Breen’s special memories stored for latest Belfast tilt
For a very good reason, Cork native Enya Breen has special memories of when Ireland last entertained Scotland in a Women’s Six Nations game at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.
During their 2022 Championship meeting at the same venue, three unanswered penalties from Helen Nelson left the Irish six points adrift heading into stoppage-time and facing the prospect of a wooden spoon finish.
Yet with just over 83 minutes gone on the clock, relentless pressure from the hosts eventually told as Breen spotted a gap to cross the whitewash in clinical fashion.
She followed up this score with a nerveless conversion and instead of finishing at the foot of the table, Ireland leap-frogged both Italy and the Scots to claim fourth spot in the final standings. While her recollection of those dramatic closing moments isn’t necessarily vivid, Breen acknowledged it was a big moment in her international test career.
“I don’t relive it on the daily! It was a tight game two years ago, but we really felt in the last few minutes that we could clinch it. Luckily, I was the one to get over the line and have the opportunity to kick for the posts, but it was really all just about trusting that we’d get it done,” Breen explained in a press conference earlier this week.
“Once the kick came, it’s all just about a process really. It’s not everyday something like that happens. It was a special moment.”
This was a reversal of fortunes from the previous competitive showdown between the two nations at a World Cup qualification tournament held in Parma seven months earlier. Leading 18-13 during the closing stages of that contest, Ireland conceded a last-gasp converted try to end their hopes of reaching the following year’s RWC finals in New Zealand.
The World Cup is once again on the agenda today as a third-place finish in this year’s Six Nations offers the guarantee of a spot at the 2025 edition of the tournament – which is set to be held across the water in England.
Italy will be hoping to establish themselves as the ‘best of the rest’ behind England and France when they pay a visit to Wales for a 12.15pm start this afternoon, but both Ireland and Scotland will be in with a chance of securing third once the action gets underway in Belfast at 2.30pm.
One factor that could potentially push Ireland on in today’s game is the power of the home crowd. For their second round defeat to Italy at the RDS on March 31, 6,605 spectators were in attendance – setting a new record for a standalone Women’s Six Nations game on these shores.
Even though Cork’s Virgin Media Park only has an overall capacity of 8,008, a healthy total of 6,139 passed through the Leeside turnstiles to see Ireland comprehensively defeat Wales a fortnight ago.
With the IRFU’s social media pages revealing on Thursday morning that 6,600 tickets had already been sold, it looks like yet another record will be shattered in this afternoon’s clash.
Having played in front of a cauldron-like atmosphere in Twickenham last week, Breen (who returns to the Irish starting line-up in place of Aoife Dalton at inside centre) is acutely aware of the effect a partisan crowd can have on a team.
“I think a home crowd is always special. They really get behind us and give us nearly a 16th man at times. It’s huge for us to be able to connect with the crowd after as well. We really just love seeing the people there and hearing their support,” Breen added.
M Deely; K Corrigan, E Higgins, E Breen, B Parsons; D O’Brien, A Reilly; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; D Wall, S Monaghan; A Wafer, E McMahon, B Hogan.
C Moloney, N O’Dowd, S McGrath, F Tuite, S Ikahihifo, M Scuffil-McCabe, A Dalton, K Heffernan.
M Smith; C Grant, E Orr, L Thomson, F McGhie; H Nelson, C Mattinson; M Wright, L Skeldon, C Belisle; E Wassell, L McMillan; R Malcolm, A Stewart, E Gallagher.
E Martin, L Bartlett, E Clarke, E Donaldson, R McLachlan, M McDonald, C Bell, N Flynn.