WOMEN'S RUGBY/Ireland 36 Wales 0:IRELAND CAPTAIN Fiona Coughlan gave credit to the team's youthful contingent after they cruised to a record 36-0 victory over Wales in Ashbourne on Saturday night.
“A lot of them are only 19 and 20 and the confidence they are playing with, and the skill they bring, really rubs off,” said Coughlan. “A lot of us didn’t start playing until we were about 19 but someone like Nikki (Caughey) has been playing since she was five and is bringing in skills that we don’t have.”
Rolling mauls set up tries for Joy Neville and Gillian Bourke, there was a well-taken try from Niamh Kavanagh, Alison Miller sprinted clear of the Welsh defence to touch down and Ashleigh Baxter added the sixth Irish try.
Sophie Spence scored a first international try in only her third outing in green and is beginning to build a formidable second-row partnership with Mary Louise Reilly.
Spence said: “It was an amazing feeling to get that try. I had such a buzz about this game all week and wanted to perform really well. We all came together, brought it as a team, and really wanted it.”
“The team said it at the very end – they were delighted to get the zero,” said Ireland coach Philip Doyle. “The first form of attack is defence and we had to keep our shape. There were times during the game where a better side would put us to the sword.”
Ireland will face a better team, at least in terms of world rankings, when they face England away on St Patrick’s Day but first they must cope with the challenge of Scotland on Friday.
IRELAND: A Baxter; N Kavanagh, N Briggs, G Davitt, A Miller (J Murphy 55 mins); L Cantwell (N Caughey 72 mins), A Davis (L Muldoon 55); F Coughlan (capt), G Bourke (P Fitzpatrick 75), A Egan (R O’Reilly 72), ML Reilly, S Spence (S Fleming 65), L Guest, C Molloy, J Neville (H O’Brien 65).
WALES: R Fletcher; C Murray (C James 57), A Taviner, R De Filippo, P Tiuttiett; N Thomas (M Evans 48), L Prosser; C Thomas (L Harries 65), R Bowden, J Davies (M York 72), V Owens, S Powell Hughes (C Flowers 43), J Kift, R Taylor (capt), S Harries.
Referee: Kevin White (Scotland)
