Revenge is not the primary motif for Ireland as they head to the Stade Marcel-Michelin in Clermont for Saturday night’s Six Nations clash with France (8.10pm Irish time, live on Virgin Media 2). The players have been unabashed in expressing their confidence of being able to win on French soil.
The pocketful of regrets that Scott Bemand’s side brought home from Ireland’s narrow defeat (18-13) to France in last year’s World Cup quarter-final will be a galvanising factor, but the Irish players can’t get their heads stuck in the past. That chance has come and gone. Saturday night offers a shiny new opportunity. No additional baggage required.
Bemand was quick to quash any notion that Ireland are still enslaved by the memory of the World Cup game. He said: “It’s not about revenge. It’s the next game. Where we are in our cycle is that this is our next opportunity to get our next best performance out there. We’ve got a great squad that’s starting to ask better questions of our selection.
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“We’ve left some really talented players out of the 23. Where we are and where we’re going, we’re tracking in the right direction. I’ve already highlighted going away to France. It took England eight years to get a win over in France.
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“They’re a tough prospect there, but these are the occasions, these are the games that excite us as a group, as a nation. That’s why we’re all talking about it, isn’t it? Because we went close in a World Cup – the game that could have, should have, would have,” his voice trails off.
“We’d gone close in the Six Nations before that. We want to go there and focus on us, get our best game out there. We believe in our best game. It’s fantastic that we’ve got a group that walks around now, maybe slightly more confidently. I’m delighted that people notice that about our group.
“Whatever happens this weekend, they’re going to keep getting better. This is just our next opportunity. We can’t wait to get over there and get ripping into this game.”
Bemand has restored Dorothy Wall to the starting team. Ruth Campbell, who was in the run-on side for the nine-try win over Italy in the Dexcom Stadium last weekend, drops to the bench. There is one other change to the matchday 23, with tighthead prop Eilís Cahill – part of the group for the defeat in Twickenham – taking over from Sadhbh McGrath in the replacements.
The Irish head coach explained: “Doro (Dorothy Wall) coming back in [to the starting team], she came on and had a great impact [against Italy]. Obviously not basing things just on games, she’s trained the house down in the last couple of weeks.
“We’ll always look at who we’re playing as well and what we need on the pitch at what point. Ruth’s been going great for us. Her impact to come on and finish the game against England was decent. We think we’re going to be in a game at the end of this one, so we want to get off to a good start. We need some impact off the bench, so she fits that role.”
Ireland coaches and players have spoken about managing the occasion and trusting the work that they’ve done and the progress made to be able to handle what’s thrown at them. Bemand said: “We’ve managed to take the positive stuff from the England game and put that on the pitch against Italy.
“We’ve got to take the best bits of both games and continue to go after our own 85-minute performance. I’m being specific around it going longer than the 80 [minutes]. If it goes right to the death, we’ve got to stay confident in what we’re doing and understand that there are some challenges we’ve got to come through.
“The group is, I’m going to say, stable and understanding – they’re not getting too far ahead of themselves. In the same way, if on-pitch something doesn’t happen, the wheels aren’t going to fall off.”
IRELAND: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Nancy McGillivray, Robyn O’Connor; Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane; Ellena Perry, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Linda Djougang; Dorothy Wall, Fiona Tuite; Brittany Hogan, Erin King (capt), Aoife Wafer. Replacements: Neve Jones, Niamh O’Dowd, Eilís Cahill, Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan, Katie Whelan, Eve Higgins, Anna McGann.
