McKee: Performance in second test key to making strides
It may have been a comprehensive victory for them in Saturday’s first test, but John McKee insists there are a number of areas the Ireland women’s rugby team can improve upon for their rematch with Japan in Tokyo this Saturday.
Despite falling 15-0 behind inside the opening-quarter at the Ecopa Stadium in Fukuroi City last weekend, Ireland subsequently blew off the cobwebs to come away with a 57-22 triumph. This is the highest tally an Irish team have accumulated in an international since claiming the Six Nations title in March 2015 with a 73-3 demolition of Scotland.
Nevertheless, McKee – who was drafted into Greg McWilliams’ set-up as an assistant coach for this window – believes there is another level that Nichola Fryday and her team-mates can reach in the second part of an historic summer tour.
“I think the speed of the game in the first stanza probably caught us out a little bit. You could see gaps in our defense in some areas. That partly led to some errors, but also just the lack of combinations from not having played or trained very much together,” McKee remarked from the squad’s hotel base in Tokyo.
“We will be better for another week together. We will be better with our combinations. Probably a couple of things that broke down combination-wise we’ll improve on. I don’t doubt they [Japan] will get better as well and they will look for some options to exploit us. We will be doing quite a bit of work on our defense this week, shoring up those connections.
“Also we are wary that if we do give them the opportunity on the edges, they are pretty quick and can exploit that. The team are very focused on the historic nature of this journey, the first overseas tour for the Irish women’s 15s and to really make a mark. We made a mark in the first game. To be really successful now, we need to make a mark in the second test as well.“
A native of Wellington in New Zealand, McKee brings a wealth of experience to the Irish backroom team. In addition to coaching the Fiji men’s team at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, he worked with Connacht as an assistant from 2002 to 2005.
His inclusion on the tour of Japan has been the subject of much intrigue and he explained how ended up coming on board.
“Last year I had worked on a project for World Rugby with Greg McWilliams and we had a little bit of association out of that. We also spent some time together when I was at World Rugby at another part of the year,” McKee added.
“That was the start of the association I guess and then David Nucifora, I’d known him from my time in Australia. I’d actually worked for the Academy in Australia, at the time he was Director of Rugby there. Out of that I’d an association with David as well. That’s sort of how it all came about.”