Wales v Ireland – Round One
Cardiff Arms Park
Answers came aplenty to pre-tournament doubts. Wales thumped Ireland to give them real hopes for the future. Another record crowd watched proceedings.
There was a lovely moment pre-match when the very young mascot charged with helping Hannah Jones on to the field got cold feet but at least stayed in place to applaud warmly.
Wales took advantage of a strong breeze to establish attacking positions. Only an inaccurate final pass prevented an immediate score.
It was impossible for the Irish to ignore the missing faces in their squad, and Greg McWilliams made no bones about it. Seven who took part in last year’s thrashing at home by Wales (19-27) were missing. There were no illusions.
The wisdom of including an 18-year-old loose-head prop, no matter how promising, was laid bare in the first two scrums. Ireland were sent rearwards at speed, the main cause being the 19-year-old Sisilia Tuipulotu, whose all-round performance took the breath away – in some cases literally – enough to win her the Player of the Match award.
To Sadhbh McGrath’s huge credit she stayed on the field to help her pack drive the Welsh back in their turn.
Further back, it was unreasonable to expect three debutants in the three-quarters to hold out against experienced operators led by the Welsh skipper.
An early scrum led to a kick to the corner where Alex Callender went over inside three minutes.
Gwen Crabb then suffered yet another injury that forced her off the field. Sioned Harries came on at No 8.
Keira Bevan profited from a series of drives to find a hole in a green wall and convert a second try. By half-time Wales had added two more (Harries and the captain) to ensure the bonus point. That last effort was a beauty: Kerin Lake made a half-break with a well-timed fend and passed outside for Jones to go over under the posts.
To add to Ireland’s woes, Sam Monaghan was summoned from the pitch for an HIA. She did return, but neither she nor the other leading lights in green could take the game by the scruff of the neck and turn it their way.
Straight after the break Tuipulotu broke from a stationary drive to crash over. Moments later she was over a second time. She will be double marked for the rest of the tournament.
To their credit the Irish came back to pound the Welsh line. Their fine second-row pairing led the way: Monaghan drove and Nichola Fryday got the TMO’s verdict. But it was far too late.
Result: Wales 31 Ireland 5
Player of the Match: Sisilia Tuipulotu
Two years ago the result on the same ground was Wales 0 Ireland 45. Nigel Walker was in the stand to see the fruits of his labours ripen.
Teams
Wales
15 Courtney Keight, 14 Lisa Neumann, 13 Hannah Jones (captain), 12 Kerin Lake, 11 Carys Williams-Morris, 10 Elinor Snowsill, 9 Keira Bevan, 1 Gwenllian Pyrs, 2 Kelsey Jones, 3 Sisilia Tuipulotu, 4 Abbie Fleming, 5 Gwen Crabb, 6 Georgia Evans, 7 Alex Callender, 8 Bethan Lewis
Bench
16 Katherine Evans, 17 Caryl Thomas, 18 Cerys Hale, 19 Kate Williams, 20 Sioned Harries, 21 Ffion Lewis, 22 Lleucu George, 23 Hannah Bluck
Ireland
15 *Meabh Deely, 14 Aoife Doyle, 13 *Aoife Dalton, 12 Enya Breen, *11 Natasja Behan; 10 Nicole Cronin, 9 Molly Scuffil-McCabe; *1 Sadhbh McGrath, 2 Neve Jones, 3 Linda Djougang; 4 Nichola Fryday (captain), 5 Sam Monaghan; 6 Dorothy Wall, 7 Maeve Og O’Leary, 8 Brittany Hogan.
Bench
16 Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, 17 *Niamh O’Dowd, 18 Christy Haney, 19 Jo Brown, 20 Grace Moore, 21 Hannah O’Connor, 22 Dannah O’Brien, 23 Vicky Irwin
*uncapped
Referee: Amber McLachlan (RA)
Lessons learned
Attending a World Cup makes one heck of a difference.
The earlier you put contracts in place the better.
Trying to keep two plates spinning in the air at the same time – 7s and 15s – is a risky business.
Eight Irish players rejected contracts, either because they weren’t in a position to become full-time, or because offers of between €15,000 and €30,000 per season would not be enough for them to give up their jobs.
My hopes of becoming a market-leader in the bookmaking business are over. Ireland did not look like toppling apple-carts.
