Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
IRELAND 24 JAPAN 14 FRIGHTBACK
Irish battlers survive huge scare to make it two wins from two
WORLD Cup hosts Ireland dug themselves another massive hole last night but somehow found a way out of it by scoring 24 points in the second half to survive a huge Japanese fright.
The visitors played entertaining rugby and their creativity and handling skills out wide were far superior to Ireland.
But the Irish showed guts to fight back, just like they did against Australia in their opening match, with the forwards grinding on a precious result that keeps their World Cup dream on track.
This was supposed to be the easiest Pool C game for the Irish women but they were stunned by a Japanese side that deserved their shock 14-0 lead at half-time. Five changes at the break and two tries from sub Paula Fitzpatrick helped turn things around for Ireland after Alison Miller’s early second half score at the UCD Bowl.
They now face a winner-takes-all showdown with France on Thursday to decide who goes through to the semi-finals.
Coach Tom Tierney admitted:
“We didn’t play well and we won – sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good in these pool stages! We’re not making any excuses about that first half but credit to the girls to turnaround and score 24 points in the second half. There was a lot of pressure on and we’re mightily relieved obviously. We have a lot of work to do if we’re to be competitive on Thursday night against France but it’s like a cup final now – and we will put bodies on the line for that one.” For the second game in a row, things didn’t go to plan for the edgy host nation. They spent most of the opening 20 minutes on the back foot and were lucky to escape a yellow card after full-back Mairead Coyne’s high hit on Eriko Hirano.
The Japanese forwards struck the first blow with a penalty try after 27 minutes after Ireland collapsed the scrum.
Hannah Tyrrell then made a try-saving tackle out wide but it wasn’t long before the visitors came back looking for more, Mayu Scimizu riding a tackle out wide before crashing over in the 38th minute. Things initially went from bad to worse when centre Katie Fitzhenry was sinbinned early in the second half but gradually Ireland turned things around.
Miller crashed over for the all-important game-changing first try in the 46th minute and suddenly it was game on.
A set-piece was always a likely route back into the game and from Sophie Spence’s lineout take they got the rolling maul going and Fitzpatrick (inset) was bundled over to level the scores.
Nora Stapleton nailed all her kicks and her 73rd penalty put the Irish in front for the first time at 17-14.
Then, after going through 34 phases, Fitzpatrick again got on the end of a powerful drive for the insurance try.