In two games, Ireland have scored 13 tries, 85 points and secured one World Cup quarter-final. Job well and truly done. For now.
A defeat to New Zealand this coming Sunday may dent the bubble of positivity surrounding this side. Barring a true disaster, it won’t burst it completely given the likely consolation prize is a last-eight date against a French side Ireland pushed hard in the most recent Six Nations.
That Spain tested a much-changed Ireland outfit, earning plenty of change out of the Irish maul while calling into question their fringe defence, can lead to multiple readings. The charitable one focuses on Ireland’s adaptability.
Ireland’s scrum can deviate from stable to struggling depending on the opponent. It is rarely a weapon, yet on Sunday it was precisely that. New recruit Ellena Perry won two penalties in that first half, packing down opposite arguably the biggest tighthead in the competition in Spain’s Eider Garcia Fuentes.
RM Block
“I pride myself on my scrum,” Perry, the former England loosehead, said. “It’s always nice to get a penalty from the first scrum; it gives you a bit more confidence moving into the game. We knew the threats they had so we’re pleased.
“She’s [Garcia Fuentes] class. She was strong. It’s about getting little different tips at the scrum, working with Cli [Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald] and Linda Djougang to counteract it.”
We can see now why Ireland head coach Scott Bemand was so keen to get Perry involved. Twenty tackles on the day – second highest overall – also illustrated a high work-rate for the position.
When Perry first entered the fold, there were questions about her ability to cover tighthead, given she was ostensibly called in to replace the hamstrung Christy Haney. The optics of going across the water for a last-minute call-up, instead of closer to home, were also noted. Performances such as this will quickly quieten such chatter.
“We know she’s a great scrummager,” Bemand said. “She can carry, she can ball play at the line, and she can defend. So we’ve got a player here who’s just added more again to a group and has bought into what the group’s trying to achieve.”
That Ireland relied on set-piece for field position and a decent maul once close to the opposition line showed a different modus operandi for scoring tries. Last weekend, the maul was effective but backline strikes and broken-field running were the standout features. Spain targeted Ireland’s dangerous outside backs and looked to cut off access. The forwards would have to carry more of the load, which they did.
“What we are doing now, we’re scoring tries and in a variety of ways we’re creating different problems for people to solve,” Bemand said. “So I’m sure anybody that plays us will take us seriously. That’s a good place for us to be and we just got to keep getting a bit better and a bit better.”
The less charitable reading of Sunday’s 43-27 win focuses on the ways in which Spain made life difficult. Bemand referred to these as the “edge-of-the-seats moments”, going on to say they were “the beauty of women’s rugby”. They may well look particularly beautiful to a Kiwi analyst on Monday morning.
Ireland’s maul was good, Spain’s was dominant. Both their first-half tries, which made for an enthralling contest, came off that set-piece. One maul drew in defenders to leave space out wide, another was an old-fashioned rumble over the line.
Ireland were also caught twice by the same trick play at the lineout, the hooker throwing close to the front only to take a quick return pass and dart down the short side. Bemand also pointed to Spain’s close carrying game which earned plenty of joy. A surprise tactic on the day.
“Spain brought a slightly different flavour today, didn’t they. Whenever they got an entry they resorted to a narrow pick-and-go game. And we actually look defensively comfortable in terms of a width perspective. It’s just very hard to stop the close game.”
Better sides will back themselves to cut off the backline access – as Spain did – while also dealing with Ireland’s set-piece threat. Add to that a narrow attack to match Spain’s and all of a sudden the blueprint for taking on Bemand and co becomes clear. Sunday also saw backfield errors aplenty, though some of these will hardly be repeated.
Pointing to Ireland’s progression against better opposition – England and France in the Six Nations, Canada in the World Cup warm-ups – Bemand believes Ireland can counter said plan.
“We had a good crack at it in the second half against Canada,” the head coach said. “We’ve had the Six Nations where we made England work for 50 minutes. We had 70 minutes against France.
“Part of our growth is we want we want to fire more shots. We want to take these games deeper against the World Cup contenders. So this will be a massive game for us just in terms of continuing momentum.”
All aboard the green wave to Brighton. The Black Ferns will have a strong say in its condition, but that wave will be surfed to the quarter-finals. No matter what happens this coming Sunday.
