Six-Try Ireland Mark 150th Year Celebrations In Fitting Fashion

The Ireland Women (sponsored by Aon) produced a performance to match the occasion as they surged to a superb 36-10 win over Australia at Kingspan Stadium.

IRISH RUGBY 150TH ANNIVERSARY TEST MATCH:

Saturday, Seotember 14 –

IRELAND WOMEN 36 AUSTRALIA WOMEN 10, Kingspan Stadium
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Aoife Dalton, Aoife Wafer 2, Eimear Considine, Eve Higgins, Cliodhna Moloney; Cons: Dannah O’Brien, Enya Breen 2
Australia: Tries: Maya Stewart 2
HT: Ireland 17 Australia 5

The teams’ first meeting in over seven years was given added gloss with the IRFU using the Belfast fixture to kick off Irish Rugby’s 150th Anniversary celebrations, as the new international season got under way.

Led by Edel McMahon, Ireland also wore a special commemorative kit, with the classic design taking inspiration from the 1875 origins.

That inspiration soon spred across the pitch as Scott Bemand’s team delivered a statement victory over the world’s fifth-ranked side, watched by an attendance of 3,576.

An electric opening saw Aoife Dalton and player-of-the-match Aoife Wafer touch down after four and 12 minutes respectively. Australian winger Maya Stewart sandwiched in an unconverted score.

Wind-backed Ireland were thriving off Molly Scuffil-McCabe’s quick service, and a late opportunist try from Eimear Considine, who is back from having a baby and undergoing ACL surgery, made it 17-5 at half-time.

On a day when there were four Ireland debutants, with new lock Ruth Campbell really announcing herself in the forward exchanges, further tries from Wafer, and replacements Eve Higgins and Cliodhna Moloney, closed out a very satisfying result.

As a warm-up for Ireland’s WXV1 debut in Vancouver, this was a very valuable afternoon’s work for Bemand’s new-look coaching team, who have made a strong start in building on the momentum gained towards the end of last season.

Nonetheless, the opposition will only get tougher in the coming weeks with World champions New Zealand, Canada, and the USA lying in wait. Having claimed the scalp of Australia, McMahon and her team-mates will be targeting further gains in the coming weeks.

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe’s turnover penalty set the tone for Ireland, who used the subsequent lineout maul to power up to 10 metres out. The forwards battered away off a second penalty, before Vicky Elmes Kinlan, on her debut, went close from her first touch.

Returning full-back Considine helped to tidy up loose possession, and then Dannah O’Brien pulled the trigger, allowing Dalton to take a hard line onto her fizzing pass and crash over near the posts. O’Brien’s left boot took care of the conversion.

With their scrum forcing a penalty, Australia were quick to respond on the scoreboard. After applying some pressure inside the Irish 22, they worked some space on the right for Stewart to cut inside Considine’s tackle for a well-taken five-pointer.

Nonetheless, Ireland had restored their seven-point lead by the quarter hour mark. Scrum half Scuffil-McCabe continued to put good pace on the ball, and Neve Jones connected well with Dorothy Wall and Campbell at successive lineouts.

Following up on strong carries by McMahon and Brittany Hogan, fellow back rower Wafer was unstoppable from close range as slick hands from Scuffil-McCabe and O’Brien created the opening. The latter’s conversion attempt from the left went wide.

Some robust Irish defence, coupled with an overthrown Australian lineout which Wafer gobbled up, launched the girls in green forward soon after. The home fans raised the decibel level as Murphy Crowe threatened out wide, and Linda Djougang did likewise further infield.

A penalty at ruck time robbed the hosts of that momentum, but the wind was making it difficult for Australia to exit. Desiree Miller, the scorer of four tries against Fiji in July, was hauled down by Elmes Kinlan for Wafer to win a penalty at the breakdown.

Despite some handling errors creeping in, Ireland clawed back possession with some terrific counter-rucking from Dalton and McMahon. Ashley Marsters’ bulldozing carry had Australia back inside the opposition 22, only for Stewart to knock on a few phases later.

Ireland were unable to build of a fine burst by Wafer from a scrum, and O’Brien’s left boot was needed to get Ireland out of a tricky situation after a Lori Cramer kick had caused some problems for the retreating Considine.

Just before the interval, some Australian indecision saw a Natalie Wright pass go loose, and Considine hacked the ball through past the Wallaroos’ 10-metre line. She was able to gather it up and go over untouched near the right corner.

Australia got some joy at scrum time, early on the resumption, but Ulster’s own Hogan stole the resulting lineout. Wafer and Wright traded turnovers as the game’s pace ramped up again, and the advancing Wallaroos were left frustrated by a Marsters knock-on.

The ever-ready Campbell made up for conceding a penalty by snatching back a lineout ball, Elmes Kinlan’s good timing at the breakdown led to a clearing penalty before Bemand began to unload his high-quality bench.

New cap King was one of six replacements introduced in a flurry of activity on the touchline, and she swiftly got her hands on the ball to make an incisive carry during what was a scrappy third quarter.

Stacey Flood’s introduction saw Considine switch to the wing, and Enya Breen moved to out-half following O’Brien’s withdrawal. The Paris Olympians showed their ball-playing ability, with Higgins popping up twice during another fluid and quick-witted attack.

Ireland’s back row proved destructive once again in opening up the Australian defence, with Wafer and King leading the charge. It was Breen’s brilliantly-timed pass that put Higgins over in the 58th minute, with the Skibbereen native adding the extras.

Now 24-5 in front, the home side continued to look sharper in both defence and attack. Djougang forced a knock-on from Bridie O’Gorman, and even when Dalton threw an intercept pass, she got in at the next breakdown to win turnover ball.

Higgins’ arcing pass gave Wafer the chance to stretch her legs down the left wing, as Ireland pressed for more scores. Djougang had a close-range try ruled out for a prior knock-on by Wafer, spotted by TMO Ian Tempest.

The Australian defence was carved open in slick fashion in the 68th minute. Flood collected Arabella McKenzie’s kick near halfway, sucked in three defenders and offloaded for Murphy Crowe, who broke up into the 22 and dangled a pass behind her for Wafer to finish off from 20 metres out.

Breen’s pinpoint conversion from the left was followed by a Campbell lineout steal, although Australia did manage to reduce the arrears to 31-10. An overlap developed on the right for Cecilia Smith to send Stewart over to complete her brace.

A TMO review then saw Breen miss out on a breakaway try, with a Campbell pass adjudged to have gone forward. However, Ireland did eventually have the final say, building another eye-catching attack through the running of Hogan, Flood, and Higgins.

A penalty set up a lineout eight metres out, and Moloney connected with Fiona Tuite before a powerful drive, which Dalton joined, ended with Ireland’s replacement hooker grounding the ball. Breen’s final kick bounced wide off the near right hand post.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Ireland try: Aoife Dalton – 5-0; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 7-0; 8 mins – Australia try: Maya Stewart – 7-5; conversion: missed by Lori Cramer – 7-5; 12 mins – Ireland try: Aoife Wafer – 12-5; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 12-5; 38 mins – Ireland try: Eimear Considine – 17-5; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 17-5; Half-time – Ireland 17 Australia 5; 58 mins – Ireland try: Eve Higgins – 22-5; conversion: Enya Breen – 24-5; 68 mins – Ireland try: Aoife Wafer – 29-5; conversion: Enya Breen – 31-5; 72 mins – Australia try: Maya Stewart – 31-10; conversion: missed by Arabella McKenzie – 31-10; 77 mins – Ireland try: Cliodhna Moloney – 36-10; conversion: missed by Enya Breen – 36-10; Full-time – Ireland 36 Australia 10

IRELAND WOMEN: Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster); Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC/Munster), Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC/Munster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Leinster); Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury) Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs/Munster), Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Edel McMahon (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht) (capt), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster).

Replacements used: Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for O’Dowd (47 mins), Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC) for O’Brien, Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC) for McMahon, Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster) for Wall, Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC) for Scuffil-McCabe, Clíodhna Moloney (Exeter Chiefs) for Jones, Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC) for Elmes Kinlan (all 51), Siobhán McCarthy (Gloucester-Hartpury/Munster) for Haney (67).

AUSTRALIA WOMEN: Lori Cramer (University of Queensland); Maya Stewart (Nelson Bay Gropers), Georgina Friedrichs (Wests Bulldogs), Cecilia Smith (Leeton Dianas), Desiree Miller (Eastern Suburbs); Faitala Moleka (Blacktown Scorpions), Natalie Wright (Wests Bulldogs); Bridie O’Gorman (Sydney University), Ashley Marsters (Booroondarra), Eva Karpani (Onkaparinga), Kaitlan Leaney (CSU Marlins), Michaela Leonard (Tuggeranong Vikings), Siokapesi Palu (Rockdale Rangers) (capt), Leilani Nathan (Hamilton Hawks), Tabua Tuinakauvadra (Tuggeranong Vikings).

Replacements used: Alapeta Ngauamo (Wests Bulldogs) for Karpani, Layne Morgan (Merewether Carlton) for Wright, Arabella McKenzie (Lightning Ridge Tigers) for Cramer (all 51 mins), Tiarna Molloy (Inverell Highlanders) for Marsters, Lucy Dinnen (Wanneroo) for Nathan (both 56), Lydia Kavoa (Eastern Suburbs) for O’Gorman, Tiarah Minns (Melbourne University/Manly Mermaids) for Leonard (both 70), Biola Dawa (Wagga Reddies) for Stewart (73).

Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy)