Green shoots emerge

Ireland paper over cracks in France loss but lots for Bemand to work with

If the preamble to the men’s Six Nations opener in Marseille was dominated by how difficult it would be for the second-best team in the world then what do you think the women’s version was like? We’ll be honest and admit that sometimes you need to be careful what you wish for. Being centre stage on a Championship Saturday afternoon is great if you’re going well, or have the prospect of getting a few plus points on your scorecard. This match-up however pitted the thirdranked team in the world against the 10th. In rugby terms, where there are so few nations with their hands up, that’s the difference between box office and busking.

There were so many lights flashing danger around this game it was a sensory assault: a scrum that would be shunted; maul defence that would be trampled underfoot; a massive disparity in physicality that would manifest itself in girls in green getting whacked on the gain line. The last bit was best illustrated by a shuddering shot put on Eve Higgins by France tighthead Assia Khalfaoui. If Higgins had any loose fillings then she’ll be dialing up her dentist soon.

Sure enough bits and pieces of all of the above were in evidence. As was the one thing Ireland coach Scott Bemand wanted to avoid: the concession of an early try. With two minutes and 10 seconds on the clock, and Ireland lining up behind their own posts, the bookies’ handicap of fortysomething points — depending on where you shopped — had some context.

Yet there were signs of light.

France’s lineout in last season’s competition had the reliability of a Tokyo train, but it ran late a couple of times in the first half here. Ireland came to this contest planning to kick the ball through number 10 Nicole Fowley and thankfully they brought a decent chase to the equation. And a willingness to throw themselves under the bus if required.

To their credit Ireland succeeded in disrupting French rhythm to the point where the deficit was only 14 points at half-time. In the process they kept 15 players on the field, not easy when a lot of your rugby is on the back foot.

You need respite however, a shift in momentum, to make the other team backpedal for a change. One nugget came in the third quarter when lovely work off a patient lineout base by Brittany Hogan and Aoife Dalton gave Ireland some precious go-forward, only for Dalton to be pinged for coming in from the side at the next breakdown.

In the men’s game this offence has been scaled down to a misdemeanour, but that’s a memo referee Kat Roche hasn’t read yet.

Still, the sequence was encouraging for the away side who by that point had limited much of the damage in the scrum, though it wasn’t a permanent state of affairs. That was a factor in keeping the penalty count down and in giving the excellent Brittany Hogan the occasional opportunity to take the game to the home side.

It didn’t extend as far as getting Beibhinn Parsons on the front foot, but it did reach a peak in developing enough pressure for Aoife Wafer to score from close range in the final quarter. If the try was well taken then it’s because the Irish women looked