IRELAND’S PLAN FOR Sunday evening was to shake off the pain of a harrowing loss to New Zealand and try enjoy their last night together in Brighton.
For the most part, it was a memorable week for the group. Based near the heart of the action in the lively seaside town, any downtime was well spent with the challenge of a testing final pool game against New Zealand on the horizon, where Ireland would get to lace up their boots in front of 30,000 supporters. Rare experiences for players who were stuck in the lowly environs of WXV3 just two years ago.
They were always going to be up against it against a side looking to defend their title and claim a seventh World Cup, but the ambition was to showcase how far they have come under Scott Bemand and remind those watching that last year’s WXV1 win against the Black Ferns was no flash in the pan.
Yet the fear of a heavy defeat was always there and it didn’t take long for that reality to unfold, New Zealand taking full control after Ireland started with intent, but crucially failed to get on the scoreboard before the momentum swung. To go 80 minutes without getting a single point on the board has to bruise belief.
Bemand couldn’t fault his players’ efforts, but a defence which has been an ongoing concern was cut open by one of the most exciting attacking sides in the tournament. When Ireland had the ball in their hands, they couldn’t live with New Zealand’s fierce line speed and power. New Zealand smashed into five dominant tackles, compared to Ireland’s one. Bemand’s team managed just two linebreaks to New Zealand’s seven.
For all the highlight moments that came as New Zealand ran in six tries, it was their defence which laid the platform for a commanding performance.
Bemand must now hope the experience hasn’t taken too much out of the group ahead of this weekend’s quarter-final meeting with France, who smashed South Africa 57-10 on Sunday evening.
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“I think our girls understand, they spoke really well at the end there and I think they understand that we actually got ins,” he said.
Scott Bemand in a team huddle after the match. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“We haven’t just received New Zealand attacking us, and for the first block of that game we found ins and we had opportunities late in the game when the bench, the finishers came on and brought a little bit of energy that showed we can get back on top.
“We’ve just got to be a bit smarter about how to finish off points when we get into the points zone, if we do that we’ll take it later into the games and that’s where you’ve got to be at the business end.”
While Ireland did create some opportunities, New Zealand’s line speed made their attack look worryingly static and limited at times. Ireland must move the ball with more intent and accuracy if they are to trouble France at Sandy Park.
“We knew it was coming,” Bemand added.
“We knew how New Zealand defend, culturally, we know that they embrace the physical side of the game. We know that our ball movement has got to be a bit quicker, so sometimes, at the end of the first half, we got a bit passive, a bit steady with the ball, and then their line speed can get you behind the gainline.
“When we were fast with it, we got the ball to the edge and made some momentum, there were times we caught behind it and times we created opportunities. So look, there’s bits we can go at, but acclimatising to playing at this speed is a big part of our growth.
“I’ve just been talking to their (New Zealand’s) defence coach and he was full of compliments on how we made it difficult for them,” he continued.
They have got threats across across the park, fair play to them. What we’ve got to do is just get a little bit better in controlling how those threats get on the ball and what space we give them.
“So look, there’s bits to that, we never shy away from trying to be better. I think there’s a lot we can learn coming out of this game, that tees-up for next week. So we’ll learn fast and go and get the best game out there next time.”
France do not have the same depth of quality as New Zealand, but will be widely expected to end Ireland’s World Cup. Ireland last got the better of France in 2017, although the gap has appeared to close in recent seasons. In this year’s Six Nations Ireland battled hard before falling to a 12-point defeat in Belfast.
Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan will be one of the key figures in terms of picking the group up this week, and generating the belief that this team still have one big World Cup performance in them.
“At the start of the Six Nations this year it was a game we were in and we probably let ourselves down a bit,” Monaghan said.
“We should have been more clinical again, so that’s something we’ll focus on this week.
“That’s on us. At the end of the day, when we’re on top of teams, when we’re firing, we know we can score, we know we can play. We have some great individual players but in that first half we just needed to win the physical battle, carry harder.”
On to Exeter. France may be a step too far for this group, but at the very least, they will hope yesterday is the last time they come off a pitch at this tournament feeling they didn’t give a proper account of themselves.
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Ireland have much to fix if they are to trouble France in quarter-final
IRELAND’S PLAN FOR Sunday evening was to shake off the pain of a harrowing loss to New Zealand and try enjoy their last night together in Brighton.
For the most part, it was a memorable week for the group. Based near the heart of the action in the lively seaside town, any downtime was well spent with the challenge of a testing final pool game against New Zealand on the horizon, where Ireland would get to lace up their boots in front of 30,000 supporters. Rare experiences for players who were stuck in the lowly environs of WXV3 just two years ago.
They were always going to be up against it against a side looking to defend their title and claim a seventh World Cup, but the ambition was to showcase how far they have come under Scott Bemand and remind those watching that last year’s WXV1 win against the Black Ferns was no flash in the pan.
Yet the fear of a heavy defeat was always there and it didn’t take long for that reality to unfold, New Zealand taking full control after Ireland started with intent, but crucially failed to get on the scoreboard before the momentum swung. To go 80 minutes without getting a single point on the board has to bruise belief.
Bemand couldn’t fault his players’ efforts, but a defence which has been an ongoing concern was cut open by one of the most exciting attacking sides in the tournament. When Ireland had the ball in their hands, they couldn’t live with New Zealand’s fierce line speed and power. New Zealand smashed into five dominant tackles, compared to Ireland’s one. Bemand’s team managed just two linebreaks to New Zealand’s seven.
For all the highlight moments that came as New Zealand ran in six tries, it was their defence which laid the platform for a commanding performance.
Bemand must now hope the experience hasn’t taken too much out of the group ahead of this weekend’s quarter-final meeting with France, who smashed South Africa 57-10 on Sunday evening.
“I think our girls understand, they spoke really well at the end there and I think they understand that we actually got ins,” he said.
“We haven’t just received New Zealand attacking us, and for the first block of that game we found ins and we had opportunities late in the game when the bench, the finishers came on and brought a little bit of energy that showed we can get back on top.
“We’ve just got to be a bit smarter about how to finish off points when we get into the points zone, if we do that we’ll take it later into the games and that’s where you’ve got to be at the business end.”
While Ireland did create some opportunities, New Zealand’s line speed made their attack look worryingly static and limited at times. Ireland must move the ball with more intent and accuracy if they are to trouble France at Sandy Park.
“We knew it was coming,” Bemand added.
“We knew how New Zealand defend, culturally, we know that they embrace the physical side of the game. We know that our ball movement has got to be a bit quicker, so sometimes, at the end of the first half, we got a bit passive, a bit steady with the ball, and then their line speed can get you behind the gainline.
“When we were fast with it, we got the ball to the edge and made some momentum, there were times we caught behind it and times we created opportunities. So look, there’s bits we can go at, but acclimatising to playing at this speed is a big part of our growth.
“I’ve just been talking to their (New Zealand’s) defence coach and he was full of compliments on how we made it difficult for them,” he continued.
“So look, there’s bits to that, we never shy away from trying to be better. I think there’s a lot we can learn coming out of this game, that tees-up for next week. So we’ll learn fast and go and get the best game out there next time.”
France do not have the same depth of quality as New Zealand, but will be widely expected to end Ireland’s World Cup. Ireland last got the better of France in 2017, although the gap has appeared to close in recent seasons. In this year’s Six Nations Ireland battled hard before falling to a 12-point defeat in Belfast.
Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan will be one of the key figures in terms of picking the group up this week, and generating the belief that this team still have one big World Cup performance in them.
“At the start of the Six Nations this year it was a game we were in and we probably let ourselves down a bit,” Monaghan said.
“We should have been more clinical again, so that’s something we’ll focus on this week.
“That’s on us. At the end of the day, when we’re on top of teams, when we’re firing, we know we can score, we know we can play. We have some great individual players but in that first half we just needed to win the physical battle, carry harder.”
On to Exeter. France may be a step too far for this group, but at the very least, they will hope yesterday is the last time they come off a pitch at this tournament feeling they didn’t give a proper account of themselves.
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