Strong Finish Steers Ireland To Bonus Point Success

Ireland punished the USA’s indiscipline with three final-quarter tries to end their WXV1 campaign with a rewarding 26-14 bonus point win at BC Place.

WXV1 – ROUND 3:

Friday, October 11 –

USA 14 IRELAND 26, BC Place, Vancouver
Scorers: USA: Tries: Hope Rogers 2; Cons: McKenzie Hawkins 2
Ireland: Tries: Erin King, Penalty try, Clíodhna Moloney, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe; Cons: Nicole Fowley, Pen try Con, Dannah O’Brien
HT: USA 14 Ireland 7

On the occasion of her 50th cap, USA prop Hope Rogers powered over for two tries, her second one coming on the stroke of half-time as Ireland were left trailing 14-7.

Mastercard player-of-the-match Erin King’s quick thinking from a penalty had delivered her third try of the tournament, but a scrappy third quarter meant only a grandstand finish would do for Scott Bemand’s charges.

A penalty try levelled matters, and just as Canada had done to them last weekend, Ireland were clinical in capitalising on yellow cards as they made it two victories out of three on their WXV1 debut.

With Tahlia Brody already in the sin bin, replacement Clíodhna Moloney’s eighth international try came from a maul, and captain Enya Breen released Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe to complete the scoring in the 75th minute.

The USA were twice down to 13 players during the closing stages, with replacement Rachel Ehreckle and Rachel Johnson’s yellows also overlapping. The result leaves the girls in green in second place ahead of Saturday’s final two fixtures.

This was their highest ever score against the US Eagles, beating the 23 points they accumulated during a 2014 Rugby World Cup pool clash. 12 points represents the biggest Irish winning margin in this match-up after two previous 10-point triumphs in 2010 and 2021.

WXV3 champions last October, it has been a year of serious progress for the Ireland Women, with their third place finish in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, and qualification for England 2025, sparking a real upsurge in form.

They now head into a Rugby World Cup year having won five of their last seven Tests – and three out of four in this memorable autumn block – and their performances, whilst making the daunting step up to WXV’s top tier, certainly bode well for 2025 and beyond.

USA flanker Brody disrupted an early Irish lineout, but Aoife Wafer quickly responded with a turnover penalty. The Ballygarrett youngster was involved twice in a promising set of attacking phases, bursting down the blindside to good effect.

However, the USA stood firm with Stacey Flood held up when the pass to Murphy Crowe was the better option. A close-in lineout was soon lost out the back, following Breen’s neat offload to link up with Murphy Crowe.

Despite penalties and Nicole Fowley’s big right boot putting Ireland into good positions, untimely errors prevented them from building a score, and King had to chase back to bundle Lotte Sharp into touch after a Brody break from deep.

The USA took the lead by the end of the opening quarter, though, as Cheta Emba increased her threat out wide. The forwards showed ominous strength through quick-fire carries, and Rogers crossed with support from Brody. McKenzie Hawkins made it a seven-pointer.

Eimear Considine forced a penalty at the breakdown, in response to a midfield burst from Hallie Taufoou. It was also tit-for-tat in the forward exchanges, as the American maul defence came up trumps before Ireland fired back with a scrum penalty.

The jinking feet of Murphy Crowe took Bemand’s charges back into the USA 22, and although Hawkins was able to kick clear, King reacted quickest to an offside penalty in the 27th minute. She tapped, fended off Bulou Mataitoga and crashed over past two more defenders.

Following Fowley’s well-struck levelling conversion, Niamh O’Dowd made sure she was first to a loose US lineout, and then Neve Jones covered a kick through from Emba that bounced just past the Irish try-line.

A couple of Irish set-piece launches failed to come off, and it was the US who headed to the dressing rooms with the scoreboard in their favour. Alev Kelter and skipper Kate Zackary took them into scoring range, and Rogers drove in low again for Hawkins to convert.

Although Fiona Tuite had a good steal before the interval, Ireland still had some lineout issues to iron out on the resumption. A rather listless third quarter saw neither team able to seize control, with O’Dowd and Wafer both prominent as tacklers and jacklers.

Sevens flyer Emba continued to catch the eye, released by Gabby Cantorna’s cross-field kick before Breen forced a knock-on from the winger a few phases later. As the US came again through Erica Jarrell, Linda Djougang ripped possession away from her.

Brittany Hogan was having another big game for Ireland, particularly in defence where he got an important tackle in on Paige Stathopoulos, and then drew a knock-on from her opposite number Johnson.

A crucial moment came in the 62nd minute, with replacement Molly Scuffil-McCabe able to break at pace off a scrum, combining with Considine to push the US right back onto their try-line. Scuffil-McCabe’s subsequent pass was caught by Brody in an offside position.

With the retreating Sharp also offside on the replays, and Wafer set for a probable try in the right corner, the TMO review ended with referee Maggie Cogger-Orr awarding a levelling penalty try and sin-binning the Leicester Tigers back rower.

Now with the lion’s share of territory, Ireland edged further forward on the back of a series of American knock-ons. King’s footballing skills at a scrum retained possession for her side, and when the attack went wide, Ehrecke saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.

The world’s sixth-ranked outfit made their numerical advantage count as Moloney, having connected with King in the air, had enough of her fingertips on the ball for TMO Andrew McMenemy to confirm her 72nd-minute try.

Dannah O’Brien’s crisp strike from the tee made it 21-14, and with Andrea Stock and Ruth Campbell coming on to immediately play their part in a scrum penalty, the bonus point score was just around the corner.

Breen’s cross-field kick set up Considine to raid deep into the American 22. The forwards rumbled on, including a big carry from replacement Siobhán McCarthy, before Murphy Crowe, picked out by Breen’s long pass, broke through Sharp’s tackle to dive over out wide.

TMO McMenemy drew the referee’s attention to Johnson’s high tackle on Wafer during the build-up. Her yellow meant the US saw out the game with 13 players, and fittingly it was Wafer, a class act across the three rounds, who won a breakdown decision in the last play.

TIME LINE: 17 minutes – USA try: Hope Rogers – 5-0; conversion: McKenzie Hawkins – 7-0; 27 mins – Ireland try: Erin King – 7-5; conversion: Nicole Fowley – 7-7; 40 mins – USA try: Hope Rogers – 12-7; conversion: McKenzie Hawkins – 14-7; Half-time – USA 14 Ireland 7; 62 mins – Ireland penalty try & conversion – 14-14; USA yellow card: Tahlia Brody; 70 mins – USA yellow card: Rachel Ehrecke; 72 mins – Ireland try: Clíodhna Moloney – 14-19; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 14-21; 75 mins – Ireland try: Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe – 14-26; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 14-26; yellow card: Rachel Johnson; Full-time – USA 14 Ireland 26

USA: Bulou Mataitoga (Loughborough Lightning); Cheta Emba (USA Sevens), Alev Kelter (Loughborough Lightning), Gabby Cantorna (Exeter Chiefs), Lotte Sharp (Saracens); McKenzie Hawkins (Colorado Gray Wolves), Cassidy Bargell (Beantown RFC); Hope Rogers (Exeter Chiefs), Kathryn Treder (Loughborough Lightning), Charli Jacoby (Exeter Chiefs), Erica Jarrell (Sale Sharks), Hallie Taufoou (Loughborough Lightning), Tahlia Brody (Leicester Tigers), Kate Zackary (Trailfinders Women) (capt), Rachel Johnson (Exeter Chiefs).

Replacements used: Keia Mae Sagapolu (Leicester Tigers) for Jacoby (half-time), Paige Stathopoulos (Beantown RFC) for Treder (53 mins), Tess Feury (Leicester Tigers) for Emba (55), Emily Henrich (Leicester Tigers) for Cantorna (62), Rachel Ehrecke (Colorado Gray Wolves) for Jarrell (65), Taina Tukuafu (Lindenwood University) for Bargell (66), Maya Learned (Colorado Gray Wolves) for Rogers (69), Tessa Hann (Colorado Gray Wolves) for Brody (74).

IRELAND: Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC); Eimear Considine (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) (capt), Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC/Munster); Nicole Fowley (Galwegians RFC/Connacht), Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC); Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs/Munster), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC), Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster).

Replacements used: Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for Fowley (half-time), Clíodhna Moloney (Exeter Chiefs) for Jones, Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Leinster) for Lane (both 59 mins), Siobhán McCarthy (Gloucester-Hartpury/Munster) for O’Dowd, Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC) for Flood (both 63), Andrea Stock (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby) for Djougang, Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) for Tuite (both 74), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere RFC/Munster) for King (76).

Referee: Maggie Cogger-Orr (New Zealand)