IRELAND WOMEN’S head coach Scott Bemand expressed his delight with the impact made by the Sevens contingent in his squad during their accomplished 36-10 triumph over Australia at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday.

In total, six of the players that Bemand named in his match day 23 for the visit of the Wallaroos to Ravenhill had featured for Ireland in the Rugby Sevens at the Paris Olympics earlier this year.

Whereas Vicky Elmes Kinlan was making her debut as a 15s international after donning the green jersey in the French capital, her fellow winger Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe was back in this particular code of rugby for the first time since the 2022 Six Nations.

Although Eve Higgins was a regular starter for the team in this year’s Championship, Stacey Flood and Emily Lane were also returning to the 15s fold after significant absences.

This triumvirate appeared off the bench along with fellow Sevens star Erin King — who was also making her Ireland 15s bow — and all four players made sizeable contributions in the Belfast venue.

As well as Higgins scoring a second half try of her own, Flood and Lane were heavily involved in moves that led to other five-pointers, while King made her presence felt in the Irish back-row upon replacing team captain Edel McMahon.

“You almost can’t single any one of them out,” Bemand said. “You look at how many touches Leigh got. Vicky just before she came off got a turnover when we were on the back-foot just outside our ‘22’. Erin comes on and just runs like she wants to score every time she touches the ball. It’s unbelievable.

“Emily Lane took the tempo up. Eve starts freeing up space on the edges. Stacey is beating people on kick-return and putting Leigh away. It’s just fantastic to have that firepower. We’ve had two weeks together. It’s not a lot of time.

“We think there’s still more to come from this group. We’ve left points out there. So for us and where we want to keep going, we’ll keep going after our own green wave of performance. We want it to be up there, but we know there’s still a bit to come.”

A game that marked the start of Irish Rugby’s 150th year celebrations, this encounter also proved to be a useful exercise for Bemand’s charges ahead of their upcoming visit to Vancouver for the WXV 1 tournament.

While it is anticipated that New Zealand, host nation Canada and the United States will offer a sterner test of Ireland’s resolve in the coming weeks, the USA are currently two spots below Australia in the current women’s rugby world rankings in seventh.

Though they ultimately finished 26 points adrift of the hosts, Bemand believes the Wallaroos are a side with a strong pedigree and this ensured he was thrilled with his side’s work over the course of the 80 minutes in Ravenhill.

“It’s great to bring another winning performance back to Ireland. We said we wanted to take people along with us. To come up here, play fifth in the world, they are a good team. Australia are a Tier One nation,” Bemand added.

“Being able to bring them to Ireland and put a performance there that gives the crowd something to get behind. Give the Irish public something, that they can see that we are moving forward and [have] something to cheer for.

“It felt like an exciting game and I’m delighted for the girls that some of the things we are starting to work on, and want to implement, are starting to see a bit of fruit.”

Daire Walsh

Ireland 36

Australia 10

Daire Walsh reports from Kingspan Stadium

THE RETURNING EIMEAR Considine was amongst the try-scorers as Ireland convincingly defeated Australia in a women’s rugby international test at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast this afternoon.

Back in the international fold for the first time since a Six Nations Championship loss to England at Welford Road on 24 April, 2022, Considine – who suffered MCL and ACL injuries either side of giving birth to her son Caolán in January 2023 – crossed over in the opening half of a game that marked the start of Irish Rugby’s 150th year celebrations in 2024.

It also proved to be a useful exercise for Ireland ahead of their forthcoming outings at the WXV 1 tournament in Vancouver and with player of the match Aoife Wafer helping herself to a brace of tries over the course of the action, Scott Bemand’s side had too much in the tank for their southern hemisphere rivals.

While the return of Considine to the test arena grabbed the headlines, the inclusion of uncapped duo Vicky Elmes Kinlan (one of six players in the match day squad to feature in the Rugby Sevens at the Paris Olympics) and Ruth Campbell in Ireland’s starting line-up for this game was also noteworthy.

This encounter saw the hosts returning to the venue where they sealed a third-place finish in the Six Nations – and, by extension, qualification for next year’s World Cup finals in England – with a 15-12 triumph over Scotland on 27 April.

The hope was that the Irish could build on that particular success and they enjoyed a perfect start on a breezy day in Belfast.

Having seen her side patiently work their way through a series of phase plays inside the Australian ‘22’, Dannah O’Brien eventually picked out Aoife Dalton and the outside centre proceeded to power over the whitewash for a fifth-minute try.

O’Brien followed up with a routine conversion to give Ireland a seven-point platform during the early stages of the contest, but their Australian counterparts subsequently sprung into life in clinical style.

Best known in their homeland as the Wallaroos, the visitors kept the Irish defence on the back-foot for an extended spell and following a neat pass out wide by Cecilia Smith, NSW Waratahs winger Maya Stewart side-stepped Considine on her way to dotting down beyond the opposition line.

Yet a wayward bonus kick from full-back Lori Cramer kept Ireland in the ascendancy and after they once again found themselves camped inside the ‘22’, the home team secured their second try on 13 minutes.

O’Brien was once again the creative force as Dalton’s namesake Wafer crashed over in typically robust fashion to the left of the posts. Even though Carlow native O’Brien couldn’t add the bonuses on this occasion, Ireland were ticking along nicely in attack.

Stout defensive work from the Wallaroos did frustrate them for large spells, but just when it looked like the gap was going to remain at seven in time for the interval, the most popular score of the day arrived. After an overly elaborate pass had left Australian winger Desiree Miller exposed, Considine kicked a loose ball along the ground before comfortably gathering possession and raced over in the right-corner.

This unconverted finish was met with the overwhelming approval of the Irish replacements who were warming up behind the posts and it ensured Ireland brought a 17-5 buffer into the second half.

Eager to explore the depth of his squad ahead of their departure to the WXV 1, Bemand introduced six simultaneous substitutes 12 minutes after the resumption – including their Olympic quartet of Erin King, Emily Lane, Eve Higgins and Stacey Flood.

While there might have been a fear that Ireland’s play might become disjointed as a result of making so many changes at once, this notion was emphatically dismissed on the hour mark. After spreading the ball from the right-flank into a more central area, Lane and Enya Breen combined to set up Higgins for Ireland’s fourth try of the action.

Breen assumed kicking duties from the now-departed O’Brien and she expertly supplied the extras to Higgins’ impressive five-pointer. The aforementioned Flood was also determined to make an impression in her first 15s outing for Ireland in more than two years and her superb approach work opened the door for Wafer to claim her second try with 11 minutes still left on the clock.

Linda Djougang and Breen had tries ruled out for earlier infringements during a lively final-quarter in Ravenhill, but despite Wallaroos star Stewart joining Wafer in registering a brace of five-pointers, a dominant Ireland had the final say when replacement hooker Cliodhna Moloney touched down off a line-out maul move in the final minute.

Ireland scorers:

Tries: Aoife Wafer (2), Aoife Dalton, Eimear Considine, Eve Higgins, Cliodhna Moloney

Conversions: Dannah O’Brien [1 from 3], Enya Breen [2 from 3]

Australia scorers:

Tries: Maya Stewart 2

Conversions: Lori Cramer [0 from 1], Arabella McKenzie [0 from 1]

IRELAND: Eimear Considine; Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Stacey Flood ’52), Aoife Dalton, Enya Breen, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe; Dannah O’Brien (Eve Higgins ’52), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Emily Lane ’52); Niamh O’Dowd (Christy Haney ’48 (Siobhan McCarthy ’68)), Neve Jones (Cliodhna Moloney ’52), Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall (Fiona Tuite ’52), Ruth Campbell; Aoife Wafer, Edel McMahon (Erin King ’52), Brittany Hogan.

AUSTRALIA: Lori Cramer (Arabella McKenzie ’52); Maya Stewart (Biola Dawa ’74), Georgina Friedrichs, Cecilia Smith, Desiree Miller; Faitala Moleka, Natalie Wright (Layne Morgan ’52); Bridie O’Gorman (Lydia Kavoa ’70), Ashley Marsters (Tiarna Molloy ’57), Eva Karpani (Alapeta Ngauamo ’52); Kaitlan Leaney, Michaela Leonard (Tiarah Minns ’70); Siokapesi Palu, Leilani Nathan (Lucy Dinnen ’57), Tabua Tuinakauvadra.

Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy).

HAVING WRESTLED WITH the idea of bringing her career as a high performance rugby player to an end just a few short weeks ago, Eimear Considine has admitted it comes as a ‘big shock’ to find herself back in the starting line-up for the Ireland women’s rugby team.

Considine was away from rugby for an extended spell following her most recent appearance in green – a Six Nations Championship clash with England on 24 April, 2022 – due to a combination of picking up a medial collateral ligament injury in the same game and the subsequent arrival of her son Caolán.

She returned to the field of play roughly 12 weeks after giving birth to Caolán in January 2023, but was unfortunately back on the treatment table after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Munster’s defeat to Leinster in a Women’s Interprovincial Championship final on 2 September of that year.

Following an elongated recovery period – and a hamstring-related set-back just as the competition was about to get underway – Considine finally returned off the bench in Munster’s third round win over Connacht in this year’s Interpros and also made a cameo appearance in their second successive decider loss to Leinster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast a fortnight ago.

The thought had crossed her mind that this might be her final game at provincial or international level, but an injury to Connacht’s Meabh Deely led to her being drafted back into the Irish set-up. Such is the impression she made upon her return to the international fold, that Ireland head coach Scott Bemand has named Considine at full-back in his team to face Australia at Kingspan later on today [KO 2.30pm, live on TG4].

“It’s a big shock, it really is. I had accepted that my game against Leinster was going to be my last game with Munster and that could be my last game with high performance. I was happy to just walk off a pitch on my own terms. In my own eyes, I ended my Irish career with being stretchered off against England,” Considine explained.

“My Munster career would have ended last year getting stretchered off against Leinster, so I kind of wanted to finish on my own terms. I had it in my head that two weekends ago was my last rugby match. Genuinely when I say I don’t believe it that I’m in here, I don’t believe it that I’m in here.

“Interpros is another year, it’s another year later. Club is fine to play and that, but I was the oldest by far on that Munster squad and I looked around the changing room at some stage and they were just doing TikTok. They were talking about things that I just didn’t know about and I was just like, ‘I think my time here is done!’

“I suppose the year previous I had a dream to come back to play for Ireland. Then the knee happened and then I just thought it was too far gone. I thought two years out of the game was just too far, but here I am.”

Now that she finds herself embarking on an unexpected second chapter with Ireland, Considine is ready to embrace every moment that comes her way. While today’s 150th anniversary Test against Australia is her primary focus, the Clare woman has expressed an interest in being part of the travelling Irish party for the forthcoming WXV 1 tournament in Vancouver.

Additionally, having featured in her country’s last appearance at the tournament back in 2017, Considine acknowledges it would be a dream scenario to still be on board for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England next year.

Committing to a trip to Canada is easier said than done when you’re already juggling the demands of having a young family with your day job as a PE and Irish teacher at St Joseph’s Secondary School Spanish Point – she is currently taking time off from this post and will need to do so again if she makes the WXV 1 squad – but Considine is confident of coming up with a suitable arrangement if it comes to that.

“If I was selected, it’s something that I would be interested in doing. I’d have to try and make the rest of the things work, but the hardest part is getting selected. If that happens, I can look at the other arrangements around that. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy and I’m already missing him after a week, but he’ll be proud of Mammy!” Considine added.

“Dean [Ryan, her husband] sends me a video every morning of him saying ‘Go, go, Mammy!’ We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. It’s a really exciting year to be involved. One World Cup is cool, but it would be class to look at another one. Especially when we didn’t qualify for the last one and that was such a disappointment.

“Probably one of the lowest bits of my career was Parma [unsuccessful World Cup qualifying tournament]. We don’t really want to talk about Parma, but it was. Because it had been pushed out because of Covid and then you’re training away with the cherry that you’re going to qualify for this World Cup and then you don’t. It was hard.”

Daire Walsh

Having wrestled with the idea of bringing her career as a high-performance rugby player to an end just a few short weeks ago, Eimear Considine has admitted it comes as a ‘big shock’ to find herself back in the starting line-up for the Ireland women’s rugby team.

Due to a combination of picking up a medial collateral ligament injury in the same game and the subsequent arrival of her son Caolán, Considine was away from rugby for an extended period following her most recent appearance in green – a Six Nations Championship clash with England on April 24, 2022.