IRELAND 15 FRANCE 27
Richard Bullick at Ravenhill
The frustrated sense of what might have been after a hard-fought 12-point defeat against France in Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations opener at Kingpan Stadium is testament to just how far this Ireland team has come.
Scott Bemand’s side found themselves 14-0 down by the end of the first quarter but battled back with three tries, though the hosts still trailed thanks to a hat-trick of failed conversion attempts by Dannah O’Brien despite having crossed the whitewash more often than France.
A penalty then eased the visitors more than a kick clear and a converted try towards the end put a slightly flattering gloss on the scoreline, which didn’t do justice to an Ireland display that hinted at there being more to come from this improving team.
They shaded the territory and possession statistics, gained considerably more metres than the opposition and had six clean breaks to two by France, but the 12 points kicked by visiting fullback Morgane Bourgeois was what separated the teams on the scoreboard.
Drawing a blank with her three attempts at the posts will disappoint O’Brien, whose place-kicking has been very effective for Ireland over the past year including the match-winning conversion in last September’s famous upset of world champions New Zealand.
The fact Ireland had hit the ground running against Australia in their first fixture last autumn fuelled hope that they wouldn’t be caught cold by the French here in another opening game, but their heroic efforts were undermined by too many handling errors especially.
Ireland didn’t really capitalise enough on France being reduced to 14 players for the duration of a 20-minute red card and, although the force seemed to be with the team in green when Aoife Wafer scored her second try on 67 minutes, it was the visitors who pushed on.
Even when the win was beyond them, another Ireland touchdown would have secured two points in the Six Nations table but, in the end, denying France a four-try bonus point was less of a return than this ambitious group wanted or deserved for their hard work.
In the corresponding game the same weekend last year, Ireland were greatly encouraged by their spirited performance and what felt like a respectable scoreline of 38-17 albeit achieved courtesy of late tries by 20-year-old namesakes Wafer and Aoife Dalton.
From making her Six Nations debut in that fixture, Ireland Player of the Year Wafer has since become a household name with three Player of the Match awards won in the green jersey and inclusion in the official World XV for 2024.
Centre Aoife Dalton hauls down a French opponent during Ireland’s defeat in Belfast
Wafer showcased her acknowledged world-class credentials again at the weekend, when she touched down twice, while her fellow try-scorer from Le Mans, Dalton, had two fantastic turnovers in Belfast and one superb break early on.
After slithering through a tackle and bursting from her own 10-metre line to near the opposition 22 in the 12th minute, Dalton found Ireland’s matchday captain Aimee-Leigh Costigan, formerly Murphy-Crowe, with a well-weighted skip pass.
Costigan offloaded inside to Eve Higgins, who passed out of the tackle to another sevens star Stacey Flood and Ireland laid siege to the French line but without reward as they sought to respond to the opposition’s opening try of the afternoon.
Albeit working with less ball and field position than Les Bleus in the opening period, the main difference was that a slightly frenetic Ireland couldn’t capitalise on their potential opportunities as well as the French.
By contrast, France took advantage of two kicks by Ireland fullback Flood which just went out on the full by an agonising couple of inches by using the territory gained to lay the foundations for their two tries.
France could have had more on the scoreboard but for some heroic defending, including Dalton’s brilliant rip in a tackle two metres from her own line and a very effective choke tackle led by Ulster’s Brittany Hogan.
It was a moral victory for Ireland that France ended up opting to go for the posts on 33 minutes after failing to breach their defences in a sustained spell of pressure, though that was a pragmatic move especially with such an accurate place-kicker as Bourgeois.
The French fullback finished her day with five from five, converting all three of her team’s tries and adding two penalties, that first of which made it 17-5 at the interval, Ireland’s try having come from a lineout early in the second quarter.
That woman Wafer smashed her way through after Erin King’s lineout take and her second touchdown of the afternoon on 67 minutes gave outhalf O’Brien the chance to bring Ireland level but her conversion attempt was off-target.
Ulster native Neve Jones had bagged Ireland’s second try in between, which like Wafer’s subsequent score came from a dominant maul that Dalton eagerly piled into and winger Anna McGann joined when the backs were beckoned by Dorothy Wall.
Ireland having the maul as a weapon was made possible by an excellent lineout on the day, with hooker Jones confidently hitting Wall at the tail on a number of occasions as well as having Six Nations debutant King as her regular go-to.
In contrast to some previous struggles out of touch over recent years, Ireland had a great return at the lineout, winning all but one of 19 on their own throw, with 10 takes from flanker King who also stole one from France.
Boss Bemand acknowledged afterwards that Ireland should have got a bit more to show for their first half efforts but praised his side’s resilience in fighting back from that 14-point deficit in front of a crowd of 6976 at Ulster headquarters.
He did lament the slight lack of composure which let the game get away again at the and cost Ireland even a losing bonus point and, along with skipper Edel McMahon, admitted that it felt like this was a realistic chance to win which had been let slip.
France were reduced to 14 players for a quarter of the game, star centre Garbielle Vernier rightly sent off for an utterly reckless tackle when her head smashed into Higgins’ face, but unfortunately for Ireland the new regulations meant it was just a 20-minute red card.
Thankfully Higgins was fit to return after running repairs to her bloodied mouth and a head injury assessment before eventually giving way to experienced replacement Enya Breen on a day when Ireland had gone with a 6:2 split on the bench for the first time under Bemand.
The four replacements made on 55 minutes included the introduction of squad captain McMahon, whose omission from the starting team had seen Irish sevens skipper Costigan take official charge of her country in XVs for the first time.
Jones was designated as vice-captain so that someone closer to the action had authority to speak to the referee from closer range than the wing but McMahon, who had led the team out, took charge when she came on and also conducted the post-match media duties.
The Exeter Chiefs flanker, who has been such an influential figure in shaping the excellent culture underpinning Ireland’s renaissance, even stood at the inside end of the line for the anthems in a very visible statement that she rightly remains the overall leader.
Appointing McMahon and the currently injured Sam Monaghan as co-captains was an inspired move by Bemand at the start of his tenure and likewise Saturday’s unorthodox but pragmatic arrangement was absolutely the right bespoke solution for this team.
McMahon had been left out of the run-on team to accommodate King in the backrow alongside Wafer and Hogan, the Player of the Match against Scotland in Ireland’s last Six Nations fixture in Belfast, who has now started all 13 matches of the Bemand era.
The four personnel changes from October’s victory over USA which secured runners-up place at WXV1 included Anna McGann replacing the retired Eimear Considine on the right wing and Higgins displacing Breen as Dalton’s centre partner.
It probably wasn’t Hogan’s best day in green as she had a couple of knock-ons and was chalked down for five missed tackles before being brought off earlier than usual but the 26-year-old workhorse from Killinchy has so much credit in the bank from the past year.
Young Leinster lock Ruth Campbell, who was sparingly used in the lineout, got the nod over Ulster forward Fiona Tuite as Wall’s engineroom partner while O’Brien regained the No 10 jersey from Connacht captain Nicole Fowley, who didn’t make the matchday squad.
On an afternoon when both teams kicked plenty, Flood was safe under the high ball and also showed exciting glimpses of what she can offer in attack on her return from an ankle injury at the start of February which required surgery.
Props Niamh O’Dowd, who topped Ireland’s tackles chart with 14 and gave away four of the 10 penalties they conceded, and Linda Djougang typically put in long shifts and weren’t replaced until the final three minutes.
Relentless loose forward Wafer edged Flood for most carries with 17, made a dozen tackles and won three turnovers in another outstanding display from Ireland’s taliswoman who has actually played very little rugby since her heroics in Vancouver last autumn.
Although France have only lost three times to Ireland in their history, and not since 2017, the team ranked fourth in the world came to Belfast with a point to prove having had a less productive campaign at WXV1 than their hosts.
After the prolonged dry spell, the rain forecast for matchday largely held off for this lunchtime kick-off and France struck first when a nice line by Vernier took her over for a seventh-minute try to mark her 50th cap on an afternoon that was to end in less distinguished fashion.
O’Brien’s over-cooked cross-kick for McGann ended Ireland’s spell of pressure created by that Dalton break and France extended their lead when winger and co-captain Marine Menager crossed in the right corner on 18 minutes, Bourgeois adding a fine conversion.
Ireland responded promptly, Wafer smashing through three players to touch down early in the second quarter after the ball was popped off from a well-worked lineout won by King following an O’Brien penalty to the right corner.
Defiant defence from Ireland prevented France from crossing again, though there were a few hairy moments including Costigan having to be alert to grab the ball in her own in-goal area when an attempted clearance by Flood was charged down.
The Ireland defence proved so impenetrable that the French finally elected to take a shot at goal, Bourgeois extending their lead to 17-5, which was still the scoreline at the interval as late pressure by the women in green yielded no material reward.
Another absolutely magnificent turnover by the diminutive but ferociously determined Dalton set the tone at the start of the second half and Ireland reduced the arrears to single score proportions within six minutes of the resumption.
From the incident which saw Vernier yellow-carded – justifiably upgraded to red following the bunker review – Ireland went to the right corner, Wall won the lineout and Jones got the touchdown in the stadium where she won Player of the Match against Scotland in 2022.
Star scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon-Sansus came and went several times in the second half, leaving the field with what looked suspiciously like a dislocated finger only to return to the action later, and Bemand began ringing the changes a quarter of an hour in.
It was surprising to see established heavyweight Wall being called ashore rather than Campbell – though the Tipperary powerhouse had been emptying the tank – while McMahon replaced Hogan and the experienced Cliodhna Moloney took over from Jones at hooker.
Aoibheann Reilly, who was shortlisted for Ireland Player of the Year after starting all five fixtures in last season’s Six Nations, came on at the base of the scrum for Emily Lane less than 10 months after rupturing her cruciate.
Wafer’s second try following Campbell’s second lineout take of the afternoon and Dalton again joining the maul gave Ireland fresh hope and the momentum seemed to be with them but the two-point deficit was to be as close as the greens got.
Dalton was too hot off her marks chasing a chip from Flood, which enabled Bourgeois to push France five ahead with a long-range penalty and replacement Emilie Boulard’s try shortly afterwards effectively sealed the visiting victory.
This match had shades of the Canadian clash at WXV1 last autumn when Ireland felt they had left an achievable victory against good opposition behind them but this still largely young team remains on an upward trajectory as McMahon reiterated afterwards.
There are positives to take ahead of next Sunday’s Italian job but more pressure for that fixture as, despite increased expectation compared to last year, beating France would still be a bonus at this stage whereas victory in Parma is non-negotiable now but won’t be easy.
IRELAND: S Flood; A McGann, A Dalton, E Higgins (E Breen, temp 44-51, 67), AL Costigan (capt); D O’Brien, E Lane (A Reilly, 55); N O’Dowd (S McCarthy, 78), N Jones (C Moloney, 55), L Djougang (C Haney, 78), R Campbell (G Moore, 67), D Wall (F Tuite, 55), B Hogan (E McMahon, 55), E King, A Wafer.
FRANCE: M Bourgeois; M Llorens, N Konde (E Boulard, 33), G Vernier (A Berthomieu, 67), M Menager (co-capt); C Arbez (L Queyroi, 69), P Bourdon-Sansus (A Chambon, temp 51-61, 69); Y Brosseau (A Mwayembe, 55), A Sochat (M Bigot, 55), R Bernadou (C Joyeux, 55), M Feleu (co-capt), M Fall-Raclot, C Escudero, S Okemba (L Champon, 66), T Feleu.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU).
