Aoife Dalton and sinbinned prop Niamh O’Dowd share an emotional moment after Ireland’s defeat
IRELAND 5 ENGLAND 49
Richard Bullick at Virgin Media Park
ENGLAND remain on course for a seventh consecutive Guinness Six Nations title after what was in the end a comprehensive victory, but improving Ireland made it incredibly uncomfortable for the world’s best team in Saturday’s first half in Cork.
Having arguably been unlucky not to go in with their noses in front at the interval, Ireland had a let-off when an English try in the opening minute of the second period was disallowed after a TMO review, but the sinbinning of prop Niamh O’Dowd was an important turning point.
The dynamic Wexford woman, who also had to leave the field later for a head injury assessment, was having a torrid time in the scrums from Player of the Match Maud Muir and the French referee produced a yellow card after penalising her for a fourth time.
Ireland’s defiance continued but the two converted tries conceded during their period of numerical disadvantage gave England control and the understandably tiring greens struggled to cope with the high-calibre cavalry coming off the visiting bench.
The barnstorming Sarah Bern bagged a brace and her fellow replacement prop Kelsey Clifford got her first touchdown for England, with all seven visiting tries being converted for good measure.
The one-sided scoreline certainly didn’t reflect a very competitive match in which Ireland drew first blood with a try by stand-in skipper Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe, who has been so prolific on the World Series sevens circuit over the past decade.
She has shone all over the globe but scoring a try while captaining her country in front of a packed crowd in Musgrave Park was especially sweet for the proud Munsterwoman, who was leading Ireland in the absence through injury of Edel McMahon.
The place erupted when Murphy-Crowe won the race to gather a perfectly-weighted chip up the left flank by young Ireland outhalf Dannah O’Brien, who not only kicked very effectively but gave her best defensive display in a green jersey.
O’Brien couldn’t add the extras to Murphy-Crowe’s try wide on the left so a seven-pointer in the final five minutes of the half was enough to give England a slender interval lead but Ireland deservedly got a standing ovation as they left the field at the break.
Ireland players during the anthems including Ulster forwards Fiona Tuite (second left) and Brittany Hogan (second right)
Last April, Ireland were on the receiving end of a traumatic 88-10 Twickenham trouncing on an afternoon when their hosts led 38-3 at the interval and ran in no fewer than 14 tries in front of a crowd of almost 50,000.
By contrast there were just under 8,000 in attendance at the compact Musgrave Park but that was enough to make it feel full and, fuelled by the heroic efforts out on the field from the women in green, that record crowd created a fantastic atmosphere.
Each passing minute that Scott Bemand’s team kept the illustrious Red Roses scoreless felt like a small win and every thumping Irish tackle, ferocious carry, desperate scramble, O’Brien kick or pressurised English mistake received rapturous applause.
That Twickenham hammering had actually come seven days after Bemand’s side had walloped Wales 36-5 on their last visit to Musgrave Park, so the renaissance was already underway then but this team has kept progressing so much in the intervening period.
Ireland clinched third place in the 2024 Six Nations and, with it, World Cup qualification by beating Scotland and then last autumn they thumped Australia 36-10, produced a stunning upset of world champions New Zealand and finished as runners-up at WXV1 in Vancouver.
It is a measure of the massive strides Ireland have made that the feeling after losing last month’s Six Nations opener 27-15 to France on a day when the teams scored three tries each was frustration and disappointment.
They then cut loose in a record 54-12 rout of Italy in Parma, scoring a glorious eighth try with the clock red to bring up their half century, a milestone which England didn’t manage in Cork despite playing their strongest side.
The return of No 8 Alex Matthews after suspension meant John Mitchell could field an even more formidable line-up than that which began in the 67-12 romp against Wales in Cardiff’s Principality Stadium in round two.
By contrast, Ireland were without both their official co-captains, McMahon and Sam Monaghan through injury, along with the woman who skippered the team against Canada and USA last autumn in their absence, Enya Breen, and poster girl wing Beibhinn Parsons.
Admittedly Parsons has probably been overtaken as Irish women’s rugby’s biggest star by young taliswoman Aoife Wafer, who was part of a pack that really stood up to be counted on Saturday against the powerful English juggernaut.
Former Munster and Clovers captain Dorothy Wall, now plying her trade in England with Exeter Chiefs, and Ulster’s Brittany Hogan were recalled to the starting team along with scrumhalf Emily Lane after their thunderous try-scoring cameos off the bench in Parma.
On an afternoon when the starting back row went the entire 80 minutes, Hogan topped Ireland’s tackle chart with 18 supplemented by fellow flanker Erin King’s 17 while Wafer, Wall and hooker Neve Jones were credited with 15 apiece.
Eve Higgins had an outstanding game which included winning a couple of turnovers and there was one memorable moment when she joined fellow centre Aoife Dalton in a ferocious counter-ruck which World Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne felt the full force of.
Fullback Kildunne did contribute a trademark dazzling try as the game opened up, though England’s best team score was that finished by their world-class outside centre Meg Jones, who is keeping the legendary Emily Scarratt out of this side.
Lock Morwena Talling got England’s first half touchdown, while outhalf Harrison finished with a 17-point haul thanks to a try and six conversions before replacement Hollie Aitchison landed their last place-kick of the match.
Jess Breach was denied a try right at the start of the second half when the slow motion replays proved she had put a foot in touch and Dalton’s determined chase caused Kildunne to snatch at an attempted touchdown not long afterwards.
Outhalf Harrison finally registered England’s second try of the match on 49 minutes and then came that glorious team effort finished by Jones shortly before O’Dowd returned from the sinbin at the same time Grace Moore and Aoibheann Reilly came on as replacements.
O’Dowd had to leave the field for an HIA after a big collision, Siobhan McCarthy coming on for her second cameo of the day, and Bern rampaged over for England’s bonus try near the end of the third quarter.
Just before the hour mark, Bemand replaced Jones, Parma hat-trick hero Anna McGann and O’Brien with Cliodhna Moloney, Six Nations debutant Vicky Elmes-Kinlan and Nicole Fowley, though the Connacht captain failed to make her hoped-for pitch for the No 10 jersey.
Bern got her second try on 67 minutes after a stampede by Matthews, with Kildunne lighting up Cork with her mesmerising run to the line shortly afterwards just before Ruth Campbell and Christy Haney took over from Wall and Linda Djougang respectively.
Clifford benefited from a couple of missed tackles to score England’s seventh try as the floodgates threatened to open but thankfully a group of heroes who had really emptied the tank in their country’s cause didn’t concede again.
One of the most encouraging aspects of Ireland’s first half performance had been how they managed to survive several spells inside their own 22 without suffering scoreboard damage, though O’Brien’s boot helped ensure England didn’t have greater territorial dominance.
Ireland had more possession than England in the early stages and the forwards – with Dalton joining in – almost forced their way over for a try wide on the left with about 10 minutes gone, though the creaking scrum soon became a cause for concern.
With six lost from 18 throws, the Ireland lineout wasn’t such a weapon as against France and Italy, when it functioned up around 95 percent in both games, but the hungry and aggressive greens were matching their far more experienced visitors in the physical stakes.
Apart from that remarkable record of having lost only once in their last 53 matches – narrowly against New Zealand in the 2022 World Cup final in Auckland – England arrived in Cork with a matchday squad possessing some 1100 caps between them to Ireland’s 400.
Ireland captain Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe celebrates her try in Musgrave Park
Ireland’s try ironically had its origins in an overthrown lineout, with Wall knocking the loose ball back towards Wafer before O’Brien’s beautiful footwork gave Murphy-Crowe the opportunity to outpace Abby Dow, who was winning her 50th cap.
As Bemand bemoaned afterwards, England’s try came on the back of two Irish mistakes, firstly O’Brien putting a clearance out on the full and then Dalton being too quick out of the blocks chasing a kick downfield by her fellow 21-year-old.
England went to the right corner with the resulting penalty and mauled their way over, with Talling touching down despite Wall’s best efforts to get under the ball and Harrison’s conversion putting the visitors in front for the first time.
That was to spark a scoring sequence of 49 unanswered points for the visitors but, rather than a sense of Ireland’s bubble being burst, this performance felt like another step forward for a team not currently defined by results against England.
Taking the scalp of France in the opening game wasn’t an unrealistic ambition, but Ireland’s main target for this Six Nations is to emulate last season’s third place finish, only this time with three away wins rather than just two victories, both from home matches.
Having already got the Italian job done in emphatic fashion, Ireland’s attention now turns to this Sunday’s clash (3.00pm, BBC) at Rodney Parade in Newport with a Wales side which has lost their first three matches under new head coach Sean Lynn.
They were beaten 42-12 in France on Saturday, while Scotland, who Bemand’s team meet in Edinburgh in their final fixture six days later, suffered a surprise 25-17 defeat at home to Italy on Sunday, meaning Ireland remain third in the table on points difference.
Captain Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe is mobbed by team-mates after her try gave Ireland the lead
Erin King (left) and Stacey Flood can’t prevent replacement prop Sarah Bern scoring for England
