Ireland come from behind to beat Scotland in World Cup warm-up

Ireland kicked off their World Cup warm-up campaign with a gutsy, come-from-behind 27-21 win over Scotland at Virgin Media Park in Cork.

Ireland had the better of the opening exchanges as their defence flying off the line and making big hits, with back rowers Grace Moore and and debutant Ivana Kiripati in particular starting the game on fire. However, an inability to hold onto the ball and build phases meant they had to rely too heavily on their defence.

Scotland, who begin their Pool B campaign against Wales in three weeks, ran to a 14-0 lead thanks to Lisa Thomson converting her own score and then adding the extras to Lucia Scott’s finish after the winger ran a lovely inside line around the edge of the ruck.

It was an emotional return to the field for Ireland captain Sam Monaghan, who played over 30 minutes in her comeback after over a year out with injury. She did well in her cameo and nearly crashed over for a try as she begins easing herself back into play ahead of the World Cup.

Scotland hooker Lana Skeldon was stretchered off after suffering a serious-looking injury as the 81-cap Bristol forward was in obvious discomfort as she received lengthy on-field treatment eight minutes short of half-time at Musgrave Park.

Skeldon’s departure disrupted the visitors’ momentum and Ireland capitalised. They began to build up some much needed phases and off the back of a dominant scrum, started to turn the tide in their favour.

After several knocks on the Scottish try line Sadhbh McGrath crashed over to get Ireland’s first try of the game and then only a few minutes later Ireland worked their way back up to the Scottish 22 line and after some great handling, Meabh Deely ran in unopposed as Ireland were just two-points behind heading into the break.

The hosts, who were back in action for the first time since ending the Six Nations with a 26-19 defeat to the Scots in April and start the World Cup against Japan on August 24, completed the turnaround within six minutes of the restart when debutant centre Nancy McGillivray dived over.

McGillivray alongside centre partner Eve Higgins really shone in the second half as it looks like Ireland are beginning to build that depth Scott Bemand has been talking about since coming in.

Flanker Grace Moore was then held up on the line as Ireland continued to dominate in the wake of Scotland replacement Coreen Grant being sin-binned.

Centre Emma Orr burst through the home team’s defensive line to briefly put Scotland back in front, with Thomson slotting the conversion.

Scotland’s defence was immense at times in the second half as time and time again they were able to stand firm on their own line and not let Ireland cross. However, Ireland for their own part had some discipline issues in terms of breaking the laws and also being disciplined with protecting the ball.

However Ireland got their act together in the final 15 minutes thank to some great performances from substitutes Niamh O’Dowd, Fiona Tuite and Linda Djougang. O’Dowd seemed to be everywhere on the pitch and played so positively, getting her hands free and offloading at any opportunity. She crossed over for a well deserved try to give Ireland the lead again with just over 10 minutes to go.

Ireland, who host Canada in Belfast next weekend, secured victory three minutes from time when Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird crossed, ensuring Scotland go into the World Cup on the back of successive defeats following last week’s loss in Italy.

Speaking post-match, Player of the Game Grace Moore spoke about Ireland’s build-up to this match and what it was like to finally get out there. ‘Our captains run this week was so good and our jersey presentation was probably one of the most emotional we’ve had so far in my career and I think we’ve really bought it for those girls that weren’t out here today.

‘This is just the start, those weeks of preseason, the hard slog, people coming back from rehab. It’s just testament to who these people are and we’re just looking forward to the World Cup and looking forward to grow.’

Head Coach Scott Bemand was happy to finally get back onto the pitch and wipe the cobwebs off before the World Cup. ‘It’s first game after preseason. You kind of got to get your straps back in a test match arena after seven weeks build-up. I think we probably looked like we hadn’t played a game last week, whereas Scotland came out and looked like they had a game. So they were slightly more battle hardened than us, but I was really pleased with the girls. There was no sense of panic. We understand what we need to do and how we’re going to do it and they simply just moved through the gears.

‘Next week we’ve got Canada coming. The challenges keep coming fast now and then hopefully that puts us in a good space to go over to England and attack the World Cup.’