Ireland head coach Scott Bemand could scarcely conceal his delight with his side’s second-round win over Italy at a packed Dexcom Stadium in Galway.
Ireland had started at a blistering pace, scoring seven of their nine tries by the interval to lead 45-10.
“I think that without getting carried away on one result, 45 points up at half time is a significant first half, isn’t it? It’s a significant difference,” said Bemand.
[ Nine-try Ireland cut loose to win maiden Six Nations clash in GalwayOpens in new window ]
“Those that know the Dexcom in Galway, it’s always going to be tougher into a breeze than with it, but I thought we capitalised, and most importantly, kept the momentum going in the first half.
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“Last week, we said we didn’t fire enough shots, we didn’t get our game going, and quite simply that’s down to a little bit of accuracy and potentially even some physicality, so we went after that this week.”
Ireland had their bonus point by the 23rd minute, the quick start being part of Ireland’s plan from the get-go.
“I suppose after last week there might have been some frustrations within the squad about how we started against England, so we probably placed a bit of an emphasis on that fast start,” said Erin King, after securing the first win of her captaincy.
“We know what this squad is capable of and we really showed it in that first half. We came out the blocks firing and, yeah, I’m just really proud of the girls for that start.”
Fittingly, Galway-born Béibhinn Parsons was named player of the match, competing her hat-trick on half-time with the pick of Ireland’s nine tries in finishing off some superb interplay between Emily Lane, Dannah O’Brien, Stacy Flood, try-scoring debutant Robyn O’Connor and the outstanding Aoife Wafer.
“I never underestimate a good old mauling try as well,” said Bemand when asked if that had been the pick of the nine.
“It’s a good try. But look, as we develop depth in positions across the board, the ability to be able to hit and go, or the ability to pull the trigger on the edge, we’re developing more capability.
“So it’s a good chance, and if you look across the board today there’s been some good tries. Although, the one after half-time is really important because you go 45 points up and you come out and you’re looking for a reaction even when you’re that sort of dominant on the scoreboard, and that was a really important piece for us.
“I like any tries, and even better when they get converted, and I thought that some of the conversions they were pretty outstanding.”
A week after being heavily marked by England, on any other day Wafer would have been chosen as the player of the match after a typical tour de force.
“I think you guys asked the question around Aoife last week and we just said look, sometimes you can have a quieter day game or more difficult game to get into,” said Bemand.
“She made damn certain she got into the game today, carrying off the scrum, couple of tackles, I think she had two massive tackles and a dominant carry for scrum in the first 20 minutes and suddenly she’s in the game.
“We’d have loved to have left her out there. She got a little bit of cramp,” he explained of Wafer’s 53rd-minute replacement.
“We’re up on the scoreboard, we’re going to France next week, it’s only game two in the competition. It’s important to look after your players. No doubt she’ll be disappointed to come off when she did, but she’s fine. She’ll go again this week.”
Ireland’s first ever Six Nations game in Galway drew a crowd of 9,306, a home game record.
“It means that a little bit more playing in front of your home crowd,” said King. “Every game for us is just as important as the next, but I guess I’d be lying if I said it isn’t special getting to play in front of all our family and friends and to have a record-breaking crowd just shows that.
“Our green wave is getting bigger and that’s so important to us, and it’s why we play at the end of the day, is to inspire that next generation.
“So to see all the young girls coming out that play is one of the most important things to our squad. So yeah, it probably does mean that a little bit more.”
Ireland next face the World Cup quarter-final conquerors France, who have 10 points from the opening two rounds after bonus-point wins over Italy and Wales, in Clermont next Saturday (kick-off 8.10pm Irish time).
“I suppose for us, it’s really one job at a time,” said King. “Our focus after the England week was the Italy week, and now I guess our focus changes to that France week. I guess we do kind of owe them one, and I think we are raring to go against them.
“Today, it was brilliant to get that confidence and show what the squad is capable of and just keep building on the performances that we’re putting in and then go into training. There’s probably a few fixes that we can take from today, a few learnings, and just keep improving at the end of the day.
“The main focus is ourselves, and if we can keep improving in our squad, we’re happy.”
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