Ulster skipper India Daley battles forward during Wolfhounds’ away win against Glasgow Warriors
Richard Bullick
Wolfhounds were singing in the rain on Sunday as the Celtic Challenge champions secured a magnificent seventh consecutive bonus-point victory in their latest title defence with a 42-26 away win against Glasgow Warriors on a filthy afternoon at Scotstoun.
Despite fielding a quite understrength side, with captain Aoife Dalton arguably their only first-choice back starting, Neill Alcorn’s women won well in awful weather to extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points over Irish rivals Clovers.
New Ireland skipper Erin King bagged a brace of tries and picked up Player of the Match, while there were also touchdowns from Katie Corrigan, Naoise Smyth, Fiona Tuite and replacement Aoibheann Reilly, with Abby Moyles landing all six conversion attempts.
An intercept pass thrown by Moyles handed the hosts a four-try bonus-point right at the end, but the only real dampener on Wolfhounds spirits was seeing Munster skipper Maeve Og O’Leary leave the field clutching her shoulder right at the start of the second half.
Otherwise, it was a feel-good afternoon, especially for the Wilson family with 18-year-old hooker EmmaJane joining older sister Hannah as a front-row replacement in a final quarter which featured another magical individual try by Ireland scrumhalf Reilly.
Any sort of victory over Brython Thunder at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli this Saturday (12.30pm, BBC iPlayer) will guarantee Wolfhounds a top two finish and hence a semi on Irish soil as they chase a place in the inaugural Grand Final and a hat-trick of title triumphs.
Wolfhounds could well encounter Glasgow again in next month’s knockout stages as the losing bonus-point the Scottish side snatched thanks to that intercept with the clock in the red may prove vital in their quest to secure fourth place.
Thanks to their penchant for picking up bonus-points, Glasgow are two points ahead of Brython Thunder despite having recorded just one victory in the campaign to date, whereas the Welsh team have sparked to life lately with back-to-back wins against Edinburgh.
Wolfhounds captain Aoife Dalton leads her team out for Sunday’s match with Glasgow at Scotstoun
Having four consecutive matches against the two Irish sides has been a tough run of fixtures for Glasgow but they have claimed five valuable bonus-points along the way and scored an impressive haul of 18 tries in those matches.
That includes eight in two games – an unanswered four in the last half hour when the teams met in Cork and then the four at Scotstoun on Sunday – against the otherwise parsimonious Wolfhounds, who have conceded just five in their other five matches combined.
Wolfhounds have a star-studded squad, but fielded a relatively modest total of seven Irish internationals at the weekend including just three who were at last summer’s World Cup in Dalton, Linda Djougang and Tuite, who won Player of the Match against Glasgow last time.
Of course, 2024 World Rugby Breakthrough Award winner King would also have been at that tournament but for injury, while the other capped players in Sunday’s run-on line-up were O’Leary, Corrigan and Vicky Elmes-Kinlan.
Playing out of position at inside centre for a third time in this campaign, Elmes-Kinlan was one of four Olympians starting for Wolfhounds at Scotstoun along with King, current Irish sevens skipper Megan Burns and Amy Larn.
While the Player of the Match adjudicator name-checked Dalton and Moyles before settling on King for the award, Larn must surely have been in the reckoning too given how well she played on what could be described as an archetypal nightmare afternoon for fullbacks.
The 21-year-old ex-Kildare gaelic footballer hasn’t had much game-time this term compared to last season’s nine starts for Wolfhounds but she policed the back field expertly, was very secure under the high ball despite it being slippery, and a real counter-attacking threat.
It speaks volumes for the talent at Alcorn’s disposal that there were just three players wearing the same jerseys compared to the XV which had started against Gwalia in Cork ahead of the down weekend, namely Dalton, King and Ulster skipper India Daley.
The dozen alterations elsewhere were comprised of eight personnel changes and a further four positional switches, the latter including Elmes-Kinlan going from wing to inside centre in place of the rested Eve Higgins, who had been Player of the Match against Gwalia.
The teams including Ulster prop Sophie Barrett (centre) pack down for a scrum on a wet afternoon
Elmes-Kinlan’s place on the right wing was taken by Corrigan, with Burns – again sporting rather incongruous tights like she did for her cameo in Edinburgh last month – taking over from Maggie Boylan wide on the left.
As she had for the home match against Glasgow, Ulster’s Meath native Moyles was given the opportunity to steer the ship from outhalf in place of rested Ireland No 10 Dannah O’Brien and Reilly took a turn on the bench with Jade Gaffney starting at scrumhalf.
In terms of the pack compared with the Lightning game, Djougang swapped sides in the front row to facilitate young Ulster prop Sophie Barrett coming in at tighthead alongside Enniskillen clubmate Daley with Caoimhe Molloy reverting to the replacements.
Tuite moved from blindside flanker into the second row to partner Smyth, who wore No 4 this time instead of No 5, with Blackrock’s Kate Jordan – who up until now had most match minutes for Wolfhounds this season – dropping out of the matchday squad.
Regular openside O’Leary returned after sitting out the Gwalia game, but at blindside for Fermanagh Olympian Claire Boles, with the No 7 jersey being worn by Canadian-born, Irish-qualified Regan Casey on her first Wolfhounds start.
Having started all 10 Celtic Challenge games last season and been ever-present in the matchday 23 in the current campaign to date, Armagh-born Maebh Clenaghan was replaced as bench hooker here by rookie EmmaJane Wilson.
Another fresh face being given her first taste of Celtic Challenge action was Blackrock centre Cara Martin, who had partnered Dalton for Leinster in last season’s interpros, and she slotted in alongside the Wolfhounds skipper when she came on in Glasgow.
It can be debated as to whether Ireland Player of the Year Dalton was the only first-choice back starting for Wolfhounds on Sunday as, while Flood, Higgins, O’Brien and Reilly appear nailed on, there is fierce competition for places on the wings.
Based on earlier selections and their impressive performances, it could be argued that Wexford fire-cracker Robyn O’Connor and Blackrock’s Boylan are in pole position, but both Elmes-Kinlan and Corrigan are full internationals and Larn a formidable talent too.
Wolfhounds fullback Amy Larn had an impressive outing in Glasgow despite the tricky conditions
Unfortunately, from a parochial perspective, it feels like former Armagh gaelic footballer Niamh Marley might struggle to get back into the mix at the business end of this campaign if all of the other back three options are available but she too had done well when called upon.
Alcorn spoke in his pre-match interview on Sunday about wanting positive selection headaches and players like Larn and Moyles – who has surely nailed down third place in Ireland’s outhalf pecking order in recent weeks – certainly put their hands up.
Both Wolfhounds captain Dalton and Glasgow counterpart Holland Bogan had big smiles for the flag-waving youngsters who proudly stood in the torrential rain to give the teams a guard of honour as they took the field.
With her pink scrunchie adding a touch of brightness on a gloomy afternoon, the lively Larn’s safe hands and dancing feet were a feature of the early exchanges as she confidently dealt with Glasgow kicks and either returned them with interest or ran the ball back with intent.
Wolfhounds went in front with a 10th minute try, Moyles launching a perfect cross-kick to the right wing with the referee playing penalty advantage and Corrigan catching it adeptly before stepping the defender to score.
Moyles added a magnificent conversion from the more difficult touchline for a right-footed kicker, though unsurprisingly both teams had a few handling errors in attack in light of the slippery ball.
Glasgow also coughed up possession thanks a huge hit by Dalton, though the woman regarded as one of the world’s best defenders will have been annoyed that opposite number Briar McNamara somehow evaded her clutches early in the second quarter.
Having already broken a tackle, the New Zealand-born McNamara made the most of her escape, thereafter showing good footwork, power and pace in racing clear for a fantastic try which her fellow centre Millie Warren converted to level the scores on 24 minutes.
But it was another big tackle by Dalton that forced a Glasgow knock-on which paved the way for her team to take the lead again just after the half hour, King muscling her way over after good carries by both visiting props.
A great charge-down by King herself led to the third Wolfhounds try, Smyth stretching to score after a rampage by Barrett and typically surgical clear-out by Dalton, Moyles completing her hat-trick of conversions to make it 21-7 at the interval.
Wolfhounds lost O’Leary within two minutes of the resumption, hurt as she went low head-first for the Glasgow tryline, after a superb break by Dalton down the right and then cutting inside had got Wolfhounds deep into the opposition 22.
The bonus-point try came quickly when play resumed after O’Leary’s sad departure – replaced by Aoife Corcoran – with Tuite forcing her way over and Moyles again adding the extras, though she kicked out on the full moments later in what was a rare mistake.
The relentless King got her second try with half an hour remaining, the fifth Moyles conversion making it 35-7, but rather than being disheartened, Glasgow summoned the spirit of Virgin Media Park three weeks earlier and continued to fight.
They were rewarded with their second try, which went unconverted, late in the third quarter, between Alcorn making several substitutions, Cliodhna Ni Chonchobhair, Martin and Reilly coming on for Tuite, Burns and Gaffney respectively.
Three Glasgow tacklers confront Wolfhounds skipper Aoife Dalton during the Celtic Challenge clash
Glasgow applied relentless pressure for a long period in the final quarter, met with equally sustained defence from Wolfhounds, and the siege was finally lifted when Warriors knocked on right at the line, prompting snarls of delight from flame-haired props Molloy and Barrett.
No 8 Emily Coubrough got Glasgow’s third try on 71 minutes, Warren converting, with Daley being sinbinned – the referee had warned Dalton a little earlier about her team’s repeated infringing – and on came the Wilsons along with Kate Farrell-McCabe.
It was off the back of a determined carry by young EmmaJane Wilson that the in-form Reilly sniped brilliantly from just inside her own half, with a carving break for a stunning try comparable to the one she scored against Gwalia last time out.
Moyles maintained her perfect record off the tee and, although Warren picked off the outhalf’s telegraphed pass for Martin to score a try and convert it, giving Glasgow the last word, this was yet another afternoon which belonged to Wolfhounds.
They have now passed their half-century of tries for the campaign and the reigning champions’ points difference of plus 227 is well over twice that of the only two other teams in the black, Gwalia (plus 50) and Clovers (plus 45), between them.
WOLFHOUNDS (v Glasgow): Amy Larn; Katie Corrigan, Aoife Dalton (capt), Vicky Elmes-Kinlan (Kate Farrell-McCabe, 72), Megan Burns (Cara Martin, 59); Abby Moyles, Jade Gaffney (Aoibheann Reilly, 59); Linda Djougang (Caoimhe Molloy, 51), India Daley, Sophie Barrett (Hannah Wilson, 72), Naoise Smyth, Fiona Tuite (Cliodhna Ni Chonchobhair, 54), Maeve Og O’Leary (Aoife Corcoran, 42), Regan Casey (EmmaJane Wilson, 72), Erin King.
Flanker Maeve Og O’Leary left the field at the start of the second half after sustaining a shoulder injury
Ireland skipper Erin King scored two tries in her Player of the Match performance for Wolfhounds
