Andrew Heffernan at the Aviva
A historic occasion was on the horizon as Ireland took on Scotland in the Womens Six Nations Finale. The Aviva Stadium was the stage for the girls in green’s final game of this years championship, the last time they played in the Aviva was over 12 years ago. Ireland’s Erin King spoke about securing “three home wins, for the first time in a while” before the game. The girls in green backed up King’s words on the pitch, and they started the game on fire. Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald crashed over after some beautiful play after just two minutes. Just four minutes later, Ireland’s back three were central to their second try, Robyn O Connor was the beneficiary of some superb handling to dot down after a sumptious step from O Connor.
Ireland went on to score two more pick-and-go tries before the highlight of the half. Ireland taliswoman Aoife Wafer ran a superb support line after O Connor produced a bit of magic, stepping out of one tackle and spinning away from the second attempt, breaking the line and passing inside for Wafer, who topped it off by hitting Chris Ashton’s signature dive over the line. A first half of pure dominance from Ireland was reflected in a 47-0 scoreline at halftime.
The second was much more cagey than the first. Ireland brought on five substitutions at the same time, twenty minutes into the second half. Caolan Scully labelled it the “mBan Squad” which is a term I think is pretty bang on in terms of the impact. Ireland did score one try; Brittany Hogan crashed over after more crash ball carries. Hogan was at the base of the ruck to dot down. Incredibly, Scotland only got into the Irish 22 on the stroke of 78 minutes; even at that juncture, the Irish ferocity in defence was unbelievable. Making tackles inside their own 22 like their life depended on it.
Scotland did eventually get one try with the replacement hooker Aicha Sutcliffe dotting down after Ireland were reduced to fourteen for persistent infringements in the red zone.That is how the game ended with a full time score or 54-5. A superb afternoon for womens rugby in Ireland not only the win but seeing a record 31,294 spectators through the gates marks a “turning point in Womens Rugby in this country”. Ireland finish the championship in 3rd place on 15 points ahead of Italy in 4th on 12 points. A brilliant championship for Ireland could not have been capped off any better