Eve Higgins completes her length-of-the-field run with a spectacular dive for Ireland’s conclusive fifth try in Northampton (©INPHO/Ben Brady)
BY RICHARD BULLICK
A blistering start paved the way for swashbuckling Ireland to run up their biggest ever score in a World Cup match as the girls in green marked their return to women’s rugby’s biggest stage after an eight-year absence in stunning style, defeating Japan 42-14 in Northampton.
They now power on to face Spain at the same venue on Sunday (August 31), at 12 noon, with a place in the quarter-finals beckoning ahead of their final, and toughest, group game against mighty New Zealand a week later in Brighton.
Scott Bemand’s side hit Japan for six tries in Sunday’s opening group game in Northampton, all by different scorers and each of them converted by prolific outhalf Dannah O’Brien, on an afternoon when Ireland had the bonus point in the bag by the interval.
World Series sevens legend Amee-Leigh Costigan got Ireland’s first try and later provided the scoring pass for her fellow wing wonder Beibhinn Parsons to go over either side of Ulsterwoman Neve Jones touching down at the back of a dominant maul.
Japan hit back with a converted try of their own but, starting at flanker for the first time instead of lock, Ulster forward Fiona Tuite stormed over for Ireland’s fourth touchdown, her first in a green jersey, on 36 minutes after a brilliant break by centre Eve Higgins
The rejuvenated Japanese scored first in the second half and were threatening again when Higgins snaffled an opposition pass six metres from her own line and ran the length of the field for a stirring intercept try.
Her opportunist score felt like a decisive 14-point swing as underdogs Japan now found themselves 21 adrift again rather than back within seven, and any thoughts that this match might produce the first upset of the tournament effectively evaporated.
Ireland had a penalty try chalked off for a lineout infringement at the behest of the TMO but scored their sixth try through replacement Enya Breen after fellow centre Aoife Dalton’s ferocious carry from a well-worked lineout move.
The Higgins highlights reel from this Pool C clash may be more eye-catching, but her centre partner Dalton’s defending was singled out for special praise in his post-match interview by Bemand as a significant factor in cramping Japan’s attack.
The Player of the Match award went to Ulster powerhouse Brittany Hogan for an absolutely thunderous display at No 8 which helped ensure that the absence from the Irish pack of injured big guns Aoife Wafer, Erin King and Dorothy Wall was less acutely felt.
Bemand was also delighted that his co-captains came through unscathed, Edel McMahon after missing both warm-up matches with a niggling knee injury, and Sam Monaghan who has only recently returned after more than a year on the sidelines.
Amee-Leigh Costigan surrounded by (from left) Eve Higgins, Aoife Dalton and Stacey Flood after scoring the opening try
Both women would have gone the full 80 minutes had McMahon not needed to be withdrawn in the closing stages for Sadhbh McGrath to be brought on as replacement prop for a scrum while Linda Djougang was still in the sinbin.
Probably not helped by being down a player, Ireland didn’t score again after the 63rd minute but they had already registered their highest score in the tournament’s history, beating the 40 points posted against Kazakhstan en route to the last four in 2014.
It was job done by then and thankfully there were no obvious injuries in a game where all eight Ireland replacements made it onto the pitch, with the shortest cameo being from young Ulsterwoman McGrath six days before she turns 21.
The other back-up prop, former England international Ellena Perry, had come on midway through the second half along with centre Breen, winger Anna McGann, hooker Cliodhna Moloney-McDonald and lock Eimear Corri-Fallon
Hogan gave way to Grace Moore just before being announced as Player of the Match while Emily Lane came on at scrumhalf for Aoibheann Reilly, who made the most of being given first opportunity to nail down the green No 9 jersey at this tournament.
Reilly’s brilliant tackle at full stretch crucially slowed down the Japanese attack in the passage of play that led to the Higgins intercept and it was her superb pass which gave Breen a straightforward finish for Ireland’s other second half try.
The exhilarating Higgins justified her selection at inside centre while, having got the nod over McGann for the two wide berths, both starting wingers scored inside the first 24 minutes and Tuite showed why Bemand was keen to have her on the field from the off.
Eight long years after Ireland last graced the World Cup, an entire team of tournament debutants began brightly as this eagerly-awaited campaign got underway at noon on a sunny Sunday in a sold-out Franklin’s Gardens.
Ireland had started slowly in this month’s two warm-up matches, going 14-0 down in both the victory over Scotland in Cork and defeat to Canada at Ravenhill, but they were fast out of the blocks here, registering 14 points without reply in the first 10 minutes.
Japan had held a 14-0 interval lead against Ireland at Belfield Bowl in their home World Cup of 2017 – where the hosts hit back to win with 24 unanswered second half points – but this time the team in green were on the front foot from the off.
Green waves of pressure for most of the opening minute forced a penalty which Ireland kicked into the corner, but Reilly lost control as she plunged for the line and McMahon knocked on from the next close-in lineout after Japan had sliced their clearance to touch.
But Ireland still scored in the fifth minute, Hogan going on a typical charge in midfield following a Tuite lineout take, then Monaghan carrying, Dalton running a trademark decoy while Higgins looped round and linked with fullback Stacey Flood.
Flood put Costigan away on the outside and the only non-Kiwi woman to have scored more than 200 World Series tries scorched down the left touchline and managed to come round a little before grounding, giving O’Brien a slightly more straightforward job of converting.
The kick was still just 16 metres in from touch on the more difficult side for a left-footed kicker but the 21-year-old outhalf – who like Dalton had won her first cap against Japan as a teenager this same week three years ago – made no mistake.
Her next effort five minutes later was also successful from slightly wider out on the left after hooker Jones, scorer of a hat-trick in Ireland’s 57-22 victory in Shizuoka in 2022, flopped down at the back of a maul after a penalty to the corner and Monaghan’s catch.
Favourites Ireland were in the box-seat but the rest of their first quarter was blighted by a malfunctioning lineout, with Jones pinged for two crooked throws and another lost off the top, but Bemand’s side extended their lead further in the 24th minute.
From an Irish scrum on halfway wide on the left, Higgins brought Costigan off her wing – with Dalton again running a decoy – and she sold a dummy before going on an arcing break and releasing fellow flyer Parsons 35 metres out to race clear for a scintillating try.
O’Brien completed her hat-trick of conversions but another lost lineout helped Japan establish the field position from which they scored on 29 minutes despite a brilliant try-saving tackle by Flood which initially prevented them from crossing wide on the left.
They came back infield where centre Haruka Hirotsu benefited from a missed tackle from Higgins to get the touchdown, with outhalf Ayasa Otsuka adding the extras for a nation whose only World Cup quarter-final appearance was way back in 1994.
Ireland responded with a brilliant fourth try, Higgins selling a dummy on halfway and embarking on a wonderful weaving run into the opposition 22 before a glorious one-handed offload inside to the supporting Tuite.
There was one memorable bone-crunching hit by Dalton before the interval came with Ireland 28-7 up but Japan got the start they needed to the second half when Masami Kawamura dived over at the side of a ruck in the 43rd minute with Otsuka converting.
Parsons spectacularly plucked O’Brien’s tantalising restart out of the air, soft hands from Niamh O’Dowd sent McMahon charging into the Japanese 22 and Flood put in a clever cross-kick which just squirted into touch ahead of the chasing Costigan.
Japan were dominating now and it took one vital tackle by Reilly and some monstrous breakdown work by Hogan followed by a Djougang turnover to help keep the Sakura Fifteen from eating further into Ireland’s lead.
They were really threatening to do so when the alert Higgins picked off a pass from Moe Tsukui under her own posts and stumbled initially before breaking away and showing her pace in scoring a long-range try that must have been heartbreaking for Japan.
That concession seriously undermined Japan’s hopes of emulating their men’s team’s victory over Ireland in a group game at the 2019 World Cup and, with Dalton now starting to punch holes too, the team in green were regaining the initiative.
The Italian referee ran to the posts to award a penalty try when Ireland’s drive following a high tackle on Costigan, penalty to the left corner and Tuite lineout take was stopped illegally but it was eventually disallowed after a lengthy delay following the intervention of the TMO.
Monaghan and Campbell were adjudged to have been blocking in the lineout, in what was the latter’s final act before being one of five Irish players replaced along with O’Dowd and three of their try-scorers – Costigan, Jones and Higgins.
Ireland had a sufficient cushion that the changes weren’t being made based on the comfort provided by a try which was then taken away and anyway it wasn’t long until they did register another seven-pointer.
From a Japanese lineout stolen by Monaghan, several strong carries led to an Ireland penalty which O’Brien kicked to the corner, Corri-Fallon caught Moloney-McDonald’s throw and the sturdy Dalton came bursting through on a great line.
The compact powerhouse was stopped short after breaking several tackles but the Irish attack continued and, a couple of phases later, Reilly’s superb pass put Breen over as her team’s sixth try-scorer of a very satisfactory first outing at this England 2025 World Cup.
Multiple changes on both teams probably contributed to the game becoming a bit messy and Djougang got yellow-carded for preventing Japan from running a penalty, but Lesley McKenzie’s team couldn’t make their numerical advantage count.
Ireland relieved pressure by winning turnovers after good tackles by McMahon and Dalton, and they had returned to opposition territory by the time Moore and Lane came on for the heroic Hogan and impressive Reilly.
Moloney-McDonald was exceptionally prominent in the closing stages but a frustrating knock-on by Breen ended one promising attack and, when the clock went red, O’Brien booted the ball out to bring the curtain down on Ireland’s winning return to the World Cup.
It was an expected victory for Ireland against a team six places below them in the world rankings, at 11th, but Japan had won 29-10 last time these nations met in Tokyo three years ago and also given their opponents in green trouble in the most recent World Cup clash.
Japan actually edged the territory on Sunday, albeit Ireland shaded the possession stakes, but other stats were more reflective of the scoreboard, including Bemand’s side’s 83 carries for 623 metres compared to the opposition’s 57 for 295.
Ireland’s tally for defenders beaten was 24 to Japan’s 13, with the figure for offloads being seven to one, though two stats which reflected well on the game were that both teams kept their penalty-count in single figures and all eight place-kicks attempted were successful.
Although the Ireland lineout had its shaky period, those wobbles were ironed out during the game to the extent its overall return was a very healthy 86 percent to Japan’s 69 percent, caller Tuite leading the way with nine takes out of touch.
Bemand will also be pleased with the impact of his bench, with experienced campaigner Moloney-McDonald being like a woman possessed and hefty prop Perry showing why she was capped at a young age in the front row by England.
The absence of Wafer and King from the slate of loose forwards was offset by huge shifts from stalwarts Hogan and McMahon, who topped Ireland’s tackle chart with 17 each and neither of them missed a single one on a good day in Northampton.
IRELAND: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins (Enya Breen, 60), Amee-Leigh Costigan (Anna McGann, 60); Dannah O’Brien; Aoibheann Reilly (Emily Lane, 74), Niamh O’Dowd (Ellena Perry, 60), Neve Jones (Cliodhna Moloney-McDonald, 60), Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell (Eimear Corri-Fallon, 60), Sam Monaghan; Fiona Tuite, Edel McMahon (capt; Sadhbh McGrath, 75), Brittany Hogan (Grace Moore, 74).
JAPAN: Sora Nishimura (Minori Yamamoto, 61); Misaki Matsumara, Mana Furuta, Haruka Hirotsu, Komachi Imakugi (Sakurako Hatada, 69); Ayasa Otsuka, Moe Tsukui (Megumi Abe, 61); Sachiko Kato (Manami Mine, 61), Asuka Kuge (Kotomi Taniguchi, 64), Wako Kitano (Nijiho Nagata, 51); Yuna Sato, Otoka Yoshimura (Ayana Sakurai, 51); Masami Kawamura, Iroha Nagata (capt), Seina Saito (Kyoko Hosokawa, 61)
Referee: Clara Munarini (Italy).
Aoife Dalton (left) Stacey Flood, Amee-Leigh Costigan and Eve Higgins after Ireland’s first World Cup try in eight years
Ireland scrumhalf Aoibheann Reilly (left) made a number of vital last-ditch tackles to stop threatening Japanese attacks
Replacement Enya Breen dives over for Ireland’s sixth try in their impressive 42-14 victory over Japan in Northampton (©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Injured Dorothy Wall mobbed by her team-mates on a visit to the Ireland dressing room after Sunday win over Japan
