WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP POOL C
IRELAND 24
JAPAN 14
A brace of second-half tries from Paula Fitzpatrick were crucial at the UCD Bowl on Sunday evening, when Ireland survived a strong challenge from Japan in Pool C of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
A shock was on the cards when the Japanese developed a 14-0 half-time cushion, but with Fitzpatrick and Nora Stapleton leading by example, Ireland turned things around in the second-half.
With a crunch encounter against France taking place next Thursday, it was no surprise that Ireland coach Tom Tierney opted to make a number of alterations to his starting line-up. Mairead Coyne (who featured prominently during the Six Nations) indirectly replaced Eimear Considine in the back-three.
The Connacht star took over from Hannah Tyrrell at full-back, with the latter switching to her more familiar position on the right-wing. After deputising for her in the second-half of the win over Australia, Katie Fitzhenry stepped in for Jenny Murphy at outside centre, while Nicole Cronin was making her international debut at the expense of regular scrum-half Larissa Muldoon.
Ciara Cooney and Sophie Spence formed an all-new second-row partnership, and in a re-shuffled back-row, Ciara Griffin (who joined Spence in scoring a second-half try against Australia) was chosen ahead of Heather O’Brien.
Ailis Egan (whose placed in the front-row went to Ciara O’Connor), Fitzpatrick and Muldoon provided a great deal of leadership on the Irish replacements bench, and after receiving an 11th hour call-up following the withdrawal of original captain Niamh Briggs, Louise Galvin was included in an Ireland 15s matchday squad for the very first time.
Ireland had already faced Japan in two trials game back in June, and they were hoping that their strong understanding of Goshi Arimizu’s side would help them to claim their second victory in this year’s tournament.
They certainly made a bright start to the action, with Alison Miller, Coyne and Stapleton all making their presence felt in the Japanese half. However, the Japan defence (spearheaded by skipper Seina Saito) were forcing a number of errors from the host nation, and this helped to lift some of the early pressure off their shoulders.
A massive 12th-minute break by Miller brought Ireland back into enemy territory, but following a knock-on just outside the opposition ’22’, their attacking momentum was halted once more. Ireland dominated possession for much of the first-quarter, but as the half wore on, Japan’s confidence started to grow.
They were eager to atone for their heavy defeat at the hands of France (72-14) four days earlier, and a powerful surge by winger Eriko Hirano forced Ireland on the back-foot for the first time. Her run was halted by a high tackle from Coyne – who was fortunate to escape with just a caution – but this was the catalyst for an outstanding purple patch from the Japanese.
An overhit Mayu Shimizu pass towards centre Iroha Nagata prevented them from breaking the deadlock, but with 27 minutes gone on the clock, relentless pressure from the Japanese pack forced their Irish counterparts into the concession of a penalty try.
With the current rules in the women’s game meaning that conversions are automatically awarded for penalty tries, Japan suddenly found themselves seven points to the good. This should have been a major wake-up call for Ireland, and before the play had resumed, Egan entered the fray instead of O’Connor.
However, Ireland were struggling to regain their composure, and last-gasp defending (as well as the intervention of the TMO) stopped them from conceding a second try in the 36th-minute. Yet, this was only a temporary respite for the hosts, as Shimizu drove over the whitewash from the final attack of the opening half. The full-back was on hand to add the bonuses to her own score, and this meant that Japan brought a surprise 14-point lead into the break.
This presented Ireland with a significant challenge upon the resumption, and when Fitzhenry was sin-binned just two minutes into the second-half, it was beginning to look quite grim for the Green Army and their loyal supporters.
They coped well with this numerical disadvantage, though, and after threatening to break through with a series of drives towards the Japanese line, Miller finally touched down on 46 minutes. Stapleton then split the posts from the resulting conversion, and this put Ireland right back in the mix.
In addition to Egan, Leah Lyons, Ruth O’Reilly and Fitzpatrick were all introduced as half-time substitutes, and they were subsequently joined on the field by Galvin and Jeamie Deacon just after Miller’s try.
Ireland had substantially increased the urgency in their play, and even when Japan were able to gain a foothold close to their posts in the third-quarter, they were turned over by committed tackling from their European counterparts.
There was a sense that persistence would eventually pay off for Ireland, and they finally restored parity 16 minutes from the end of normal time. A powerful maul on the right-flank was finished off by Fitzpatrick, and though her bonus kick was from a tricky angle, Stapleton registered her second successful conversion of the contest.
In the absence of Briggs, Stapleton’s accuracy from the kicking tee was under the microscope, and she would move Ireland into the ascendancy seven minutes from the end of a compelling fixture. Ireland seemed to have enough of the ball to work a third try, but after they opted for a kick at goal, Stapleton edged Ireland in front for the very first time.
Now that Japan were finding it difficult to recover any of their form from the end of the opening half, Ireland were expected to see out the closing moments of the tie.
Indeed, on the stroke of 80 minutes, Fitzpatrick dotted down for her second try of the game. With the aid of the woodwork, Stapleton brought her personal tally up to nine points, but although there was delight at the final whistle, Ireland will be seeking a much-improved performance against France next Thursday.
Scorers for Ireland: Paula Fitzpatrick 2 tries, Nora Stapleton pen, 3 cons, Alison Miller try.
Scorers for Japan: Penalty Try, Mayu Shimizu try, con.
IRELAND: Mairead Coyne (Galwegians/Connacht); Hannah Tyrrell (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Katie Fitzhenry (Blackrock/Leinster), Sene Naoupu (Harlequins), Alison Miller (Old Belvedere/Connacht); Nora Stapleton (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Nicole Cronin (UL Bohemians/Munster); Lindsay Peat (Railway Union/Leinster), Cliodhna Moloney (Railway Union/Leinster), Ciara O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht), Ciara Cooney (Railway Union/Leinster), Sophie Spence (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Ciara Griffin (UL Bohemians/Munster), Ashleigh Baxter (Cooke/Ulster), Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht) (capt).
Replacements: Leah Lyons (Highfield/Munster), Ruth O’Reilly (Galwegians/Connacht), Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Paula Fitzpatrick (St. Mary’s/Leinster), Anna Caplice (UL Bohemians/Munster), Larissa Muldoon (Railway Union/Ulster), Jeamie Deacon (Blackrock/Leinster), Louise Galvin (UL Bohemians/Munster).
JAPAN: Mayu Shimizu (Nippon Sport Science Univ); Eriko Hirano (Yokohama TKM), Iroha Nagata (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), Riho Kurogi (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), Honoka Tsutsumi (Nippon Sport Science Univ); Minori Yamamoto (Nippon Sport Science Univ), Moe Tsukui (The Second HS, Tokyo University of Agriculture); Makoto Ebuchi (Aoyama Gakuin Univ/Tokyo Phoenix RC), Seina Saito (Pearls) (capt), Saki Minami (Nippon Sport Science Univ), Aoi Mimura (Yokohama TKM), Ayano Sakurai (Nippon Sport Science Univ), Yuki Sue (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), Sayaka Suzuki (RKU Rugby Ryugasaki Grace), Maki Takano (Nippon Sport Science Univ).
Replacements: Misaki Suzuki (Tokyo Phoenix RC), Mizuho Kataoka (Yokohama TKM), Maiko Fujimoto (Yokohama TKM), Aya Nakajima (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), Yui Shiozaki (Tokyo Phoenix RC), Yumeno Noda (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), Ayaka Suzuki (Arukas Queen Kumagaya), AI Tasaka (Arukas Queen Kumagaya).
Referee: Ian Tempest (England)