IRELAND ALWAYS ACCEPTED that they were going to be up against it in France yesterday, but even with that in mind, there was enough faults in their performance to seriously concern both coaches and players alike after a bruising 40-5 defeat in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations.
In the face of intense French pressure and a lively home ground touching on 12,000 – double the record attendance which Ireland enjoyed against Wales on the opening weekend – the visitors delivered an error-strewn, sloppy performance in falling to a 35-point loss in Toulouse.
Ireland finished with 27 handling errors as they struggled to make any real inroads against a well-organised French defence, Eve Higgins pouncing for Ireland’s sole try midway through the second period. The same player saw an earlier score crossed off in the opening 10 minutes, a move which proved to be Ireland’s only visit to the France 22 in the first half.
As well as struggling with ball in hand, Ireland were bullied at the scrum and badly malfunctioned at the lineout, winning just 50% of their own throws.
Of course, there is always an asterisk when talking about the gulf in class between France and Ireland. One squad is packed with professional players, while the other will return to their day jobs or college studies tomorrow morning.
Then throw in the fact that this is a new-look Ireland group working with a new-look coaching team. Against France, nine of the starting XV had less than 10 caps to their name. Days like yesterday will be tough to stomach, but the players accept this is a long-term project.
“It’s just going to take time,” explains captain Nichola Fryday.
This is a new group, and it’s a new beginning for us. We’re competitive, we want to be winning these matches but it’s just us having patience with the process because we have belief in what Greg (McWilliams) has in plan for the next few years, and I do believe that we will cut that gap down.
“But it’s just about trusting the process now and having patience with it.
“We knew coming over here that this was going to be a huge battle for us. I asked the girls to take pride in making sure that we left everything out there on that pitch and that’s what we did.
“Yeah, there are areas we got wrong, areas we can improve on, but you can’t fault their effort and their heart to stick in that fight with the French.”
McWilliams delivered a similar message post-game, pleading for patience while highlighting elements of the performance he took pride in.
Yet no-one is hiding from the fact that this Irish squad have a huge amount of work to do if they are to stay competitive in the short-term, with a massive home game against Italy now coming into view. It could define their campaign. If Ireland are to pick up their first win of this Six Nations when the Azzurri come to Cork next Sunday, their lineout work simply has to much improved.
Problem is, getting a lineout operating smoothly takes time, and that’s the one thing this Ireland squad don’t have, coming into this championship on the back of just three training camps together.
“I think the foundations are there,” Fryday added.
“Last week (against Wales), we had 83% (lineout success), one missed throw, one mis-lift I think. The foundations are there and I do like our calling system and the plans that we have in place, it’s just about execution and being able to execute under that pressure that the French put us under.
We had identified different areas that we could attack in it, but maybe our lifts, at times we didn’t execute them. And to be fair to the French, they’re extremely aggressive in the air and they do put that pressure on you, they cut down our options a lot.”
With 24 caps to her name, Fryday is comfortably one of the more experienced players in Greg McWilliams’ squad. Days like yesterday will prove more difficult to process within the newer, fresher faces in the group.
Ireland looked to lean on their attacking flair in France, but decision making and execution let them down. Fryday is wary that one bad day at the office can’t lead less experienced players to lose confidence in their own abilities.
When Ireland’s attack clicked against Wales they looked sharp and dangerous, while Higgins’ score yesterday was a superb team move with brilliant passing and smart footwork at the heart of it all.
“We want to be smart, we want to have that flair about us, so we’ll never give out or cut a player down for wanting to try something. We’ll just say ‘Well, what was another option we could have taken?’
“It’s about building them (new players) up and getting their decision making improved. I think the girls that are winning their first few caps are doing extremely well, they’re standing up to the occasion and they’ll only get better with more and more gametime.
“(The Italy game) It’s one that we really want to perform in. We’ll go home and doing our review of this match, and making sure that we get a plan in place for Italy next weekend.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
