Ulster skipper India Daley dives over to score the second try for Wolfhounds against Edinburgh in Dublin
WOLFHOUNDS 34 EDINBURGH 7
RICHARD BULLICK AT ENERGIA PARK
FERMANAGH front-row forwards Sophie Barrett and India Daley bagged three tries between them as back-to-back champions Wolfhounds launched their bid for a hat-trick of Celtic Challenge title triumphs with a bonus-point victory over Edinburgh.
It was a winning start for new Wolfhounds captain Aoife Dalton, who led by example as always, while there was a Player of the Match performance on debut by her even younger Old Belvedere clubmate, the 20-year-old little firecracker fullback Robyn O’Connor.
On an afternoon when the awful weather probably proved a bit of a leveller, the legendary Linda Djougang took the front row try tally to four, with the other touchdowns coming from debutant winger Maggie Boylan and Dalton’s Ireland centre partner Eve Higgins.
Boylan confidently caught a perfect cross-kick by Ireland outhalf Dannah O’Brien to score in the corner while Higgins somehow scrambled back to her feet to ground after a ridiculous head-high hit after she had dashed down the touchline from a quickly tapped penalty.
Wolfhounds frustratingly found themselves on the wrong side of the referee at the breakdown, with a high penalty count against them and not much change from their own attempts to win turnovers, some of which might have been rewarded on another day.
Head coach Neill Alcorn, who sets such high standards for the Wolfhounds, won’t be entirely satisfied with some aspects of his side’s Donnybrook display or even the scoreboard, but the atrocious conditions, with sheeting torrential rain, was a mitigating factor.
“We knew Edinburgh would be tricky, they came at us especially in that second part of the first half, but really happy with how the girls performed,” said Ulsterman Alcorn in his post-match interview while acknowledging there was plenty to work on before facing Clovers.
The Wolfhounds supremo enthusiastically hailed precocious Player of the Match O’Connor’s contribution in her first Celtic Challenge outing having spent last winter and spring exclusively in the Irish sevens set-up.
“Robyn’s been doing brilliant stuff for the past couple of years as we’ve all seen and (in) our first couple of weeks training, she has been brilliant. She deserves her opportunity and took it really well today,” he declared.
Alcorn’s women had retained their Celtic Challenge crown by obliterating Edinburgh 102-0 at the same venue in early March, but the Scottish visitors were depleted by injury and illness on that occasion, so a similar landslide was never likely this time.
Incidentally, the scoreline was almost identical to the 33-7 victory with which Wolfhounds launched their previous title defence, also at Energia Park the weekend before Christmas last year, but that was against their formidable Irish rivals Clovers.
The only loss for Wolfhounds last season came against Clovers in round two, so Alcorn will be determined to ensure that result isn’t repeated in the eagerly-awaited Irish derby battle with Denis Fogarty’s charges at Creggs RFC in Roscommon the first Saturday in January.
Clovers had to come from behind twice to edge Gwalia Lightning 35-31 in the opening game of this season’s Celtic Challenge, the first fixture of Saturday’s Donnybrook double-header, Caitriona Finn’s flawless place-kicking proving the difference as the teams shared 10 tries.
Having been understudy to Ulster loose forward Claire Boles last season, Ireland Player of the Year Dalton has now been elevated to the role of Wolfhounds captain aged just 22, the latest accolade for this greatly-respected young Offaly woman.
In addition to Dalton’s predecessor Boles, the Wolfhounds starting side on Saturday also included the respective captains of Munster and Ulster in this season’s interpro title-winning skipper Maeve Og O’Leary and Daley.
With influential Ireland duo Aoife Wafer and Ulster’s Brittany Hogan having joined English Premiership clubs and 2024 World Rugby Breakthrough Award winner Erin King out injured until February, O’Leary looks like a very valuable addition to Alcorn’s slate of loose forwards.
Boles was deployed at No 8 against Edinburgh between the impressive Poppy Garvey and non-stop O’Leary, so Daley lined out at hooker with Armagh native Maebh Clenaghan on the bench having started all 10 Celtic Challenge games last season in the No 2 jersey.
There were seven full internationals in the Wolfhounds starting line-up on Saturday with Ireland regulars Djougang and Stacey Flood held in reserve initially, Fiona Tuite injured, Katie Corrigan not in the matchday 23 and no sign of Christy Haney yet either.
The absence of Tuite and young Balbriggan giant Alma Atagamen, the Irish find of last season’s Celtic Challenge, meant newcomers Naoise Smyth and Kate Jordan being paired in the engineroom behind an all-Ulster front row including teenage loosehead Cara McLean.
Blackrock’s Jordan brought her considerable physical presence to bear while Old Belvedere recruit Smyth offers real height at the lineout, though the tricky conditions here made life difficult for the throwers.
Although not named in the original Wolfhounds squad of 30 for this season’s competition, prolific Blackrock finisher Boylan came straight in on the left wing with Olympian Vicky Elmes-Kinlan and hot prospect O’Connor completing the back three.
That meant another Olympian Amy Larn, who scored a scorching try a few minutes into her Wolfhounds debut the same weekend last year, starting on the bench here along with Flood and reserve scrumhalf Jade Gaffney.
The arrival of Connacht scrumhalf Aoibheann Reilly from Clovers meant Alcorn could field Ireland’s first choice 9-10-12-13 combo from the recent World Cup with O’Brien at outhalf alongside that excellent centre pairing of Higgins and Dalton.
Having previously lined out the other way round for Ireland at the WXV3 tournament in Dubai in autumn 2023, Higgins switched to play inside Dalton at the start of last season’s Celtic Challenge and it has subsequently proved a very successful formula in green too.
Dalton’s first on-field decision as Wolfhounds skipper was to instruct O’Brien to go for touch rather than the posts with a penalty in midfield on the 22, which had been won at the breakdown by Daley, and that positive approach was rewarded.
O’Leary claimed Daley’s throw – it is great to see both women back in representative rugby this season after long-term injuries – and the pack moved forward before Barrett’s forceful charge followed by a great spin and stretch for the line.
Back with Wolfhounds after a season playing for Clovers, Barrett showed impressive power, awareness and indeed balletic ability in making yards initially and then reaching out to ground the ball for a third minute try to which O’Brien added the extras.
The wind was making it difficult for Wolfhounds to exit through O’Brien’s boot, so captain Dalton stepped up with several ferocious carries and then a breakaway down the left flank from a Higgins skip pass created the field position for the home team’s second try.
Again it came from a penalty to the left corner and a powerful maul, with hooker Daley getting the touchdown this time, and although O’Brien couldn’t convert from wide out, physically dominant Wolfhounds led 12-0 with just nine minutes gone.
At that stage, Edinburgh must have been getting a nasty sense of déjà vu, but although a trademark huge hit by Dalton on the quarter hour was well received by the Wolfhounds fans, the orange flag-waving travelling support remained in good voice.
The Wolfhounds skipper’s wonderful line-speed was causing claustrophobia for Edinburgh and the visitors fell further behind midway through the half as Boylan brought her prolific form for Blackrock as the AIL’s top try-scorer into the Celtic Challenge.
O’Brien’s well-weighted cross-kick created that unconverted try by Boylan wide on the left midway through the half after Reilly’s brilliant break up a wide blindside from a scrum on the Edinburgh 10-metre line led to Elmes-Kinlan being tackled just short in the right corner.
The sturdy duo of O’Connor and Dalton combined well with a neat one-two to get Wolfhounds on the attack again but Edinburgh got a relieving penalty and, with the hosts having some set-piece struggles, it was the visitors who scored next.
Edinburgh established scrum dominance during a scoreless scrappy period before a well-taken try by flanker Cat Moody on 34 minutes, converted by Lucy MacRae, made it 17-7 at the interval.
However, while Wolfhounds would double their account thereafter, Edinburgh didn’t score playing into the elements, which included driving rain as well as a gusting breeze, in the second half, for which Djougang replaced McLean from the outset.
Wolfhounds were held up under the opposition posts early in the second half when the ball should have been moved wider but Barrett barged over powerfully for her team’s bonus-point try on 46 minutes with O’Brien converting for good measure.
Quick thinking by Higgins led to Wolfhounds’ fifth try just three minutes later as she tapped a penalty and darted down the right touchline. She was felled just short by a recklessly high, no-arms tackle from the fullback but bravely bounced up again and dived over.
The culprit Scarlett Haddow was arguably lucky not to see red – the match officials deemed a sinbinning to be sufficient sanction – but Wolfhounds seemed well placed to kick on now despite the worsening weather as they led 29-7 with half an hour remaining.
Higgins had won the breakdown penalty which led to her try, having got in over the ball after a tackle by Boles, and although rightly seen as a cerebral player, the way she took the Haddow hit underlined the Paris Olympian’s resilience too.
There were huge gasps from the Donnybrook crowd when Higgins was smashed but, as with the hit which saw the French culprit red-carded in this spring’s Six Nations opener at Ravenhill, it seems like Eve must have an iron jaw as well as a high pain threshold.
Ireland fullback Flood came on for Boylan with O’Connor moving to the wing, where she combined with fellow compact pest Dalton late in the third quarter to force a turnover, but Edinburgh dealt well with an O’Brien cross-kick towards the corner.
Alcorn made five replacements after the hour mark, including the introduction of Clenaghan and flame-haired Wicklow prop Caoimhe Molloy, though the sight of Reilly limping slowly from the field was a worry ahead of the post-Christmas Clovers clash.
With O’Brien being replaced by Larn, O’Connor reverted to fullback with Flood switching to outhalf from where she produced a dainty chip which Larn couldn’t quite ground for a try in a crowded left corner.
Ireland Under 20 flanker Aoife Corcoran – who like replacement lock Cliodhna Ni Chonchobhair hadn’t been named in the original Wolfhounds squad for this season – came on for her Celtic Challenge debut in place of Boles with 14 minutes remaining.
Admittedly the weather wasn’t helping but Wolfhounds were somewhat wasteful in that last quarter despite some strong carries from replacement props Molloy and Djougang in particular while the mercurial O’Connor continued to look lively.
She launched one nice counter-attack and made a good follow-up tackle after her chip and chase, but Wolfhounds didn’t score again until near the end when Djougang – now at tighthead – added to the front row’s try tally for the afternoon.
It wasn’t quite as spectacular as her try from inside her own half in last season’s Celtic Challenge opener, but Djougang burst through for a late touchdown which rounded off the scoring for Wolfhounds with Flood’s conversion attempt striking the near upright.
Now at No 8, O’Leary had gone on an arcing run before switching with Larn, cutting in from wide on the left, and good hands from Molloy freed Djougang, who somehow found a way through what had seemed like a packed defence.
Champions Wolfhounds are top of the table for Christmas as their margin of victory surpassed that achieved in Saturday’s middle match by Glasgow Warriors as they recorded a noteworthy 36-17 away win against Brython Thunder at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli.
Despite the awful weather, it had been a rewarding return to Energia Park for O’Connor, who only last year had captained Wexford’s Loreto to victory there in the first Leinster Senior Schools Cup final a few months before picking up her first pro contract with the IRFU.
Since that schoolgirls showpiece, O’Connor has had two eye-catching summers with Ireland Under 20s, a dazzling first adult interpro series for Leinster, got called up by Scott Bemand to his training squad ahead of WXV1 and spent a year on the World Series sevens circuit.
“It’s very exciting playing my first game for Wolfhounds! It was in tough conditions, with the wind and the rain. The pack put in a lot of effort and I think we did well to secure the win, but have a good few things to tidy up on, so we’ll work on those.
“It’s definitely nice to get back into XVs again, I’ve been playing a lot of sevens in the past year,” reflected rising star Robyn in her post-match interview having staked a claim for involvement in that Clovers clash the other side of Christmas.
WOLFHOUNDS: Robyn O’Connor; Vicky Elmes-Kinlan, Aoife Dalton (capt), Eve Higgins, Maggie Boylan (Stacey Flood, 50); Dannah O’Brien (Amy Larn, 60), Aoibheann Reilly (Jade Gaffney, 60); Cara McLean (Linda Djougang, ht), India Daley (Maebh Clenaghan, 60), Sophie Barrett (Caoimhe Molloy, 60), Naoise Smyth (Cliodhna Ni Chonchobhair, 60), Kate Jordan, Poppy Garvey, Maeve Og O’Leary, Claire Boles (Aoife Corcoran, 66).
