IN THE WEEK leading up to Twickenham, Bernard Jackman made the point on The 42′s Rugby Weekly Extra podcast that Ireland should not allow their inevitably heavy defeat to title-chasing England blow them off course for a potential third-place finish in the Women’s Six Nations.
So biblical was the flood of English tries that followed on Saturday, however, it seemed virtually impossible that Scott Bemand’s side would be able to write off their 78-point loss as being almost distinct from the rest of their championship.
It would have been impossible to stave off a feeling of malaise as Ireland surveyed the wreckage earlier this week but their mission at hand against Scotland at Kingspan Stadium today will have long since engendered an urgency, a clarity, and a singularity of focus: Ireland’s aim at the outset of the championship was to secure a third-place finish and seal automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup and today, when Scotland visit Kingspan Stadium, Bemand’s team will have the chance to achieve exactly that.
The extent to which it’s a realistic chance will be determined shortly before Ireland and Scotland kick off in Belfast, as the final whistle sounds on Italy’s game with Wales in Cardiff.
Whereas Scotland currently sit in the World Cup driving seat in third place on eight points, Ireland and Italy are locked on six points each with the Azzure ahead by a superior points difference of +2.
For Scotland, it’s win-and-in.
For Italy, putting a big score up on basement side Wales could be enough to seal their berth at the big show next year — unless Scotland beat Ireland at Ravenhill.
Ireland must firstly beat Scotland. While doing so, they must also either better Italy’s match points — i.e. if Italy gain four points for a regular victory in Cardiff, a bonus-point Irish win will see them finish third — or equal the Azzure’s match points while also overhauling their slender advantage in points difference.
The parameters for Ireland’s mission will be exact by the time either Dannah O’Brien or her Scottish equivalent Helen Nelson sends the ball skywards at 2:30. Unless Italy truly annihilate Wales at the Principality Stadium, Bemand’s women will have a shot across the Irish Sea.
And much and all as last weekend’s Twickenham humiliation can’t be completely wiped from Ireland’s collective subconscious, nor should the auspicious performance against Wales which preceded it by only a week.
The return of co-captain Sam Monaghan — who starred for almost 50 minutes in Cork against the Welsh but was conspicuous in her absence against England — should help to bridge any gap in muscle memory, as will the reunion of midfield partners in crime Enya Breen and Eve Higgins.
Gloucester-Hartbury lock Monaghan came into this year’s championship at the tail-end of a recovery period from a head injury suffered on club duty. She wasn’t risked against France and, as she continues to build back towards full fettle, she was effectively rested for the game against England in which Ireland never had a chance of picking up a match point.
More pertinently, she was rested to ensure her availability to face Scotland in what is a drastically more important game for Ireland in the broader picture.
Ireland’s aim was always that it would come down to today. And now it has.
There have been bumps on the road: the fender-bender against Italy in Dublin, the 23-car pile-up in North London. But they remain roughly on track to complete their journey.
Scotland, of course, are on one of their own under Bryan Easson. Belfast makes for a fairly short leg, too.
The Scots, who have risen to sixth in the world rankings, arrive on this side of the channel without standout fullback Chloe Rollie — suspended — but they will fear nothing of visiting Ireland.
Indeed, in the short term, they’re a team whose progress Ireland should be using as a blueprint.
Scotland opened their campaign with a first victory on Welsh soil for two decades. There were only 10 points between themselves and France. They got blown out, and duck-egged at home, by England. They recovered to earn a crucial victory over Italy in Parma last weekend.
Both form-line and eye-test will tell you that today’s visitors are a step further down the road in their evolution than Ireland.
But their contrasting fortunes with Wales, who have careened into a ditch since last year’s promise, are proof of the volatility of the women’s game in the infancy of its professional era.
Look, even, at the tenfold improvement in Ireland’s ability to execute their attacking gameplan from their home defeat to Italy to their destruction of Wales.
It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that when Scotland’s route runs through Belfast this afternoon, their hosts will find a way to overtake them.
Ireland: Méabh Deely; Katie Corrigan, Eve Higgins, Enya Breen, Béibhinn Parsons; Dannah O’Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Linda Djougang, Neve Jones, Christy Haney; Dorothy Wall, Sam Monaghan (co-captain); Aoife Wafer, Edel McMahon (co-captain), Brittany Hogan.
Replacements: Clíodhna Moloney, Niamh O’Dowd, Sadhbh McGrath, Fiona Tuite, Shannon Ikahihifo, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Aoife Dalton, Katie Heffernan.
Scotland: Meryl Smith; Coreen Grant, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Caity Mattinson; Elis Martin; Christine Belisle; Emma Wassell, Louise McMillan; Rachel Malcolm (captain), Alex Stewart, Evie Gallagher.
Replacements: Molly Wright, Lisa Cockburn, Leah Bartlett, Elliann Clarke, Eva Donaldson, Rachel McLachlan, Mairi McDonald, Cieron Bell, Nicole Flynn.
