AS IRELAND SIFTED through the pieces of Sunday’s 40-0 defeat to New Zealand, the point was repeatedly made that if they had been more accurate across the opening stages, a different game may have unfolded at the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium.
Ifs, buts and maybes. Sunday wasn’t the first time in this tournament where Ireland left the pitch with regrets about elements of their play. If the best is yet to come, they need to find it quickly, otherwise their World Cup will end against France in Exeter [Sunday, 1pm].
There are some silver linings Ireland can look to as they face into their quarter-final. It’s unlikely France will meet them with the same suffocating line speed. Ireland will have opportunities to score and if they improve their accuracy, they can make life uncomfortable for France. The French are a better side that this current Irish squad but they are not as complete a team as New Zealand, who may well go on and win the whole thing.
Ireland will review what went wrong against New Zealand but there will also be an element of wiping the slate clean as they look forward to a new challenge.
“You’re playing the defending champions, one of the top contenders in the competition” Ireland centre Eve Higgins said of New Zealand.
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“It’s always going to be tough. Same again next week, we’re going to be up against huge opposition. Our goal in this competition was to get into the quarter-finals as quickly as possible and we did that in our first wins in the pool stage and now we’re into knockout rugby.
We know if we put 80 minutes out next week we can look and assess and get through and hopefully make a semi-final.
“New Zealand put huge line speed on us, we knew they would do that with huge physicality, and it’s what we can do to learn from that and get ahead.”
Higgins, who passed a HIA after being removed in the second half, felt that line speed was the biggest difference between the New Zealand side they faced in Brighton and the one they beat at WXV1 last year.
“Our attacking game was probably nullified a bit by the speed of their defence. Their physicality and their attack as well for getting us backwards. So maybe it was the speed difference from the last two weeks going into now. We knew that was going to come. So it’s just how can we quickly get over that and bring it next week because we know it’s going to be the same.”
Higgins moved to fullback after Stacey Flood was injured. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
It was a testing evening for Higgins, one of Ireland’s best performers at this World Cup, as she was shifted into fullback when Stacey Flood was forced off with a foot injury in the first half.
Shortly after that rejig of the Ireland backline, Scott Bemand’s team found themselves stretched by a clinical New Zealand attack, with Higgins left one-on-one against the electric Braxton Sorensen-McGee as the 18-year-old ran in the first of her three tries. Having held New Zealand at 12-0 despite sustained pressure from the Black Ferns, that score felt a significant one so close to half time.
Ireland had started well, playing in the right areas of the pitch across the opening 10 minutes, but poor execution proved costly. Instead it was New Zealand who took control and never let up, shutting Ireland down and keeping them scoreless.
Bemand’s side looked too static and predictable in attack while struggling to get their wide players involved. Marry that with losing the contact battle, and it was always going to be a long evening. Ireland don’t necessarily have to change too much for France, but the attack has to be more efficient and the ball moved with greater purpose.
“Obviously, it is a disappointment that we didn’t get points on the board. But we started the game well and a score at the start of the game could change a lot of things, momentum in certain parts of the game could change a lot of things. So it’s how can we turn those momentum shifts, and actually get points when we’re in the 22.
“Our green zone attack has been good in this competition,” Higgins added.
“Obviously it just wasn’t there (against New Zealand), we’ve great coaching staff that we can learn from and make fixes that will make us more effective in the 22.”
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'We know if we put 80 minutes out, we can make a semi-final'
AS IRELAND SIFTED through the pieces of Sunday’s 40-0 defeat to New Zealand, the point was repeatedly made that if they had been more accurate across the opening stages, a different game may have unfolded at the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium.
Ifs, buts and maybes. Sunday wasn’t the first time in this tournament where Ireland left the pitch with regrets about elements of their play. If the best is yet to come, they need to find it quickly, otherwise their World Cup will end against France in Exeter [Sunday, 1pm].
There are some silver linings Ireland can look to as they face into their quarter-final. It’s unlikely France will meet them with the same suffocating line speed. Ireland will have opportunities to score and if they improve their accuracy, they can make life uncomfortable for France. The French are a better side that this current Irish squad but they are not as complete a team as New Zealand, who may well go on and win the whole thing.
Ireland will review what went wrong against New Zealand but there will also be an element of wiping the slate clean as they look forward to a new challenge.
“You’re playing the defending champions, one of the top contenders in the competition” Ireland centre Eve Higgins said of New Zealand.
“It’s always going to be tough. Same again next week, we’re going to be up against huge opposition. Our goal in this competition was to get into the quarter-finals as quickly as possible and we did that in our first wins in the pool stage and now we’re into knockout rugby.
“New Zealand put huge line speed on us, we knew they would do that with huge physicality, and it’s what we can do to learn from that and get ahead.”
Higgins, who passed a HIA after being removed in the second half, felt that line speed was the biggest difference between the New Zealand side they faced in Brighton and the one they beat at WXV1 last year.
“Our attacking game was probably nullified a bit by the speed of their defence. Their physicality and their attack as well for getting us backwards. So maybe it was the speed difference from the last two weeks going into now. We knew that was going to come. So it’s just how can we quickly get over that and bring it next week because we know it’s going to be the same.”
It was a testing evening for Higgins, one of Ireland’s best performers at this World Cup, as she was shifted into fullback when Stacey Flood was forced off with a foot injury in the first half.
Shortly after that rejig of the Ireland backline, Scott Bemand’s team found themselves stretched by a clinical New Zealand attack, with Higgins left one-on-one against the electric Braxton Sorensen-McGee as the 18-year-old ran in the first of her three tries. Having held New Zealand at 12-0 despite sustained pressure from the Black Ferns, that score felt a significant one so close to half time.
Ireland had started well, playing in the right areas of the pitch across the opening 10 minutes, but poor execution proved costly. Instead it was New Zealand who took control and never let up, shutting Ireland down and keeping them scoreless.
Bemand’s side looked too static and predictable in attack while struggling to get their wide players involved. Marry that with losing the contact battle, and it was always going to be a long evening. Ireland don’t necessarily have to change too much for France, but the attack has to be more efficient and the ball moved with greater purpose.
“Obviously, it is a disappointment that we didn’t get points on the board. But we started the game well and a score at the start of the game could change a lot of things, momentum in certain parts of the game could change a lot of things. So it’s how can we turn those momentum shifts, and actually get points when we’re in the 22.
“Our green zone attack has been good in this competition,” Higgins added.
“Obviously it just wasn’t there (against New Zealand), we’ve great coaching staff that we can learn from and make fixes that will make us more effective in the 22.”
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