Ireland Women Take Positives Forward Into Scotland Clash

Despite leaking three late tries to England, the Ireland Women can take a number of positives forward into next week’s TikTok Women’s Six Nations final round clash with Scotland.

TIKTOK WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 4:

Saturday, April 22 –

IRELAND WOMEN 0 ENGLAND WOMEN 48, Musgrave Park
Scorers: Ireland: –
England: Tries: Sarah Beckett, Tatyana Heard, Ellie Kildunne, Marlie Packer, Morwenna Talling, Amber Reed, Alex Matthews 2; Cons: Lagi Tuima, Helena Rowland 3
HT: Ireland 0 England 27

Match Photo Gallery: Ireland 0 England 48

Nichola Fryday did her best to keep her inexperienced Ireland team in the contest at Musgrave Park, but England struck early and led 27-0 at half-time thanks to a five-try haul.

Sarah Beckett, who got the ball rolling inside two minutes, Tatyana Heard, Ellie Kildunne, captain Marlie Packer and replacement Morwenna Talling all crossed, with Lagi Tuima on target with just one of her conversions.

Greg McWilliams’ side frustrated England for much of the second half, threatening with some breaks of their own and putting themselves in promising maul positions before the lineout lapsed.

England’s strength-in-depth was key in getting the scoreboard moving again, with replacement Amber Reed and number 8 Alex Matthews (2) both getting over the whitewash in the final 12 minutes.

The world’s number one-ranked side hit the front after just a minute and 53 seconds, Sadia Kabeya using turnover ball to raid through the middle and good ball retention led to Beckett, the player-of-the-match, crossing in the left corner.

Ireland drew encouragement from a maul turnover, with Brittany Hogan showing her defensive skills, and their scrum also got off to a very strong start, albeit inside their own half.

Abby Dow was released out wide in the build-up to the visitors’ second try. They duly doubled their lead to 10-0 on the quarter hour mark as a terrific skip pass from Holly Aitchison put Heard over past Aoife Doyle’s tackle.

Continuing to pick up the pace, England profited from a crooked Irish lineout as their own set-piece ball led to a fine break and offload from Beckett. Ireland’s defence was caught narrow and Kildunne was fed out wide to score.

Packer crashed over from close range for the bonus point score, as Ireland’s missed tackles total rose. The England skipper spoiled the home side’s best opportunity by ripping the ball away from Fryday.

Despite some decent maul defence at times, the girls in green could not stop Talling touching down with her first touch. Tuima added her only successful conversion to extend the lead to 27 points.

The table toppers had to reshuffle their pack with Hannah Botterman and Packer both going off injured – two big concerns ahead of next week’s Twickenham showdown with France – and Ireland also lost Linda Djougang permanently following a HIA.

Early on the restart, Natasja Behan won back some much-needed territory for Ireland with a well-executed kick chase. They began to build some attacking phases, although Dannah O’Brien’s kicks were well covered by Aitchison.

Winger Behan also picked up an interception, but Ireland continue to have lineout issues with a fourth lost ball. Neve Jones responded in typical fashion by winning a turnover penalty – from her Gloucester-Hartpury club-mate Connie Powell.

It was England’s turn to give away successive penalties, the maul setting up well before Fryday carried forcefully in midfield. However, a Jones throw was pinched by Kabeya to keep Ireland scoreless.

With O’Brien miscuing a subsequent penalty to touch, England gradually worked their way back downfield with Kildunne’s silky running a feature. Aitchison could not find her with a cross-field kick on the hour mark.

Deirbhile Nic a Bháird’s nuggety play drove Ireland on, the excellent number 8 running her heart out as they pressed either side of the English 22-metre line. One lineout let them down, but Behan was able to snatch back some scrappy ball.

There were opportunities for the hosts out wide, but England scrambled well despite being sloppy themselves with ball in hand. Simon Middleton’s charges will have been frustrated with the amount of handling errors.

A forward pass from Sarah Bern ruled out a try for Kildunne, yet the replacement prop bounced back to win a scrum penalty. The possession was duly converted into a try, Reed the scorer after taking a short line onto a Aitchison pass.

The returning Helena Rowland tagged on the extras, the visitors building for more scores but Lauren Delany shut down Dow and a smashing break from deep by replacement Ailsa Hughes raised the decibel level from the home fans.

Ireland let England off the hook with a misplaced pass in midfield, and the reigning champions’ reinforced scrum laid the platform for two closing tries from Matthews.

The Gloucester-Hartpury back rower proved unstoppable from a few metres out, following a powerful maul and some loose Irish defending. A big scrum shove led to Matthews completing her brace past the 80-minute mark.

TIME LINE: 1 minute – England try: Sarah Beckett – 0-5; conversion: missed by  Lagi Tuima – 0-5; 15 mins – England try: Tatyana Heard – 0-10; conversion: missed by  Lagi Tuima – 0-10; 20 mins – England try: Ellie Kildunne – 0-15; conversion: missed by Lagi Tuima – 0-15; 25 mins – England try: Marlie Packer – 0-20; conversion: missed by Lagi Tuima – 0-20; 35 mins – England try: Morwenna Talling – 0-25; conversion: Lagi Tuima – 0-27; Half-time – Ireland 0 England 27; 70 mins – England try: Amber Reed – 0-32; conversion: Helena Rowland – 0-34; 77 mins – England try: Alex Matthews – 0-39; conversion: Helena Rowland – 0-41; 80+2 mins – England try: Alex Matthews – 0-46; conversion: Helena Rowland – 0-48; Full-time – Ireland 0 England 48

IRELAND WOMEN: Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby); Aoife Doyle (Railway Union RFC/Munster), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks/Ulster), Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union RFC/Leinster); Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Ulster), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht) (capt), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere RFC/Munster).

Replacements used: Kathryn Buggy (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby) for Djougang (28 mins), Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC/Connacht) for Irwin (34-39), McGann for Dalton (53), Jo Brown (Worcester Warriors/IQ Rugby) for Moore (55), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) for Scuffil-McCabe, Clara Nielson (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby) for Jones (both 64), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Hogan, Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) for Behan (both 66), Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry RFC/Cooke RFC/Ulster) for Haney (77).

ENGLAND WOMEN: Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins); Abby Dow (Harlequins), Lagi Tuima (Harlequins), Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury), Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs); Holly Aitchison (Saracens), Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury); Hannah Botterman (Saracens), Connie Powell (Gloucester-Hartpury), Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury), Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sarah Beckett (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning), Marlie Packer (Saracens) (capt), Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury).

Replacements used: Mackenzie Carson (Saracens) for Botterman (28 mins), Morwenna Talling (Loughborough Lightning) for Packer (35), Amber Reed (Bristol Bears) for Heard, Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning) for Tuima, Delaney Burns (Bristol Bears) for Aldcroft (all 52), Lark Davies (Bristol Bears) for Powell, Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears) for Muir (both 60), Lucy Packer (Harlequins) for Hunt (64).

Referee: Lauren Jenner (New Zealand)