RUGBY
Disappointment for Irish men but women’s team remain in Grand Slam hunt
By Daire Walsh
IT was a disappointing weekend in Wales for two of Ireland’s international sides, but with one game remaining against England this Friday (March 17) at Donnybrook, the women’s squad have another Grand Slam success in their sights.
Three consecutive wins over Scotland, Italy and France had placed Tom Tierney’s outfit in a positive position, and with Kilcullen native Jenny Murphy once again selected at outside centre, they were confident of continuing their impressive form in Cardiff Arms Park on Saturday morning.
Following their controversial absence from the French game, Alison Miller, Sene Naoupu and Hannah Tyrrell returned to the Irish starting line-up from the sevens set-up. Tyrrell has played with the Dublin ladies football team in the past, and it was another former Sky Blue player – Lindsay Peat – who broke the deadlock with a converted try in the first-half.
This helped Ireland to establish a 7-0 interval cushion, and even though Wales responded through Shona Powell-Hughes after the break, another try from Tyrrell in an eventual 12-7 win has set-up a St Patrick’s Day Grand Slam decider with England – who comfortably defeated Scotland on the same day. It was hoped that Ireland would also enter this Saturday’s game against England with the chance of securing the Six Nations Championship, especially on the back of their encouraging display against France a fortnight ago. Naas’ Jamie Heaslip featured in the back-row once more, and picked up his 100th international cap (including five appearances for the Lions) at the Principality Stadium.
Ireland had opened the scoring with a penalty from Jonathan Sexton in the sixth-minute, and although Wales responded with an unconverted try by George North, Paddy Jackson (who deputised for Sexton as her underwent a Head Injury Assessment) restored Ireland’s lead.
A Leigh Halfpenny penalty gave the Welsh a slender 8-6 advantage at the midway point, however, and with Sexton in the sin-bin, the hosts secured a second try from North on 43 minutes. Scrum-half Conor Murray subsequently departed the scenes with an injury, but a 56th-minute Sexton place-kick kept Ireland within touching distance.
However, their fate was ultimately sealed when Jamie Roberts scored a late five-pointer for Wales, and this 22-9 loss means that Ireland will now be facing an England side that are guaranteed of a second successive Championship title.
They will also be claiming the U20 Six Nations crown in Donnybrook on Friday, after Nigel Carolan’s Ireland U20s suffered a 41-27 reversal to Wales last Saturday night. In a high-scoring encounter, Calvin Nash, Tadhg McElroy and Paul Boyle contributed tries for Ireland, but it wasn’t enough to prevent their first defeat of the tournament.