Winger Maggie Boylan on a tackle-breaking run in the Wolfhounds victory over Gwalia Lightning
Richard Bullick
ULSTER hooker Maebh Clenaghan scored both of her side’s second half tries as reigning Celtic Challenge champions Wolfhounds booked their place in the competition’s inaugural semi-finals by thumping closest challengers Gwalia Lightning 44-10.
By the time medical student Clenaghan came off the bench midway through the second half, table toppers Wolfhounds were already assured of their sixth consecutive bonus-point win as they chase a hat-trick of title triumphs.
Wolfhounds would have hit the half-century mark for a fourth weekend on the bounce but for Ireland outhalf Dannah O’Brien having an off-day with her place-kicking, landing just one of six conversion attempts in the opening period.
Sunday’s comprehensive victory at Virgin Media Park made mathematically certain of a top-four finish for Wolfhounds with four rounds of fixtures remaining, made up of three trips to the neighbouring island before next month’s clash with Irish rivals Clovers at Belfield Bowl.
Neill Alcorn’s side are next in action away to Glasgow Warriors on February 15 after a first fixture-free weekend since the end of December and Player of the Match against Gwalia, Eve Higgins, believes that there is plenty more to come from this Wolfhounds outfit.
Welsh visitors Gwalia arrived in Cork at the weekend on the back of four consecutive victories, but had no answer as ravenous Wolfhounds tore into them right from the off, led by captain Aoife Dalton whose ruthless hit early on led to the opening try after just 41 seconds.
Chasing a tantalising open-field kick by O’Brien, Dalton absolutely smashed the Gwalia recipient backwards in the tackle, the ball squirted out for fullback Stacey Flood to pounce on and she deftly put in-form winger Maggie Boylan away down the left to open the scoring.
Dalton’s Ireland centre partner Higgins and the latter’s fellow Paris Olympian Vicky Elmes-Kinlan both followed up with superb solo tries as shell-shocked Lightning were struck not twice but three times in the opening seven minutes.
For the third game running, Alcorn’s Wolfhounds ran in half a dozen first half tries, with Ulster skipper India Daley, her provincial team-mate Fiona Tuite and on-fire Ireland scrumhalf Aoibheann Reilly – from a brilliant break – also crossing the whitewash.
Although O’Brien added the extras to only one of those touchdowns, Wolfhounds led 32-3 at the interval and Clenaghan bagged a brace of tries in the space of three minutes after a scoreless third quarter.
Ireland ace Eve Higgins attacks during her Player of the Match performance for Wolfhounds
Introduced in place of her provincial captain Daley on the hour mark, Clenaghan dotted down at the back of a dominant maul and then darted over in the same corner after a well-worked move round the front of a lineout with newly-appointed Ireland skipper Erin King.
Gwalia got a consolation try three minutes from the end but leaving Musgrave Park empty-handed means they stay third behind Clovers, thanks to the Irish side’s deserved 38-31 victory in another entertaining game against Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Saturday.
Having rested several big guns including captain Dalton and fellow first-choice Ireland backs Flood, O’Brien and Reilly for the 52-26 victory over Glasgow on the same Musgrave Park pitch seven days earlier, Wolfhounds fielded a more familiar line-up against Gwalia.
That star quartet all returned behind the scrum in place of Amy Larn, Katie Corrigan, Abby Moyles and Jade Gaffney, with Higgins going back to inside centre and Elmes-Kinlan reverting to the right wing in two further positional switches.
The only change to the run-on pack saw Munster’s interpro title-winning skipper Maeve Og O’Leary get a break after five consecutive starts, with Tuite switching to blindside flanker and young Naoise Smyth resuming her earlier engineroom partnership with Kate Jordan.
Regan Casey, an Irish-qualified flanker from Canada now playing for Blackrock in the All Ireland League, made her first appearance in the matchday 23 and Wolfhounds went with a specialist outhalf on the bench in Moyles after her good display against Glasgow.
The inclusion of Casey takes the number of players who have featured for Wolfhounds in this current campaign to 35, though a trio who were listed in the original squad have yet to appear, namely Ireland prop Christy Haney, young lock Alma Atagamen and Kathy Baker.
Much was made of the fact that Gwalia came to Cork without three of their top players in prop Maisie Davies, scrumhalf Sian Jones – both required by their English Premiership clubs – and winger Courtney Greenway, who was away with the Great Britain sevens squad.
Scrumhalf Aoibheann Reilly making a brilliant break to score Wolfhounds’ sixth first half try
However, the visitors still fielded seven full internationals in their starting side – compared to 10 for Wolfhounds – but their disastrous start took a lot of the sting out of what had been a much-anticipated contest.
It could be argued that Wolfhounds were a bit off full-strength too given the absence of O’Leary and sparkling prospect Robyn O’Connor, who hasn’t been seen since the round four game against Brython in Belfast, when she was hobbling after scoring her second try.
Hypothetically, Haney and Atagamen might make a full-strength tight five for Wolfhounds, though the former hasn’t played since missing last summer’s World Cup through injury and the latter would face a fight for her place right now given the impact made by others.
The then teenage giant Atagamen was very much a headline-grabbing bolter for Wolfhounds last season but both Smyth and Jordan have taken their chance this term and can rotate alongside Tuite with versatile back five forward Poppy Garvey also able to cover lock.
Looking towards next month’s knockout stages, there is fantastic competition for places in the Wolfhounds back three, thanks in part to the impact Boylan, a prolific finisher for Blackrock in the AIL, has made when given her chance at this level.
Not named in the original Wolfhounds squad in December, Boylan has had five starts so far and scored four tries but also impressed with her physicality, security under the high ball and appetite to come off her wing and get involved.
Elmes-Kinlan has shown her worth recently, including on those two outings in the centre, Corrigan reminded us how lethal she can be on her one start so far, fire-cracker O’Connor has dazzled, Marley bagged two tries from two starts and there’s also Olympian Larn.
Even if Wolfhounds went without a second specialist outhalf – Flood can cover O’Brien – in their matchday squad, one of O’Connor, Boylan, Larn, Corrigan and Elmes-Kinlan would have to miss out on a place in the 23, along with Armagh gaelic footballer Marley.
One of the Wolfhounds try-scorers Vicky Elmes-Kinlan makes a tackle at Virgin Media Park
Those are the sort of selection headaches any coach should love and having such quality and depth at his disposal leaves Alcorn well-placed to build upon his impressive record as Wolfhounds supremo, with just one defeat so far in 23 matches at the helm.
However, the humble Belfast man maintains his understated style no matter how dominant Wolfhounds may be in any given game, though it is clear from their interactions in post-match interviews how well he gets on with his players and the mutual respect that exists.
Player of the Match Higgins joined him for media duties on Sunday and, although justifiably delighted with this latest comprehensive victory and Wolfhounds’ fantastic form, the hunger and desire to keep pushing upwards came across strongly from both of them.
“The past couple of weeks, we’ve had a generally good first half but been more patchy in the second, so we’ve been mindful of the need to deliver a full 80-minute performance with the players coming on making a big impact, and I think we did that more so today,” said Alcorn.
Asked about her side’s slick play, with some fantastic scores, Higgins enthused: “Definitely, as the weeks go on, we’re gelling a lot more as a backline and also with the forwards. Shape is something teams have to work on and ours is really coming together now.
“It’s exciting, because I feel we can even be a lot better than that (in attack). But one of the most satisfying things today was our defensive effort. We’ve talked about wanting it to be difficult for teams to score tries against us.
“We kind of let ourselves down in the second half last week (Glasgow Warriors scored four in the final half hour) when our performance dropped a bit and that was a huge thing we were working on in training this week.
“So (as well as our own tries) we were pleased with the second half improvement, the defence in our own 22 – it took them five minutes to score their (only) try late on – and I thought our lineout ‘D’ was unbelievable, I don’t know how many mauls were stopped.”
Wolfhounds got off to the dream start, beginning with that first minute try from Boylan, who had led the chase when O’Brien launched the ball long a couple of phases after Elmes-Kinlan had caught the Gwalia kick-off.
The visiting outhalf largely evaded Boylan but was bundled backwards in that crunching hit by Dalton, the alert Flood was there to snaffle the loose ball and her one-handed offload inside sent the Wolfhounds winger away for a first minute try.
Captain Aoife Dalton led Celtic Challenge champions Wolfhounds to their sixth victory in a row
O’Brien’s nicely-struck conversion attempt came back off the far post, but the Wolfhounds outhalf didn’t have long to wait for two more opportunities at goal, albeit both of them were off-target.
She had kicked long again off the Gwalia restart, this time taken by Erin King, and although Dalton made another shuddering hit – getting a poke in the eye for her trouble – the visitors managed to keep possession and clear to touch on halfway.
But Higgins cut right through on a sublime line and used her pace and footwork to get clear for an unconverted try on the right as the clock ticked over to four minutes gone, and more misery was to follow for the reeling visitors.
Gwalia managed to reclaim their shorter restart and opted to hoist, but Flood was secure under the high ball and moments later it was a classic long pass from the fullback that got Elmes-Kinlan away on the edge as Wolfhounds went right.
There had been strong carries from Daley and Boles before the lightweight Reilly bravely battled on a few more metres, with King seamlessly stepping in at scrumhalf and O’Brien pulling the pass back to Flood, who skipped Dalton to hit her winger.
Like Corrigan on that same wing against Glasgow Warriors the Sunday before, Elmes-Kinlan initially showed her pace down the touchline before a sharp step inside the last defender for a try which came with just 6:48 gone.
Nobody in the Wolfhounds camp was complaining obviously but that blistering start inevitably took some of the edge off what watchers had hoped would be a fascinating contest, though O’Brien’s missed conversions at least limited the scoreboard damage a bit.
The visitors opted to put points on the board on the quarter hour when awarded a penalty on the 22, and outhalf Carys Hughes split the sticks to make it 15-3, but Lightning didn’t strike again until the closing stages.
Dalton couldn’t quite grab a clever little kick ahead by O’Brien and the Welsh enjoyed their best spell of the match so far midway through the half, though they couldn’t capitalise and kicking a penalty to touch the wrong side of the corner flag hardly helped.
The referee twice had words with Wolfhounds skipper Dalton about her players protesting to him in the aftermath of a couple of late hits on O’Brien, but the hosts had a comfortable lead and didn’t get too rattled by what felt like an opposition tactic.
Some nice footwork by Dalton in the Gwalia 22 brought her close to reprising her try against Clovers at Creggs RFC in round two but Wolfhounds still scored after being held up over the line with the referee playing advantage.
O’Brien went to the left corner after a quick consultation with Dalton, Erin King caught Daley’s lineout throw and the Ulster hooker touched down at the back of the subsequent maul for Wolfhounds’ bonus-point try.
That was followed by a first successful conversion by O’Brien, whose difficult kick from wide on the left, squeezed inside the near post, and Wolfhounds went straight back on the offensive from the Gwalia restart.
Off turnover ball, good hands by O’Brien, Higgins and Dalton released Boylan on the left, the winger showed her deceptive physicality by breaking a couple of tackles and scrambling Gwalia couldn’t prevent Wolfhounds from scoring their fifth try on 33 minutes.
Tuite powerfully forced her way over, helped by Dalton surgical clean-out of the Gwalia loosehead prop and the Wolfhounds skipper also deserves credit for her work at the previous two rucks including showing great strength to protect the ball.
Despite a more favourable location than her previous success, O’Brien drew another blank off the tee but Wolfhounds went back on the attack and Dalton had a threatening dart before Gwalia were reprieved by a knock-on from Jordan.
There was still time for a sixth Wolfhounds try before the break, Flood demonstrating safe hands coming forward over halfway to take a high clearing kick by Hughes and Reilly showing her conviction, pace and footwork as she sniped left from the ruck 46 metres out.
O’Brien couldn’t add the extras to her halfback partner’s sensational try and, after Dalton had queried whether there was time for Gwalia to take the restart, Flood pragmatically kicked the ball into touch to trigger the interval with Wolfhounds leading by 29 points.
One of the Wolfhounds finds of the current campaign Maggie Boylan makes another good break
It was a barely believable half-time score for an eagerly-awaited top-of-the-table clash, but Wolfhounds had shown their quality and ruthless streak, with the half dozen tries in the opening period being scored by six different players.
After all the earlier excitement came a scoreless third quarter, though good tackles by Dalton and Elmes-Kinlan which helped keep Gwalia at bay, showed that having a healthy lead hadn’t taken the edge off Wolfhounds’ hunger.
With half an hour remaining, young Ulsterwoman Sophie Barrett replaced fellow flame-haired prop Caoimhe Molloy, with Ireland’s Linda Djougang switching to loosehead and Aoife Corcoran came on for Fermanagh flanker Claire Boles at openside.
Daley got to five metres out after a strong surge by her Enniskillen RFC clubmate Barrett but Wolfhounds were held up over the line and they then lost the ball on their own throw after the referee brought play back for a penalty to the hosts.
Elmes-Kinlan didn’t give a pass with Dalton free outside her wide on the right after a lovely run by Higgins down the opposite side and there was almost a sense of anti-climax in contrast to the first half fireworks those in attendance had been treated to.
Having taken a few knocks, Boylan gave way to Corrigan with 55 minutes played and that was followed by a quadruple substitution by Alcorn on the hour mark which saw the introduction of halfbacks Moyles and Gaffney, newcomer Casey and Clenaghan.
Barrett rightly earned the plaudits when Wolfhounds forced a scrum penalty early in the final quarter, Moyles kicked to touch, Clenaghan’s throw hit Smyth and the Armagh-born replacement hooker was soon touching down at the back of a dominant maul.
The right-footed Moyles, whose two outings in Cork can’t have harmed her placing in the Ireland outhalf pecking order – while providing a degree of reassurance about the depth chart in that position – added an excellent conversion from wide on the right.
It wasn’t long until that Clenaghan-Moyles combination were back on the scoresheet again after the Gwalia Lightning restart failed to clear the requisite 10 metres and Wolfhounds went left off the resulting scrum.
Clenaghan showed how fast she is for a hooker in taking a great line in support of a shimmering midfield break by Higgins and, although the visitors counter-rucked well, Elmes-Kinlan won a penalty at the breakdown and Wolfhounds went to the corner.
A lovely variation saw King – who was on the field for the full 80 minutes for the first time since returning at the start of January from a long injury lay-off – steal round the front of the lineout and give the ball back to Clenaghan on the touchline.
Also benefiting from the element of surprise, the young Ulsterwoman used her turn of pace to burst over by the corner flag for a try which would have been very satisfying for all involved including Wolfhounds forwards coach Matt Gill.
Young Ulster loosehead Cara McLean was on now for Djougang as the final Wolfhounds replacement, but when lock Smyth had to leave the field following another knock to her already bloodied nose, Tuite was allowed to return.
Both teams still had their targets to aim for, Wolfhounds wanting to hit the half-century mark for a fourth outing in a row and Gwalia wanting to at least round off a deeply disappointing afternoon by scoring a try.
The Welsh side duly did get over the whitewash but, as Higgins said afterwards, Wolfhounds really made them work for it, fighting ferociously to keep their line intact as they had done in very different circumstances in the closing stages of the corresponding game last season.
On that occasion, Wolfhounds were just six points ahead when a combination of the then captain Boles, her predecessor Molly Boyne and deputy Dalton managed to hold Gwalia up over the line with the clock red to bring the final whistle and great relief.
That late drama played out up the other end of the Virgin Media Park pitch, but this time there was no great jeopardy involved, though the successful conversion from winger Jodi Palmer at least took the Gwalia account into double figures.
During the siege on the Wolfhounds line, the referee had warned skipper Dalton that her team’s next penalty offence would result in a yellow card, and Tuite was sent to the sinbin for an infringement almost immediately after the restart.
Both Wolfhounds set-pieces were working well, but Dalton opted for a scrum when the Gwalia throw wasn’t straight and the hosts attacked to the left but the ball went forward so play came back for a put-in by the visitors with time almost up.
But they were driven right off their own ball by Wolfhounds, Dalton was high-tackled as she burst to the opposition 22 and Moyles put the penalty into the corner, opening up the prospect of Clenaghan completing her hat-trick.
However, her throw wasn’t secured and a knock-on from Gwalia Lightning brought the final whistle at the end of another productive afternoon for defending champions Wolfhounds, who are now six points clear at the top of the Celtic Challenge table.
WOLFHOUNDS (v Gwalia Lightning): Stacey Flood; Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, Aoife Dalton (capt), Eve Higgins, Maggie Boylan (Katie Corrigan, 55); Dannah O’Brien (Abby Moyles, 60), Aoibheann Reilly (Jade Gaffney, 60); Caoimhe Molloy (Sophie Barrett, 50), India Daley (Maebh Clenaghan, 60), Linda Djougang (Cara McLean, 65), Kate Jordan, Naoise Smyth (Tuite, temp 69-79), Fiona Tuite (Regan Casey, 60), Claire Boles (Aoife Corcoran, 50), Erin King.
