Ulster forward Fiona Tuite is ready to do some heavy lifting in the World Cup quarter-final against France in Exeter (©INPHO/Ben Brady)
RICHARD BULLICK IN EXETER
IF Ireland play on Sunday with the same confidence and conviction with which Ulster forward Fiona Tuite talked just over 48 hours earlier, then the girls in green must surely have a realistic shot at making history in their World Cup quarter-final against France in Exeter.
No Irish adult rugby team, male or female, has ever won a World Cup knockout match and Ireland have been on an eight-game losing streak against France since 2017, but Tuite was completely positive when she spoke to the media after Friday’s team announcement.
“I just have out-and-out belief that we’re going to do this. We’re building such momentum, the vibe in camp has been incredible this week and I just have no doubt. I think we’re in such a good place,” she insisted ahead of the big game (1pm, BBC2/RTE2).
“Yeah last weekend the result (losing 40-0 to New Zealand in their final group game, a dead rubber) was crap, but we’re going to use everything we can from that,” declared Tuite who missed that match after sustaining a slight injury against Spain the week before.
“We know it’s going to be such a physical battle against the French, it always is, but we’ve worked so hard, we believe so much that this is our time and we’ve no doubt we’re going to go all the way so we’re really, really excited.
“The body is feeling really good. I trained with the squad yesterday and it went really well. I’d picked up a bit of a knock against Spain and unfortunately it was just too tight a turnaround for the game against New Zealand.
“So I was gutted to miss that one, but the body is feeling really good, I’ve been working very hard with the medics and the physios over the last week or so to get fit and am raring to go now on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Tuite will start at blindside flanker against France at Sandy Park in Exeter, displacing Grace Moore, while a fit-again taliswoman Aoife Wafer returns in the No 7 jersey with co-captain Edel McMahon ruled out by a knee injury.
“It’s absolutely huge having her (Wafer) back. We are all absolutely delighted. We’ve taken quite a few knocks as a team I suppose, so to have someone like Aoife come back into the matchday squad is phenomenal,” enthused Tuite about her fellow flanker.
“She’s worked so hard over the past few weeks and months to get back. Aoife brings such ferocity in attack and defence so it’s amazing to have her back. She’ll slot in like she always does and fingers crossed she’ll work her magic like usual.
“Aoife’s a phenomenal player in terms of what she can bring as we saw in the game against France, when she was absolutely brilliant. She’ll slot straight in and no doubt make a significant contribution to the team performance.
“We’re not expecting anything different from her. As long as she can get back on the field and do her thing, we’ll all support her as much as we can. Fingers crossed she and the team will have a great performance at the weekend.”
Fiona Tuite (second right) celebrates with (from left) Grace Moore, Sadhbh McGrath and Neve Jones after beating Japan
Some may worry about her lack of game-time but the world-class Wafer has a habit of hitting the ground running in Test matches on the back of little rugby and Tuite says the Wexford woman has been going well in training this week.
“She’s flying it! Those lines of communication, everything, you can tell she’s back. There’s just a bit of excitement around it as well, obviously there’s so much in the media but, as a team, to have someone like that back feels great.
“Aoife was disappointed obviously not to play last weekend, but to have her now for this, for such a big game, is going to be incredible and we’re all behind her, backing her every step of the way.
“It will be hard coming back having not played a game, to come in at this speed and ferocity is going to be challenging, but we will all have her back. I’m absolutely buzzing and delighted to get to play alongside her in the back row for the first time.
“I’ll be there on her shoulder as much as I can for sure,” vowed Tuite, originally an outside back who had played all her international rugby in the engineroom up until this summer when switched to flanker for the second half of the final warm-up match against Canada.
The Dublin-born but Belfast-based Tuite, who is engaged to Ulster’s Ireland prop Eric O’Sullivan, then impressed in the No 6 jersey in the opening game of the World Cup against Japan, garnishing a good display with a try after running a great support line.
“It was slightly daunting initially if I’m honest, but I’ve loved it. I’m new enough in relative terms to the forwards, so to have that change was exciting, but it’s great,” she replied when asked about the recent positional switch.
“You get a little bit more time in the loose so you’ve a little bit of freedom as you said, a bit more time on the ball on the edges, but I just continue to play wherever I’m put if it means getting to play.
“Gosh, I wouldn’t care where I played in this team as long as I’m part of the squad to be honest, so yeah the versatility helps but, wherever the team needs me, I’ll go,” pledged one of the most improved players in Irish rugby over these past two years.
Fiona Tuite with her partner, fellow Irish international Eric O’Sullivan, after winning her first cap against Colombia in Dubai
Until last Sunday’s Pool C decider, Tuite had been ever-present in Ireland’s matchday squad since winning her first cap at the WXV3 tournament in Dubai two years ago so having to sit out the game against New Zealand on such a special occasion was a bitter pill to swallow.
“It was. I was devastated not to be involved. To get to play against the Black Ferns is a huge experience, and in front of a crowd like that is just phenomenal so, I’ll my honest, I bawled my eyes out after the anthem,” she told Local Women Sport.
“I was seriously emotional but to sit back and to see a crowd of that magnitude, the noise, the fans, everything, it was incredible, and it’s very different to sit back and see what actually happens pre-game.
“You get a good insight, even little things like setting up the cones and stuff before sessions that you don’t normally see. Just being part of that crowd was incredible but it was really, really tough to miss out on that game.
“So I’m absolutely raring to go this week now, I genuinely can’t wait, and we’re actually building a lot of momentum on the back of last Sunday even though the result obviously didn’t go how we wanted.
“Once we took the emotion away from that, there was so much good stuff in that New Zealand game. We were in their green zone so much that, if we can actually convert those entries to scores this weekend, I’ve absolutely no doubt that we’re going to be flying.
“The girls effectively went through war last weekend, so we’ll be battle-hardened, and we’ve taken so many positives from that match after pushing the emotion of the loss aside. I actually think it’s teed us up really nicely,” she reasoned.
“We’ve played against one of the best teams in the world, we’re going to play against one of the other best teams in the world now, so I think it’s set us up well from a physicality, speed and tactical point of view and having had to go to dark places in a way some teams may not.
“This is ‘championship’ rugby, this is knockout now, and while we don’t change what we do – we continue to focus on ourselves and stick to our process – there’s definitely an air of excitement around this game. It’s do-or-die now, win or bust and we’re well up for it.”
Tuite is especially excited and chomping at the bit after the unwanted novel experience of having to sit out the Black Ferns fixture and she’s a player who has managed to keep pushing herself to fresh heights with each exposure over the past two years.
Perhaps a surprise pick to some extent initially, she has grown with each chance to play international rugby and will win her 20th cap this weekend having banked plenty of valuable experience over the past two years including calling the lineouts and being a main target.
“Last weekend was the first game since my first cap that I have missed out on so even that was a new experience in itself and I’ll take a lot from that as well – you can not only learn from the games you play in but the games you don’t.
“I think I’ve grown massively as a player, even that ability to go from second row into back row, I probably wouldn’t have been able to take on the challenge previously but just in terms of player development and even personal development in the squad has been huge.
“The girls around me and the coaches have helped me continue to grow as a player and I think it’s testament to us as a squad that people have that flexibility and can move around now in a way that we might not have been able to do before.”
Because of what’s at stake, Sunday will be another notch up for this Irish side and Tuite is confident that Bemand’s ambitious team can rise to the challenge a first World Cup quarter-final any of them have ever played in will bring.
“I’ve absolutely no doubt that we’ve another gear in us, and I think the New Zealand game set us up really nicely from a speed and a physical and a tactical point of view to go and really take this game on on Sunday.
“We continue to grow and we continue to push ourselves tactically and physically and I think that there’s a next level and a new height to come on Sunday from us as a squad,” reasoned Tuite, who has been relishing every minute of the whole World Cup experience so far.
“It’s been incredible, the noise as we sing those anthems is just incredible, the Fields of Athenry bellowing round the stadium last weekend was absolutely class. I don’t think we can overstate what that means to us as a team.
“As a tournament, this genuinely is a game-changer – this is something new for women’s rugby and women’s sport in general. It’s absolutely class, like the amount of times we are being stopped out in the street, people saying ‘ah you’re part of the Ireland women’s team’.
“We’ve never had anything like that before, it’s incredible, we really do feel the support of people in the stadium, and then from locals around here and people online and people at home as well – it is absolutely game-changing.
“I suppose before we came over here, we maybe felt there wasn’t as much hype around the World Cup as we would have liked or would have expected perhaps, but now it’s completely flipped on its head.
“Like it’s absolutely massive. The girls who are really going hard on TikTok are doing such a good job, it’s honestly making a big difference,” reflected Tuite of what has been branded the social media World Cup given how active some players still are on it during the tournament.
“We wish everyone could be here but we do feel that support that’s growing at home and the more people we can get on board the better, so the more visible we are, the more connection we’re going to have with those fans back home.
“But it genuinely is crazy, I don’t know how to put it into words but it does feel amazing. We’re doing this for our nation, so for the nation to support us, it’s class,” said Tuite, who is also looking forward to the first ever standalone game for Ireland’s women in Aviva Stadium.
The official announcement that Bemand’s women will face Scotland there in the final fixture of next spring’s Six Nations was being made a few hours after the press conference so naturally Tuite was asked how she felt about such a special prospect come May.
“Incredibly proud, incredibly honoured. It’s something we’ve always strived towards. When Scott came in initially, we talked about building huge connections with our community and inspiring the next generation. So to have the opportunity to play in the Aviva, it’s insane.
“It’s almost surreal still at the minute but it’s an incredible honour. It makes me really proud to think we’re at a stage that we can play there. Hopefully we’ll get as many bums on seats as possible on the back of these World Cup crowds, and we’ll push that as much as we can.
“It will give people who are now part of our ‘Green Wave’ an opportunity to come and see us in such a big stadium so it’s incredibly exciting, a huge privilege and yeah it’ll be a phenomenal day and we’ll put on a good show no doubt.
“There have been a couple of women’s All Ireland League finals there the past couple of seasons, but I’ve never played in the Aviva Stadium and I think it will be a first time for most of the Irish squad.
“Amhrán na bhFiann gets me every single time, any home game, it makes me so emotional to be able to sing that. It’s such a privilege to put on that jersey and get to sing in Irish. It means a lot to me so that will be really special come the Scotland game in the Aviva.”
As well as building the fanbase, there’s a desire to grow the game on the back of the exposure given to rugby by this World Cup by encouraging more girls and women to take up the sport and Tuite was asked what advice she would have for anyone considering it.
“I’d say, just give it a try. Oh that’s the slogan for the actual IRFU programme ‘Give It A Try’, she said, as the realisation dawned, chuckling and adding: “I genuinely didn’t think of that there now, but I’d just really encourage people to try any sort of sport.
“I came into rugby so relatively late in life and the background I got from athletics [she competed at international level], from gaelic football [she played for Dublin Minors] from basketball and everything, it genuinely stands to you.
“So for young people, for young girls in particular, I’d say don’t give up, just do any sport you enjoy and just give rugby – I’m going to use the phrase again – but, really, just give it a try, it’s such a good sport.
“The connection you have with your team-mates, you don’t get that in any other sport, it’s like you go to war with each other every single weekend and build so much on the back of that.
“So pick up any sort of ball or do any sort of sport, but honestly rugby is a phenomenal sport and it’s not as sore on the body as you’d think – especially if you play in the backs, it’s not so bad!” joked the ex-winger who has shunted into the pack with such success in recent years.
As well as leaving a legacy by inspiring younger generations, Tuite is also mindful of those pioneering women who wore the green jersey in less elevated times and how those humble beginnings laid the foundations for the hugely exciting era the sport is enjoying now.
Dozens of ex-Irish internationals had a reunion in Brighton around the New Zealand game last weekend and many of them were understandably emotional as well as delighted to witness what women’s rugby has grown into.
“Massively (mindful). We’d the privilege of actually bumping into quite a few of those girls when we were out for coffee in Brighton, and we’re really, really aware of the battles and the challenges that all the players before us had to go through.
“We’re continuing to go through that, things aren’t perfect yet, but they really paved the way for what we’re doing right now and, if it weren’t for all those players who came before us, we wouldn’t have the momentum with this Green Wave.
“We wouldn’t have the privileges that we have now, to be staying in this lovely hotel, to be playing in a World Cup which is so huge, so everything they’ve done we’re really proud of and grateful for,” reflected Tuite in response to a question from Local Women Sport.
“We’re hoping to actually mark that in some way as well so that we can have all those past players genuinely feeling a huge part of his Green Wave because they absolutely are – they were the ones that started this ripple and now it’s getting stronger and stronger.
“So they’re a massive part of it and I’m just so happy that they got to experience something like that huge crowd in Brighton and to see us play on such a big stage. We really appreciate everything they did before us and they’re as big a part of this now as we are.”
Returning from anticipating a bright future for women’s rugby, be that playing in the Aviva or more young girls taking up the game, and paying homage to the stalwarts who went before, Tuite was asked what it would take for Ireland to beat France for the first time in eight years.
“It’s going to take relentlessness. We know for sure that playing against a team of France’s calibre is going to be tough. It’s going to be an absolute physical battle, and we just can’t switch off at any stage,” she responded purposefully.
“That’s something we’re prepared for. We’re such a fit, strong team and know we’re going to just have to keep fighting and fighting. We’re fully aware it’s going to be an extremely physical battle but tactically we’ve things in place to deal with that.
“I think it’s going to be war, and in a way it’s nice to play a team we’re so familiar with, but that also brings a challenge in that you can’t fall into the trap of familiarity – there will be differences, we’re going to surprise them with things and no doubt they’ll surprise us as well.
“But we’re really looking forward to it. As I said it’s going to be fast, it’s going to be physical. We’re really excited to bring our dominant performance, to put our stamp on this game, and to get that win and get us into the semi-finals.
“We just have to be so on it. We do continue to focus on ourselves, obviously we do a preview of France as such, but again we focus on our own gameplan. I’m sure mentally, when we come to it, yes there’s going to be that challenge of this being knockout rugby.
“The game may play out slightly differently to other games just because it is ‘championship’ rugby but mentally we must stay switched on, we must stay in that fight and know this will be all-out war!” declared the Ireland flanker, with a defiant final flourish.
Motley crew as we may be, even the assembled media felt fired up after listening to Tuite, but if this Irish side can combine that hunger and passion with all the other ingredients needed and deliver their top performance, it could be a very special Sunday in Exeter.
The 12-point defeat this spring was the closest Ireland have come to beating the French in the last eight games between the countries but there was a sense of unfinished business in Belfast that afternoon and a World Cup quarter-final would be the perfect time to strike back.
