Ireland star Eve Higgins with some young Wolfhounds fans after the match (Pic: Colin Molloy)
Richard Bullick at Affidea Stadium
ULSTER winger Niamh Marley struck for the first of her team’s 11 tries as back-to-back Celtic Challenge champions Wolfhounds continued their impressive start to this latest title defence by obliterating Brython Thunder 69-0 at Ravenhill last Sunday.
Former Orchard county gaelic footballer Marley was joined on the scoresheet by another Armagh-born player, replacement hooker Maebh Clenaghan, on an afternoon when their Ulster skipper India Daley had two try-assists.
Each of their first four matches has resulted in a bonus-point victory for Wolfhounds, whereas this was a fourth consecutive defeat for the Welsh, who had come up just short against the other Irish side Clovers seven days earlier.
Despite parachuting in several English-based Welsh internationals to bolster their team, Brython were beaten 15-12 at Cardiff Arms Park and not getting over the line in the circumstances felt like a psychological blow ahead of this tough trip to Belfast.
Wolfhounds had no fewer than 10 full internationals in their run-on line-up, including a first start of the campaign for Fiona Tuite, albeit that meant most of their team were coming off a busy week which had included a three-day Ireland training camp.
Brython’s capped contingent included giant Gloucester Hartpury prop Sisilia Tuipulotu, who has played over 30 times for Wales, and the 18-stone behemoth – who was making her Celtic Challenge debut – helped them gain the upper hand at the first few scrums.
The visitors began reasonably brightly but Wolfhounds were in front by the seventh minute, helped by international centre Hannah Bluck’s poor attempted tackle on Marley, and Brython lost Welsh half-centurion Lisa Neumann to the sinbin as they soon fell further behind.
With confidence fragile, Brython heads understandably dropped a bit and they trailed 36-0 at the break before conceding a seventh try of the afternoon within 85 seconds of the resumption as the points kept pace with the minutes.
Wolfhounds were slightly less prolific in that second half but continued to keep the board ticking despite emptying the bench and several replacements contributed confidently to some of the later tries.
Among those to get on the scoresheet were bench hooker Clenaghan, who had taken over from her Ulster captain Daley at half-time, and reserve scrumhalf Jade Gaffney on a day when everyone in the home matchday squad got good game-time.
Rising star Robyn O’Connor does brilliantly to touch down for her second try (Pic: Colin Molloy)
Marley, who also scored in the 50-12 away win against Edinburgh eight days earlier, played the full 80 minutes and had another good outing for Neill Alcorn’s side albeit she was upstaged on the afternoon by both her colleagues in the Wolfhounds back three.
On the other wing, Wexford fire-cracker Robyn O’Connor added to her ever-rising reputation as one of the hottest prospects in Irish rugby with another dazzling display and she was only denied a hat-trick by the Brython high tackle which was punished with a penalty try.
Albeit she herself said she’d have given it to O’Connor, the Player of the Match award went to Ireland star Stacey Flood for an accomplished display both before and after switching from fullback to outhalf and taking over the place-kicking duties from Dannah O’Brien.
Having delivered a scoring pass to both of her wingers in the opening period, Flood bagged a try of her own at the start of the second after running onto an O’Brien chip and she nonchalantly converted the last two Wolfhounds tries.
There was a first half brace of tries for Olympian Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, twice capped by Ireland on the wing but brought in to partner Wolfhounds skipper Aoife Dalton in midfield, with the latter’s regular Ireland centre partner Eve Higgins rotated to the bench.
When Higgins came on for O’Brien, she got game-time at fullback and Flood at outhalf, something this writer was surprised not to have seen more of in last season’s Celtic Challenge given the potential need for the pair to cover those roles for Ireland.
Already the only Wolfhounds player to have been on the field for every minute after two rounds of fixtures, captain Dalton did the full 80 for a fourth game running and delivered a typically industrious display after her more eye-catching contribution in Edinburgh.
At the end of a week in which she had been announced as the new Ireland skipper, Erin King got through a lot of work and again increased her match minutes – 20 to 40 to 60 here – as she builds back after returning from long-term injury.
It was No 8 King’s pick-up from the back of a retreating scrum which paved the way for O’Connor’s second try, albeit the big incision was made by Aoibheann Reilly who once again was central to her team’s high-tempo play.
Wolfhounds’ Ulster contingent (from left) Cara McLean, Maebh Clenaghan, Niamh Marley, Fiona Tuite, India Daley and Claire Boles
Once again, the in-form Ireland scrumhalf had the luxury of playing on the front foot, thanks to the platform provided by the Wolfhounds forwards, who also showcased their own threat with ball in hand.
Ireland’s most capped current player Linda Djougang rampaged home for one of her hallmark long-range tries after taking the second of two scoring offloads from fellow front-rower Daley, who had also freed Elmes-Kinlan for the first of her two tries.
Elmes-Kinlan showed wonderful footwork from just inside her own half for the sixth Wolfhounds try not long after Djougang’s score for a home team who had bagged their bonus-point inside the first 29 minutes.
Wolfhounds had five personnel changes and one positional switch from the Edinburgh game, the latter involving Marley swapping wings from right to left as O’Connor came in for Maggie Boylan, who had scored a try in each of the first three matches.
The other backline alteration saw Elmes-Kinlan slot in at centre alongside Dalton, while Djougang returned at tight-head in place of Sophie Barrett, who was released for Enniskillen’s All Ireland Junior Cup final against Barnhall the same afternoon.
Tuite took over from Blackrock’s Kate Jordan in the engineroom while last season’s Wolfhounds captain Claire Boles from Fermanagh displaced Poppy Garvey at blindside flanker having lined out for Railway Union in the All Ireland League the previous Saturday.
(Pic: Colin Molloy)
Ironically, the first Wolfhounds score had its origins in what had seemed an ominous scrum penalty won by Tuipulotu in the fifth minute, for outhalf Hanna Marshall missed touch and a darting Dalton made good ground down the right with a determined burst.
Following forceful carries from Boles and loosehead Caoimhe Molloy, Dalton tidied up a loose ball a few phases later as Wolfhounds went left and, after King took the ball into contact, Reilly probed the blindside and Flood drew a defender before releasing Marley.
The Wolfhounds winger fended off an awful attempted tackle by Welsh centre Bluck which was far too high and raced home for her team’s opening try, which O’Brien couldn’t quite convert from wide out on the left.
A big tackle by Boles on 10 minutes caused a Brython knock-on, King picked up from the scrum and went to the blindside, where Reilly flipped a neat pass over the top to O’Connor some 16 metres inside her own half.
The 20-year-old’s electrifying run was ended by a high tackle as she crossed the Brython line, so even though the Thunder defence did well to flip O’Connor onto her back to prevent grounding, the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try and sinbinning Neumann.
O’Connor was caught round the neck again after catching a glorious long pass by Flood but play continued and, having taken the ball from Elmes-Kinlan, Daley offloaded nicely to the centre as she looped round in support and burst clear to the posts.
O’Brien converted the Elmes-Kinlan try to make it 19-0 by the end of the first quarter and the champions continued to apply pressure, with Dalton increasingly influential, but a King try wide on the right was disallowed after a break by the former.
Wolfhounds weren’t error-free, which contributed to them going scoreless for 12 minutes before clinching their bonus-point in an attack which came from winning a scrum – awarded for a debateable knock-on by Marley – against the head.
King got to 30 metres out, Djougang carried next, flanker Maeve Og O’Leary pulled a pass back to Elmes-Kinlan and Dalton linked well with Flood, who sent O’Connor scorching down the right touchline and round to near the posts for a try which O’Brien converted.
Then came a Djougang special as the mobile prop burst onto that offload from Daley just seven metres inside Brython territory and showed the opposition a clean pair of heels except for dainty outhalf Marshall, who pawed at her several times to little avail.
That conversion was missed but O’Brien did add the extras to a brilliant try two minutes later from just inside her own half by Elmes-Kinlan, whose hypnotising shuffling feet got her through a crowded midfield before her winger’s pace took her clear to the line.
If there was a gloomy mood in the Brython changing-room at the interval, the despair deepened almost immediately at the start of the second half, for which Clenaghan and Garvey had replaced provincial captains Daley and O’Leary in the Wolfhounds pack.
A slightly strange kick by the visitors went into touch near halfway, King won the lineout, O’Connor danced through the middle and O’Brien hoisted a tantalising kick down the left where the ball sat up for Flood, who shrugged off a defender and raced clear to score.
Although the contest was well over, Dalton set the tone as Wolfhounds showed their hunger in defence hadn’t diminished never mind the appetite for further tries, the next of which came on 46 minutes.
King did well to get away from the back of a scrum under pressure before feeding Reilly who made a searing break up a big blindside before freeing O’Connor just over the opposition 10-metre line with a perfectly-timed pass.
Well tackled just short by Neumann, the compact O’Connor showed determination, strength, awareness and acrobatic ability to somehow wriggle and twist to get the touchdown and O’Brien brought up her team’s tally to 50 points with an excellent conversion from wide out.
Ulster skipper India Daley prepares to offload to Vicky Elmes-Kinlan for a try (Pic: Colin Molloy)
With more than half an hour remaining, Brython were really staring down the barrel, but they deserve a degree of credit for restricting their hosts to just three more tries thereafter, albeit making multiple replacements may have interrupted the Wolfhounds flow a little.
A rare Reilly box-kick following the restart was rewarded with a Brython knock-on but Marley lost an O’Brien cross-kick forward under pressure just before Gaffney came on at scrumhalf for the hosts.
Ulster teenager Cara McLean, who had replaced Molloy at loosehead, hadn’t long to face Tuipulotu in the scrums as the huge Welsh prop was withdrawn half an hour from the end and shortly before the ninth Wolfhounds try.
Brython were penalised after the scrum close to their own line which had resulted from the Marley knock-on and, although King wanted to tap and go, Dalton pointed to the left corner and Clenaghan touched down at the back of a rampant maul as it powered over.
Higgins replaced O’Brien on 57 minutes but the relentless Dalton didn’t let up, with a rip in the tackle, probing burst in traffic and defensive pressure which forced an opposition knock-on all in quick succession coming up to the hour mark.
When King won a breakdown penalty, Flood dinked elegantly into the left corner but the lineout was lost straight after a triple substitution in the home pack which saw Alisha Flynn, Jordan and Aoife Corcoran replacing internationals Djougang, Tuite and King respectively.
The next try didn’t arrive until the 73rd minute but it was well worth waiting for, Gaffney finishing off following glorious interplay down the left flank featuring several young forwards confidently handling with aplomb.
Gaffney fed McLean, who passed to Garvey, athletic lock Naoise Smyth cantered down the touchline before flipping the ball back inside to McLean and she offloaded to the trailing Gaffney on the shoulder like any good scrumhalf should be.
Replacement scrumhalf Jade Gaffney bottled up by Brython tacklers on Sunday (Pic: Colin Molloy)
It took time for the unaccustomed Flood to line up the conversion but she nailed it comfortably from a fair bit to the left of the posts and had been announced as Player of the Match by the time she made it two from two.
The visitors were reduced to 14 players for the final five minutes by a straight red card for their replacement prop, who clumsily caught Corcoran high as she ran back the Brython restart – head contact which forced the replacement flanker off for an HIA, Daley returning.
A great tackle by Dalton led to Brython giving away a breakdown penalty, Smyth won the resulting lineout and duly got her team’s final touchdown after Wolfhounds had marched the opposition pack back some 20 metres.
The young second row has been a real find for Wolfhounds this season, starting each of these first four fixtures and proving a real asset at lineout time with her height and agility. Flood converted nicely from the 15-metre line on the left.
With the clock red, Dalton launched a scintillating counter-attack from inside her own 22 but, unlike in Edinburgh, what would have been a very slick switch with Higgins didn’t quite come off and the ball went forward to trigger the final whistle and end Brython’s nightmare.
WOLFHOUNDS (v Brython Thunder): Stacey Flood; Robyn O’Connor, Aoife Dalton (capt), Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, Niamh Marley; Dannah O’Brien (Eve Higgins, 57), Aoibheann Reilly (Jade Gaffney, 50); Caoimhe Molloy (Cara McLean, 46), India Daley (Maebh Clenaghan, ht), Linda Djougang (Alisha Flynn, 61), Naoise Smyth, Fiona Tuite (Kate Jordan, 61), Claire Boles, Maeve Og O’Leary (Poppy Garvey, ht), Erin King (Aoife Corcoran, 61; Daley, 74).
Wolfhounds winger Robyn O’Connor streaking clear to score her second try (Pic: Colin Molloy)
Wolfhounds prepare to scrum down against Sisilia Tuipulotu and her pack (Pic: Colin Molloy)
All smiles from (from left) Aoife Corcoran, Jade Gaffney and Robyn O’Connor (Pic: Colin Molloy)
Ex-Armagh gaelic footballer Niamh Marley offloads in a tackle for Wolfhounds (Pic: Colin Molloy)
