Following a week off in the wake of a difficult start to the tournament, scrum coach Denis Fogarty said Ireland will be ‘ready to go’ for their round three Women’s Six Nations clash against Italy at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma on Saturday.
After suffering heavy defeats at the hands of Wales (31-5) and France (53-3) in the opening two rounds of the championship, the Irish squad went their separate ways. While the players who are under centralised contracts with the IRFU were in the union’s High Performance Centre in Abbotstown for a couple of days last week, it wasn’t until Easter Sunday they got back together as a collective.
Former Munster hooker Fogarty, whose older brother John coaches the Ireland men’s scrum, believes having some time off has been beneficial for the group, but he was glad that it was back to being business as usual at the beginning of this week.
“It has given us time to regroup and obviously the players as well after a tough two games. It has been massively important and you can see the energy that they’re bringing already from the start of this week, which is really positive. Certainly it’s not easy losing, especially to big scores, but I think they understand where we’re at as a group and as a coaching group,” Fogarty explained.
“That’s the big thing going forward, is that we all know where we’re at. They’ve really come in this week full of energy and knowing the journey, and where we are on this journey. That’s been really positive and I think they’re ready to go now for Italy.”
Despite losing by 50 points in a game that saw them playing with a numerical advantage for the majority of the action, it was generally acknowledged that Ireland’s display against France at Musgrave Park was still an improvement on a disappointing opening day duel with Wales in Cardiff.
Although the margin of defeat was greater, the quality of the French side remains a cut above that of the Welsh. The Italians aren’t viewed in the same regard as Les Bleus, yet France had to dig deep before securing a 22-12 victory over the Azzurre in Parma at the start of this year’s Six Nations.
Giovanni Raineri’s charges are expected to make life difficult for the visitors this weekend, but Fogarty is positive that this Irish group have what it takes to deliver a strong performance.
“They really are great to be around. Even from my own point of view, I get energised working with them. There’s no doubt they’re hurting, but to show that resilience they have, to come in all ready to go and full of energy and ready to get something out of this Italian game. There’s no doubt about it, they’re a special group and there are some really good leaders in it,” Fogarty added.
Even though their record against Italy in the Women’s Six Nations is almost flawless with 15 wins and just one defeat from 16 previous encounters, ninth-place Ireland are four spots below their forthcoming opponents in the world rankings.
This is thanks in no small part to the fact that the Italians (unlike their Irish counterparts) featured at last year’s delayed World Cup in New Zealand and made it to the quarter-final stage.
Given her Ireland debut was on last summer’s two-Test tour of Japan, Saturday’s game will be the first time that Offaly native Aoife Dalton has faced Italy. Nevertheless, she has seen enough footage of them to know what kind of challenge awaits them in Parma.
“They’re obviously a good side. They were at a World Cup in November. Going into this week we really just have to focus on what we can control. We’re not under any illusions. Italy are a good side and it’s going to take a lot to go over there and beat them at their home pitch. I think we’re just going to focus on ourselves for this week,” Dalton said.
