For the primary time in girls’s rugby historical past, Eire shocked the world by defeating the Black Ferns, the defending champions of the Ladies’s Rugby World Cup. This victory marked a brand new starting in Six Nations girls’s rugby accolades.
Eire produced a shocking upset by defeating the reigning world champions, New Zealand, 29-27 of their WXV opener in Wellington.
The victory marks one in every of Eire’s most vital wins in girls’s rugby historical past, particularly contemplating the Black Ferns’ dominance on the worldwide stage. After their third-placed end on this 12 months’s Guinness Ladies’s Six Nations, the group is on a definite upward curve.
Final 12 months’s end by the ladies’s aspect was an enormous step for the Irish followers loyal to Six Nations tickets.
The win in New Zealand is ranked as one of many highest achievements by Irish girls. This win will undoubtedly amplify the demand for the Ladies’s Six Nations tickets that may kick off in lower than 4 months.
New Zealand opened the scoring on 9 minutes as hooker Atlanta Lolohea touched down in the back of a driving maul. However Eire replied rapidly as flanker Aoife Wafer, featured within the 2024 Guinness Ladies’s Six Nations Group of the Championship, barged her means over the road from shut vary.
A Renee Holmes penalty prolonged New Zealand’s result in 10-5 earlier than Wafer grabbed her second rating, peeling away from the bottom of an attacking scrum to burrow over. O’Brien put Eire in entrance with the conversion, and their benefit turned a seven-point one when hooker Neve Jones was awarded a attempt after referee Sara Cox consulted with TMO Ian Tempest.
O’Brien was off-target with the next conversion. New Zealand have been on stage phrases by half-time when wing Katelyn Vahaakolo equipped the end, and Holmes kicked her second conversion. Halfway by way of the second half, a Holmes penalty edged her aspect in entrance whereas Niamh O’Dowd was within the sin-bin, however Eire replied with the subsequent factors after they have been restored to their full complement of 15 gamers.
Extra good work from Wafer helped King go over for her first rating earlier than Mererangi Paul stretched to the touch down and put New Zealand forward once more. With time virtually up on the clock, nevertheless, King rumbled over from shut vary once more to stage at 27-27. O’Brien saved her composure to ship the profitable further two factors from the tee.
Irish head coach Scott Bemand praised his group, calling it a landmark second for Irish girls’s rugby. This victory units a powerful tone for Eire within the WXV competitors, with fixtures towards Canada and the USA.
This growth from Eire is an effective transfer in the direction of bettering the ladies’s Six Nations recreation. It would assist create extra aggressive motion on the sphere and, in return, enhance the sale of Six Nations tickets.
Ladies’s Six Nations – Wales Kick Off In opposition to England
Wales will host England at Principality Stadium when the perimeters meet within the 2025 Ladies’s Six Nations.
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) hopes the fixture towards the defending champions on Saturday, 29 March, will once more break the attendance report for a stand-alone girls’s Check in Wales.
It stands on the 10,592 who watched Wales play Italy within the finale of the 2024 Six Nations.
Wales can even journey to Newport’s Rodney Parade for subsequent 12 months’s championship after they play Eire on Sunday, 20 April.
Wales have beforehand performed dwelling video games at Cardiff Arms Park.
WRU chief government Abi Tierney mentioned it was “phenomenal” to see the ladies’s aspect run out on the nationwide stadium earlier this 12 months.
“It’s an formidable transfer for Wales Ladies to face England at Principality Stadium, however with the extent of help the followers present this group, we’re assured we will beat our dwelling attendance report,” she mentioned.
“Returning to Rodney Parade after such a hanging debut win over Australia within the WXV warm-up earlier this month will likely be an enormous enhance too.”
In the meantime, Wales hooker Carys Phillips has signed a brand new contract with Harlequins Ladies.
The 31-year-old, who has been capped 76 instances by her nation, joined the London membership in November 2023 following the collapse of Worcester Warriors Ladies.
Six Nations tickets for the video games will likely be accessible quickly.
Disappointment Continues for Wales
In every week when the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) showered us with optimistic information on the ladies’s recreation, the gamers suffered a chastening Cape City defeat towards Australia.
Within the wake of 37 full-time contracts and a flagship recreation on the Principality Stadium towards England to look ahead to within the Six Nations, Wales understandably went into their WXV2 opener towards the Wallaroos with their tails up.
And who can blame them? That they had crushed their opposition for the primary time of their historical past simply eight days earlier, operating out 31-24 winners in a nail-biter warm-up recreation at Rodney Parade.
The Welsh camp had emphasised the significance of following up on that efficiency this week, however they have been the primary to confess post-match that they misplaced the bodily battle.
Additionally they suffered their worst Wallaroos defeat, because the gold and greens ran riot in a devastating second-half blitz that noticed Wales lose 37-5.
Wales had a six-day turnaround earlier than they confronted Six Nations rivals Italy on Friday, who misplaced their opener 19-0 to Scotland.
Wales’ preparations had been removed from splendid. Not solely did they’ve lower than every week to acclimatize to Cape City, however additionally they traveled with out one in every of their star gamers.
Sisilia Tuipulotu was left behind within the UK after what the WRU known as an “administrative oversight” in her visa.
Ioan Cunningham was additionally compelled to reshuffle his matchday 23 group after Kate Williams and Hannah Jones suffered knocks in coaching.
However the head coach made no excuses: “It’s the identical for Australia as properly; we each performed final Friday and did the identical quantity of touring.
“We’ve obtained to have a look at ourselves, mud ourselves off, evaluation the sport, and be taught rapidly as a result of we’ve obtained a brief turnaround.
“Disruption within the week doesn’t assist; it occurred final week with three gamers, and it occurred this week with two gamers, however it’s a part of what we do; we choose up little accidents, and we simply have to regulate and react the very best we will. That’s why we’ve obtained a squad, and we again everybody in our squad.
“Credit score to Australia; they modified their depth within the final 25 minutes and pulled away from us.”
