IRELAND TOOK THEIR chances in lethal fashion against Spain as they earned a World Cup quarter-final spot.

Scott Bemand’s side had seven entries into the Spanish 22 and scored a try on each occasion.

That 100% conversion rate in the opposition 22 is something every coach dreams about but rarely sees.

After a decent 46% return of six tries from 13 entries against Japan a week earlier, this ruthless edge against the Spanish is something that will have encouraged Bemand and his players.

It’s unlikely that Ireland will be able to deliver a 100% conversion rate in the 22 against New Zealand this Sunday and then in their World Cup quarter-final, but this is a standard the Irish players will be working towards maintaining.

Excellent core skills helped them to take advantage from close-range against the Spanish, including for their first try.

Below, we see a carry from loosehead prop Ellena Perry just before the scoring phase.

Perry does well to get her nose through to the far side of the tackle, but what’s really key is the clearout that follows from centre Aoife Dalton.

Dalton is initially an option for a short tip-on pass from Perry, which is important because that draws Spain wing Claudia Pérez [red below] out onto Dalton, in turn leaving Perry with a one-on-one carry.

As Perry carries, we can see that Pérez makes contact with Dalton.

Pérez doesn’t fully complete an off-the-ball tackle on Dalton, which would mean giving up a penalty, but the contact delays the Irish centre from getting to the breakdown.

And there is a real threat to the Irish possession as Spain number eight Valentina Pérez arrives over Perry.

Dalton has to be decisive.

Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald is also arriving from Dalton’s left-hand side but with Pérez already getting into a good position, the Irish hooker can’t make much of an impact, particularly because Pérez’s head is down low.

All of this places a premium on Dalton being aggressive and accurate, which she is.

As we see above, Dalton picks out good levers for her clearout, getting her left arm in under Pérez’s left arm, while lifting the Spanish number eight’s left leg with her other arm.

In clearing Pérez away from the ball, driving her off to the side, Dalton also denies Spain any chance of folding one more player across to the far side of the breakdown for the next phase, which they badly need.

The ball is on a plate for Ireland scrum-half Molly Scuffil-McCabe and she moves it away for second row Sam Monaghan to skillfully send out-half Dannah O’Brien over for the try.

It’s another nice show of good core skills from Monaghan, who smoothly transfers the ball across her body to find O’Brien as outnumbered Spain fullback Amàlia Argudo bites in trying to stop the ball on Monaghan.

The clearout work from Dalton just before the score is crucial and it’s something Ireland have done well so far in this World Cup.

Ireland have the fifth fastest average ruck speed of any team at 2.83 seconds, which is an impressive figure.

New Zealand’s average of 2.60 seconds is behind only Canada’s remarkable 2.31 seconds per ruck, so Ireland will be meeting another team who have been playing with lightning-quick ball this weekend.

Dalton delivered another important clearout just before Ireland’s second try through Amee-Leigh Costigan.

The Irish forwards have just been mauling, so Dalton has to be accurate here as she clears out solo. The centre does an excellent job of blasting opposite number Clàudia Peña away.

Peña clearly has thoughts of staying on her feet over the tackle on Eve Higgins to compete for a poach, but Dalton removes her instantaneously to leave the ball available for Scuffil-McCabe to move away at speed. Ireland score in the left corner.

Bemand and his coaches will be looking for plenty more of this snappy, accurate rucking against the Kiwis this weekend.

At times, Ireland used their power to get the job done last weekend. Back row Grace Moore provided two examples with her emphatic finishes in the second half, including this effort.

Moore’s athleticism is obvious here, but she uses it smartly to score.

Moore has a favourable one-on-one given that it’s Spain wing Clara Piquero defending in front of her, meaning a size and power mismatch.

So Moore makes sure she’s running at Piquero, even while she uses a subtle late bit of footwork to get at her inside shoulder.

Spain’s spacing isn’t ideal, with a sliver of space between Piquero and prop Gemma Silva on her inside.

And just before contact, that’s the space Moore surges into with a step back to her left, allowing her to get her nose through the tackle of Piquero and Silva to finish.

Ireland centre Higgins also showed her power to score in the first half, but that try demonstrated how Bemand’s side have been working to have more options close to the line.

In a position like the one below, the obvious next ball carrier for Ireland is tighthead Linda Djougang, who has Moore in close support to add even more power to the carry.

That’s where Spain are probably expecting the pass to go but Scuffil-McCabe instead throws the ball right across the face of Djougang to find Higgins.

The finish still requires Higgins to show her power but the element of surprise helps.

Ireland scored in a similar manner against Japan the previous weekend, with scrum-half Aoibheann Reilly picking out centre Enya Breen.

Blindside flanker Fiona Tuite looks like the probable recipient of Reilly’s pass but the Irish scrum-half fizzes her pass wider for Breen to finish untouched outside a defender who has been attracted up onto Tuite.

The other thing Ireland did well in the Spanish 22 last weekend was use penalty advantage to maximum effect, scoring two tries through wing Anna McGann when they had advantage. This is a key element of attacking in the 22 because the advantage gives teams more freedom.

The biggest cause for concern for Bemand and co. from last weekend’s win over Spain was the fact that they conceded five tries.

Clearly, defence coach James Scaysbrook will have been disappointed with aspects of Ireland’s tryline defence. Every team has to go into the trenches close to their own line at certain times and Ireland were beaten in that close-quarters combat on several occasions.

Forwards coach Alex Codling won’t have enjoyed the sight of Spain scoring a maul try either, but equally relevant is the fact that Ireland allowed the Spanish to have access into their 22 too often.

Spain had 10 entries into Ireland’s 22, a week after Japan had nine entries. Keeping this number as low as possible against New Zealand on Sunday is essential for Ireland.

The Kiwis had 13 entries into the 22 in their opening World Cup win over Spain, scoring eight tries, before they enjoyed a whopping 15 entries in their big win against Japan last weekend, notching 10 tries in that game.

The Black Ferns’ scoring power is obvious, so Ireland will be hellbent on denying them access to the Irish 22.

That means discipline will have to be exemplary. Bemand’s side have been solid in this area so far, conceding eight penalties against Japan before that slipped up to 10 last weekend against the Spanish.

In the instance above, Djougang and Moloney-MacDonald fail to roll clear of their tackle just inside Spain’s half and are penalised.

Spain recognise the chance to pin both Irish tacklers in, while the ball-carrier pushes the ball into Moloney-MacDonald on the ground to accentuate the issue, but the onus is on Ireland’s defenders to make a huge effort to get clear.

In this instance, Spain kick the penalty down into Ireland’s 22 and score a try.

A couple of Irish errors under restarts gave Spain some promising positions too.

In the example above, second row Eimear Corri-Fallon struggles to read the flight of the Spanish restart after half time.

McGann is expecting Corri-Fallon to gather the ball and can’t react as it clears the lock, so it bobbles on into the Irish 22 where they fail to clean up the scraps and Spain get it back.

Breen knocked on a Spanish restart later in the game, so this is an area where Ireland will need to be razor sharp against New Zealand in Brighton.

On top of fielding the ball, Ireland need to be clear and precise with their plans to exit when they do claim restarts.

Just before half time, Moloney-MacDonald gathered another awkwardly flying Spanish restart and carried, but Ireland weren’t snappy enough in getting into shape for the next phase.

As we see above, three of the Irish forwards are still making their way across the pitch after Moloney-MacDonald has been tackled. They’re not set up to receive the ball for another carry.

So Scuffil-McCabe attempts to throw a longer pass towards Perry, nearly getting intercepted, before Tuite knocks on as the ball goes beyond Perry.

The Irish error gives Spain a chance to break into their 22 from the ensuing scrum.

Ireland will look for more composed play in instances such as this against New Zealand.

Some coaches believe that a score doesn’t really count until their team has accurately exited from the subsequent restart, and that’s probably a mindset Ireland will be reminding themselves of this week.

Of course, New Zealand will find ways into the Irish 22, especially given the game-breaking ability of several of their players, but Bemand’s side will be doing their utmost to prevent the Kiwis from having repeated entries.

Down the other end, Ireland must be lethal again.