Great Britain 28
Ireland 12
A DEFEAT TO Great Britain means the Ireland women’s 7s team have finished in eighth position at their first Olympic Games.
It was a disappointing end to a tough campaign for this Irish team, who won one of their six games in Paris.
They may have regrets about narrowly losing to Australia in their last pool game yesterday when a win might have given them a more winnable quarter-final.
It didn’t help that they were missing two key players in captain Lucy Mulhall Rock and the pacy Béibhinn Parsons due to injury as they looked to finish on a high against Great Britain his evening, although younger players in the squad are sure to have learned a huge amount from their Olympic experience.
Still, this was a frustrating end for Allan Temple-Jones’ team at Stade de France.
Ireland were hit by the loss of Stacey Flood to a yellow card early in the first half, the Irish playmaker punished for a high tackle, and Great Britain took immediate advantage as Meg Jones dummied and broke through, converting her own try for 7-0.
The Irish hit back after a big break by Erin King earned them a close-range penalty and after opting for a scrum, skipper Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe carried and then Megan Burns finished for 7-5.
But Great Britain took control before half time as Jade Shekells broke clear down the right for another converted try, and then Jones scythed through for her second.
Adding to the pain for Ireland was the fact that King was shown a yellow card for kicking the ball away after Jones had dotted down. Isla Norman-Bell’s conversion meant Great Britain led 21-5 at the break.
With Ireland still down to six players, Heather Cowell sped home from long-range upon the resumption and Emma Uren’s second conversion extended the lead to 28-5.
Jones was then yellow carded for a high tackle on Eve Higgins, slowing the British momentum, but Ireland weren’t able to take advantage as they botched an overlap on the right through a dropped pass. Their handling let them down again soon after as opportunity beckoned in the right corner, the ball going forward into touch.
Flood’s cross-kick nearly found Vicki Elmes Kinlan just before Great Britain’s Ellie Kildunne was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.
And on this occasion, Ireland made the numerical advantage count as Claire Boles finished a try converted by Flood, but there was no time left to mount a comeback.
Great Britain scorers:
Tries: Meg Jones [2], Jade Shekells, Heather Cowell
Conversions: Meg Jones [1 from 1], Emma Uren [2 from 2], Isla Norman-Bell [1 from 1]
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Megan Burns, Claire Boles
Conversions: Eve Higgins [0 from 1], Stacey Flood [1 from 1]
GREAT BRITAIN: Isla Norman-Bell, Emma Uren (captain), Meg Jones, Jasmine Joyce, Lauren Torley, Ellie Boatman, Jade Shekells.
Replacements: Kayleigh Powell, Ellie Kildunne, Lisa Thomson, Heather Cowell, Abi Burton.
IRELAND: Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe (captain), Megan Burns, Eve Higgins, Emily Lane, Ashleigh Orchard, Erin King (yellow card), Stacey Flood (yellow card).
Replacements: Alanna Fitzpatrick, Vicki Elmes Kinlan, Claire Boles, Kathy Baker, Amy Larn.
Referee: Tyler Miller [Australia].
Pearce was obnoxious and condescending towards Dorris. He had his mind made up before seeing all angles ( ala another english ref) but it’s obvious that any close call went to home team. BTW it may be a good decision to employ Nigel Owens and have him in our corner like Pipper in SA
There’s a pattern here with all of Barnes, Dickson, Carley and Pearce looking down at Irish players like they’re not worthy of listening to.
If Pearce had treated Kolisi like he did Doris, the race card would have been out before the game had even ended.
We don’t have this issue with any other referees. It’s the English “Old Boys” club in full swing now we dare to really compete at the highest level and the IRFU have to do something about it.
@teuO6nLS: kolisi’s demeanor when speaking to the refs is very polite with no sense of aggression or forwardness ( a calm conversation) , as you are aware huge focus for SA over the years has been getting on the side of the the ref and the finer details of the rules and how the refs work (entrance Peyper/owns ect )…the frustrated ranting captain who asks the same question 3 times and expects a different result is never going to get on the refs side…big learning curve. SA have mastered this ….
@Stuart: How as Doris being anything other than polite but inquisitive. I saw nothing like Sexton (at times) or others in his behavior but yet Pearse got all upset and frustrated with him for even asking. Is he that insecure and childish that he can’t explain his decisions to a captain?. A referee should not be abused but equally should treat a captain who wants information with respect
The consistency, quality and intensity of his performance over a game is nothing short of remarkable.
On balance, ignoring the last 30 mins of Saturday, I’d have said Pearce is generally the most congenial of the English refs. Dickson and Carley are both considerably worse. They would have escalated more quickly and more severely than Pearce did last weekend. My biggest issue with Pearce is that he’s never in his career seen a pass that didn’t go backwards. His tolerance for the most blatant of forward passes is mindboggling.
Ben Whitehouse though … I don’t even mind him so much as a ref, but he is the worst TMO out there. Seems always to have a burning desire to be the cleverest official on duty, hunting out the obscure incidents no one else has seen, while steadfastly ignoring anything obvious – and definitively refusing to look at anything some TV producer has deigned to replay.
The only thing criticising the english his buddy is doing next game up. If you thought Pearce was arrogant…..