Ryan Bailey reports from Kingspan Stadium
WHEN LINDSAY PEAT crashed over the line in the far corner of Ravenhill, she turned for the halfway line and slammed the ball into the ground, fists clenched and the adrenaline pumping. The crowd responded, the roar around this ground deafening. 17 minutes remaining; game on.
And then came the sucker punch. From the kick off, Ireland needed clean ball to mount another wave of attack on the Welsh line. Instead, it was knocked on and every semblance of momentum and energy was sucked out of Kingspan Stadium. A few phases later, the Welsh went over for their fourth try. Game over.
“It just summed up our tournament really,” Peat admitted afterwards. “I really did think the game was changing. I felt the buzz and the energy was really with us. We had momentum and then we knocked on and we’re on the back foot.”
One step forward, two steps back. One positive piece of play, followed by a mistake which undermined it all. There were examples of this throughout all five of Ireland’s games at this disastrous World Cup. A missed opportunity, a tournament full of regrets.
“We fought to the end but our fight hasn’t been good enough,” the prop continued.
“We’ve been unlucky at times, we’ve produced some really good pieces of rugby but we’ve just been inconsistent with it. It’s a valiant effort, I’m very proud of the players I’ve played with and the supporters have just been brilliant. The buzz has been brilliant, it lived up on that side to expectations and we’ve very disappointed we couldn’t match that. We just talked too much about our own high standards instead of relaxing and playing.”
Perhaps there was too much talking. The players talked about reaching semi-finals and finals. Lofty expectations, and we, the media, talked them up too much. We talked about an experienced squad and a golden generation together and in unison, but the reality was something completely different. There can be no faulting the commitment, attitude, bravery and passion of the players. They gave everything, expending every last sinew for the green jersey.
But underneath it all the relationship between players and management was disintegrating. What women’s director Anthony Eddy branded the best prepared women’s squad this island has produced, was in fact an extremely disgruntled crop who found themselves shouldering the responsibility for analysis, tactics and gameplan with minimal notice.
Peat, understandably, was reluctant to comment on the issues raised by her team-mate Ruth O’Reilly in a damning interview with The Irish Times on the morning of the final World Cup game. She insisted she hadn’t seen it or read it, nor had any of the players before the seventh place playoff defeat to Wales.
Instead, the 36-year-old, who started all five games, focused on the positives from a campaign which yielded few and took the opportunity to thank the thousands of supporters who rowed in behind this team.
“The crowd, they were immense they were like a 16th man and I really have to say thank you. From the first minute until the 82nd they were behind us all the way and we fed off that.
“The harder we seemed to try the unluckier we seemed to get. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, I’m very proud of the girls. We gave everything and we really wanted to do proud for this great nation of ours and I hope on an effort level we did but unfortunately our skills let us down.
“Our focus today [Saturday] was getting a win, ending on a high and getting automatic qualification for a World Cup and I stand here heartbroken that we couldn’t deliver that. We didn’t live up to performance and to not give those fans who have been out since day one a big thank you with a performance and result. We’re hurting and we just want to say thank you and sorry.”
Peat was visibly emotional as she spoke to the media shortly after the game, but could smile when asked whether this tournament matched the experience of playing in an All-Ireland football final. Both of those occasions have ended in bitter disappointment for the Dubliner, but she will be back to fight another day in green.
“I would love to,” Peat said, when asked if she would like to continue her international career on for next year’s Six Nations.
“I’ll only be a full two years playing rugby come September so to play in a World Cup it really lived up to expectation from that point of view.
“It was phenomenal and a huge honour on my behalf.”
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