The report is here: Sarah Rendell is in Cork and her expert take on a tale of two halves is below. Give it a read. Thank you for following the updates here! Ireland travel to Wales next weekend, while England will host Scotland. Until then …
“We had to absorb a little bit of pressure in the first half – a little bit of set piece pressure – but it’s a game we could have gone into ahead at half-time,” correctly assesses Scott Bemand, the Ireland coach, who is hoarse from shouting/‘issuing instructions’.
“We were so disciplined, but there is a cost to that. The second half; a few errors. The yellow card came and we never really recovered from that.” He praises his players for their commitment and development in the last 12 months.
Ireland will feel that scoreline does not quite reflect their performance. They forced England into several handling errors but could not capitalise on the amount of ball they had in the first half. And, of course, 42 unanswered points in the second half; the game got away from them. But what a difference from the 88-10 defeat of last year! Ireland are much improved.
“That was really tough, especially the first half,” says Zoe Harrison, who was immaculate from the tee. “That one was about being patient, taking our times to get there – and when we did, getting our foot on the throat.” She goes on to praise the tenacity of the Ireland defence, foot firmly off the throat and into the ‘respect’ zone.
Maud Muir got the player of the match award. She was indefatigable in the first half, while some of her teammates struggled with Ireland’s fierce intensity. After the break, so many England players stepped up – Jess Breach, Meg Jones, Zoe Harrison, Ellie Kildunne, Sarah Bern (who came off the bench to replace Muir).
England remain perfect in this year’s W6N! A bonus-point victory after a barnstorming second-half display. What a difference after Ireland took the lead and really pressured and harried their visitors in the first 40 minutes. But an early yellow card, England going up a gear (or four) and the introduction of elite players from the bench made a big difference.
79 min: England have it back, testing Ireland once more. Amy Cockayne punches a hole in the Irish defence. Will we see one more try?
77 min: The scoreline looks a bit ugly for the hosts now. Ireland for a rare time in this half have possession in England’s half, they’re passing it, Kildunne throws out one hand to stop the ball. Ireland’s penalty, Kildunne perhaps lucky not to see yellow.
Kelsey Clifford gets her first England try! Holly Aitchison showed her playmaking skills there ducking and diving then releasing the ball just as she hit the turf for Clifford to power over in Bern-esque style. Aitchison converts.
73 min: England lineout in Ireland’s half. They maul forwards relentlessly. Aitchison tries to open up Ireland with a cunning low kick, but Dalton is alive to the danger and picks it up.
72 min: This could be a long last eight minutes for Ireland, who are starting to look frayed. Kildunne gets a knock but gets up and is OK.
Ellie Kildunne against tired legs: you know the outcome. A blistering solo run from arguably the world’s top player as she dodges past green shirts, touches down and unleashes the rodeo celebration.
68 min: Another England scrum, Ireland push hard but the visitors come away with the ball once more. They spread the ball around. Kildunne with a wonderful solo run! And …
Sarah Bern has her second try! England maul forwards right on the line, push Ireland back and the reigning queen of English TikTok forces her way over. The extras are kicked in front of the posts.
65 min: England’s scrum in Ireland’s half. The visitors start to play it wide, Ireland doggedly win the ball back – but it’s brought back for a penalty.
63 min: Ireland with some possession at last … but they cede the ball. Dow is hunting them down in their red zone. The ball is flung about but Erin King stays strong.
61 min: England ring more changes themselves, Maddie Feaunati in on, Holly Aitchison is on. A pause in play, Ireland’s lineout to restart.
59 min: Dannah O’Brien comes off, she was sublime with the boot, but Ireland need fresh legs perhaps. And to give others experience. England – with Megan Jones at the forefront – look a different team in this half.
England have their bonus point! Sarah Bern, on off the bench, gets the ball, sees an opening and shows her pace + power as she bulldozes through and gets it down. Harrison converts.
56 min: Oof. Zoe Aldcroft clatters, fairly, into O’Dowd. What a welcome back. She comes off – walks off fine we should say, and is replaced by Siobhán McCarthy.
55 min: O’Dowd is back on so Ireland are back up to a full complement, but the damage has arguably been done: two converted tries while England had the player advantage.
Another excellently worked England try, Kildunne is involved but it’s Dow with the excellent run out wide then the unselfish pass inside to Meg Jones, who has plenty of space to dot down. Harrison converts; England in control.
51 min: Dalton makes a powerful run through the midfield, Ireland putting up a fight. We have a new front row for the England! A trio of changes.
England’s passing game finally comes together in front of the posts! They work an opening, Zoe Harrison snakes through with a zigzag run; lovely work from the fly-half who converts her own try.
48 min: Fiona Tuite is on for Ireland. England are looking to find the gaps, edging towards the Ireland line, they have the extra player, and …
46 min: Kildunne so close to an England try! A clever, low kick by Jess Breach breaches the Ireland defence – Kildunne is on to it first, but cannot make a clean grasp under pressure from Aoife Dalton.
Yellow card: Niamh O’Dowd for her continued scrum infractions. Now, it’s 14 versus 15. O’Brien’s kick, another great one, gets it clear for Ireland … for now.
44 min: Ireland scrum around halfway, they’ll want to get it out quickly. Their scrum was suffering towards the end of the first half.
42 min: Kildunne tries to burst through the Irish defence, Muir is on the charge, but Higgins steals the ball and the hosts can clear. Ireland are seeing out the England storm for now.
40 min: England get possession back right away and Jess Breach makes an electric dash down the wing … does Costigan tackle her before she goes over for a try? Yes! Just; following a review. That was so close. What a start. What a run. What a tackle.
Zoe Harrison kicks the ball and we have restarted in Cork! Let’s see if Ireland can maintain their intensity for another 40 mins.
Dannah O’Brien’s kicks were outstanding in that first half and of course it led to captain Costigan’s try. Zoe Harrison has kicked well too, but – while England’s set piece has impressed, especially in the ubiquitous scrum – we’ve hardly seen any passing fluency. They will urgently want to get the likes of Ellie Kildunne on the ball in the second half.
England’s players are having a pretty intense chat on the pitch before they even go down the tunnel. They must know they didn’t show the best against a fired-up Ireland.
Ireland see it out without further damage! They will on one hand feel a bit gutted to be behind to England, having scored such a superb try, but that was such a competitive half of rugby. Great stuff.
39 min: Ireland stymie the England attack, Erin King snaffling the ball back. We’re almost at half-time but, of course, we’ve got to have another scrum first.
38 min: Another scrum. It’s been a scrumptious first half. Ireland fall again and it’s a penalty that England will kick.
37 min: Ireland look to pick holes in the England defence, spreading play well. The crowd, momentarily stunned by England going ahead, are right behind their side again.
Not pretty, but effective! England maul towards the line, turn the Irish defence and Morwenna Talling cleanly and clearly gets it down. Harrison kicks the extras and England lead. What a blow to the hosts.
33 min: Kildunne takes an O’Brien kick cleanly. Aoife Dalton is penalised… Harrison kicks. Another lineout in the Irish corner.