SCOTT BEMAND HAS shot down the suggestion that Ireland may hold something back in their final World Cup pool game against New Zealand.
It comes after New Zealand star Ruby Tui, who is on punditry duties with the BBC, suggested Ireland might not take the round three game in Brighton “seriously”. To add further confusion, Tui also mentioned the suggestion had come from the Ireland camp.
Having beaten Japan in their pool opener yesterday, Ireland can secure their place in the quarter-finals by beating Spain in Northampton on Sunday, with the Ireland-New Zealand game likely to decide who tops the pool and who qualifies in second place.
Advertisement
“We heard on BBC Radio Live the other night that Ireland potentially aren’t going to take the Black Ferns game seriously, which I thought was a huge call on the show,” said Tui, speaking during coverage of England’s Friday night defeat of the USA.
“We had someone call through from the Irish camp and I think that says a lot because if you’re the Black Ferns, we need to build.
“That’s what they said live on the radio to me but I don’t buy it. I don’t buy it. I think it’s a double bluff and as Black Ferns we can’t be carrying on with that nonsense, we can’t take any notice of it, we’ve got to focus on ourselves.”
Bemand responded to the remarks following his team’s 42-14 win over Japan yesterday.
“She hasn’t heard that for anyone in Ireland,” Bemand said.
“We’ll take this competition seriously, we’ll give it the respect it’s due and we’ll compete for every moment within this competition.
“People will look and say, ‘If we get the Spain game right, what do we do with that New Zealand game?’ No, no, we want to take people with us. We want to show we’ve evolved as a programme and doing that by taking every game seriously.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
7 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Ireland dismiss suggestion they might hold back against New Zealand
SCOTT BEMAND HAS shot down the suggestion that Ireland may hold something back in their final World Cup pool game against New Zealand.
It comes after New Zealand star Ruby Tui, who is on punditry duties with the BBC, suggested Ireland might not take the round three game in Brighton “seriously”. To add further confusion, Tui also mentioned the suggestion had come from the Ireland camp.
Having beaten Japan in their pool opener yesterday, Ireland can secure their place in the quarter-finals by beating Spain in Northampton on Sunday, with the Ireland-New Zealand game likely to decide who tops the pool and who qualifies in second place.
“We heard on BBC Radio Live the other night that Ireland potentially aren’t going to take the Black Ferns game seriously, which I thought was a huge call on the show,” said Tui, speaking during coverage of England’s Friday night defeat of the USA.
“We had someone call through from the Irish camp and I think that says a lot because if you’re the Black Ferns, we need to build.
“That’s what they said live on the radio to me but I don’t buy it. I don’t buy it. I think it’s a double bluff and as Black Ferns we can’t be carrying on with that nonsense, we can’t take any notice of it, we’ve got to focus on ourselves.”
Bemand responded to the remarks following his team’s 42-14 win over Japan yesterday.
“She hasn’t heard that for anyone in Ireland,” Bemand said.
“We’ll take this competition seriously, we’ll give it the respect it’s due and we’ll compete for every moment within this competition.
“People will look and say, ‘If we get the Spain game right, what do we do with that New Zealand game?’ No, no, we want to take people with us. We want to show we’ve evolved as a programme and doing that by taking every game seriously.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Rugby Scott Bemand WRWC