women
international women
Four tries at half time, Ireland seemed to be firmly in control of his own WXV Global Series opener at Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium, with dominant displays from both front and back and a green wave of support behind them.
However, 40 minutes later, the home team were stunned USA The Women’s Eagles mounted a huge comeback in the second half to claim a 40-36 victory and get their campaign off to a strong start.
Ireland came out of the blocks, with tries from Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Cliodhne Moloney-MacDonald, Aoife Wafer and Eve Higgins putting Scott Bemand’s side in a commanding position at the interval.
Playing with pace, power and attacking intent, Ireland produced some of their best rugby of the afternoon in the opening 40 minutes and looked set to make their dominance count on the scoreboard.
But the momentum shifted dramatically just after the hour mark when Elmes Kinlan was sent to the sin bin for failing to roll quickly enough after a tackle.
The US immediately took advantage of its opportunity.
Kathryn Treder scored twice in quick succession, along with Hallie Taufoou and man of the match Freda Tafuna, to turn the contest around.
Ireland refused to go quietly and Dorothy Wall’s late try gave the hosts one last chance to clinch victory as the clock ticked into red.
But with the final drive that followed, Ireland couldn’t find a way through the USA defence, allowing Jack Hanratty’s side to hold on for a 40-36 victory.
Speaking after full-time, Ireland captain Erin King told TG4: “I’m disappointed to be honest.
“We got out of the blocks, we showed what we’re capable of and I think we’re a little bit frustrated that we didn’t show that for the full 80 minutes.
“This is our first game of the season, so we definitely wanted to get going because we know what we are capable of.
“Our discipline dropped a bit and we gave them some easy inputs but we’ll come back stronger after that and it was a positive day because Jemima (Adams Verling) won her first game and a couple of girls got on the try list, so definitely a lot of positives but also a lot of learning.”
The girls in green will now look to put the disappointment behind them and respond next week when they head to the Dexcom Stadium in Galway for Japan on Sunday, September 26.
The captain explained: “You draw your best knowledge from your losses, and if we can take that and carry it into next week against Japan, we’ll be pleased with that.
“We are so capable. We have so much potential in this team. I really love playing with this team. We have so much talent and it is a pleasure to captain this team.”
“I think the girls are showing day in and day out what they’re capable of, so I have no doubt in this team that we’re going to come together and come back stronger as a team.”
