Ireland Women Secure Seventh Place

Ireland ended their Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign with an impressive 32-8 victory over their Six Nations rivals Scotland, with the result seeing them finish seventh in the tournament overall.

IRB WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP: 7TH-8TH PLACE PLAY-OFF: Sunday, September 5

IRELAND WOMEN 32 SCOTLAND WOMEN 8, Surrey Sports Park

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Niamh Briggs 2, Eliza Downey 2, Orla Brennan; Cons: Niamh Briggs 2; Pen: Niamh Briggs
Scotland: Try: Donna Kennedy; Pen: Nicola Halfpenny

Click here to view highlights from the Ireland Women’s side’s World Cup play-off win over Scotland (the Irish match footage begins at 3 minutes, 15 seconds).

Both teams came into the match on the back of losses in the last round, but it was Ireland who hit back with the perfect reply, courtesy of an excellent all-round display.

The five-try win means that the girls in green finish the tournament having improved their world ranking by one spot to seventh, while Scotland were already assured, going into the match, of moving up a place themselves, finishing in eighth.

Ireland got off to a solid start when full-back Niamh Briggs kicked a penalty just minutes in to settle the nerves and having impressed from the off, their first try was not long coming when winger Eliza Downey pushed the lead out to 8-0.

The score came from a good burst from centre Joanne O’Sullivan which took play into Scotland’s 22 and then the ball went wide quickly to Downey who used her pace to dot down in the corner. The purposeful start had the Irish support on their feet as Philip Doyle’s side totally dominated the opening exchanges.

Briggs then produced a spectacular score, with a solo effort taking her on a mazy 60-metre run before she touched down under the posts. She kicked the conversion herself and Ireland were 15-0 up after just 12 minutes.

Scotland were finally jolted into life after the early flurry of Irish scores and they patiently worked their way into Ireland’s half with a series of good forward drives.

Setting up in the 22, a good lineout and well-orchestrated maul helped them over the line for their one and only try, with veteran flanker Donna Kennedy – winning her 115th cap on the day – touching down.

The Scots then put Ireland under sustained pressure as they enjoyed a period of dominance and it took some standout defence to keep them at bay towards the close of the first half as Scottish skipper Lynne Reid and lock Lindsay Wheeler ran hard.

To that end, Irish back row duo Claire Molloy and Joy Neville impressed with a number of crucial turnovers and great tackles, but Scotland’s pressure paid off when Nicola Halfpenny slotted a penalty to cut Ireland’s lead to 15-8 for half-time.

Much like the start of the opening half though, Ireland took to the pitch firing after the break. Some patient build-up play gave them excellent territory in the Scottish half. O’Sullivan and Molloy then linked up in the middle to help move the ball wide quickly to Downey who squeezed over in the corner for her second try of the match.

The Irish then found themselves down to 14 when lock Marie Louise O’Reilly was sent to the sin-bin for a ruck infringement, but Ireland coped well and picked up the tempo with some nice interplay between Downey, Neville and
Louise Beamish helping them get back into Scotland’s half.

Their fourth try was a carbon copy of the one they had conceded to Scotland in the first half, with a solid lineout drive seeing them muscle their way over the try-line in the exact spot Kennedy had scored. Orla Brennan, who had just come off the replacements bench, was the player to crash over and with Briggs nailing the kick from the touchline, Ireland were well on top.

Briggs helped add some gloss to the score when she went over for Ireland’s fifth try after quick hands released the pacy full-back out wide.

The Irish ended the game with 14 players as Neville, who once again had been one of the best players on the pitch, was binned for not rolling away in a ruck, but it made no difference to the outcome as Doyle’s charges saw out a satisfying day’s work.

The Irish players and management will be pleased with the strong finish to their World Cup run, and particularly the reaction from the squad after such a disappointing loss to the USA in midweek.

For all the latest Women’s Rugby World Cup news, views, reports and reaction, visit www.scrumqueens.com.

TIME LINE: 3 minutes – Ireland penalty: Niamh Briggs – 3-0; 9 mins – Ireland try: Eliza Downey – 8-0; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 8-0; 12 mins – Ireland try: Niamh Briggs – 13-0; conversion: Niamh Briggs – 15-0; 19 mins – Scotland try: Donna Kennedy – 15-5; conversion: missed by Nicola Halfpenny – 15-5; 31 mins – Scotland penalty: missed by Donna Kennedy – 15-5; 36 mins – Scotland penalty: Donna Kennedy – 15-8; Half-time – Ireland 15 Scotland 8; 44 mins – Ireland try: Eliza Downey – 20-8; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 20-8; 46 mins – Ireland yellow card: Marie Louise Reilly; 53 mins – Ireland try: Orla Brennan – 25-8; conversion: Niamh Briggs – 27-8; 65 mins – Ireland try: Niamh Briggs – 32-8; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 32-8; 70 mins – Ireland yellow card: Joy Neville; Full-time – Ireland 32 Scotland 8

IRELAND WOMEN: Niamh Briggs; Eliza Downey, Joanne O’Sullivan, Lynne Cantwell, Mairead Kelly; Helen Brosnan, Louise Beamish; Fiona Coghlan (capt), Gillian Bourke, Louise Austin, Kate O’Loughlin, Marie Louise Reilly, Carol Staunton, Claire Molloy, Joy Neville.

Replacements used: Sinead Ryan for Molloy (8-16 mins, blood sub), Orla Brennan for Staunton (half-time), Sinead Ryan for Molloy (56), Yvonne Nolan for Austin, Laura Guest for Coghlan (both 64), Amy Davis for Beamish, Shannon Houston for O’Sullivan, Jackie Shiels for Briggs (all 68).

SCOTLAND WOMEN: Nicola Halfpenny; Katy Green, Lucy Millard, Ronnie Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Johnston; Tanya Griffith, Sarah Gill; Heather Lockhart, Sarah-Louise Walker, Beth Dickens, Gillian McCord, Lindsay Wheeler, Lynne Reid (capt), Donna Kennedy, Susie Brown.

Replacements used: Louise Dalgliesh for Gill, Suzi Newton for Green (both 53 mins). Louise Moffatt for Dickens (58), Ruth Slaven for Kennedy (61), Alison McDonald for Walker (66), Lisa Martin for Griffith (69). Not used: Rosalind Murphy.

Referee: Joyce Henry (Canada)