoupu (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Michelle Claffey (Blackrock/Leinster), Beibhinn Parsons (Ballinasloe/Connacht); Claire Keohane (Railway Union/Munster), Kathryn Dane (Old Belvedere/Ulster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Wasps/IQ Rugby), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Aoife McDermott (Railway Union/Leinster), Judy Bobbett (Blackrock/Leinster), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster) (capt), Edel McMahon (Wasps/Connacht/IQ Rugby), Anna Caplice (Harlequins/IQ Rugby).

Replacements used: Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster) for McDermott (58 mins), Dorothy Wall (Railway Union/Munster) for Griffin (62), Aoife Doyle (Railway Union/Munster) for Considine (64), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemians/Munster) for Dane (67), Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/Leinster) for Keohane (70), Laura Feely (Galwegians/Connacht) for Peat (71), Anne-Marie O’Hora (Galwegians/Connacht) for Feely (80). Not used: Victoria Dabanovich-O’Mahony (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

WALES WOMEN: Lauren Smyth (Ospreys); Jasmine Joyce (Worcester Warriors/Scarlets), Hannah Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Scarlets), Kerin Lake (Ospreys), Lisa Neumann (Firwood Waterloo Ladies/RGC); Robyn Wilkins (Cardiff Blues), Keira Bevan (Ospreys); Gwenllian Pyrs (RGC), Kelsey Jones (Ospreys), Cerys Hale (Cardiff Blues), Natalia John (Ospreys), Gwen Crabb (Ospreys), Alisha Butchers (Worcester Warriors/Scarlets), Manon Johnes (Cardiff Blues), Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys) (capt).

Replacements used: Cara Hope (Ospreys) for Lillicrap (36-43 mins, temp sub), Bethan Lewis (Scarlets) for John (half-time), Alex Callender (Scarlets) for Johnes (59), Georgia Evans (Cardiff Blues) for Butchers, Paige Randall (Cardiff Blues) for Joyce (both 67), Ffion Lewis (Scarlets) for Bevan, Hope for Pyrs (both 74), Molly Kelly (RGC) for K Jones, Ruth Lewis (Ospreys) for Hale (both 77).

Referee: Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa)