O'Brien pleased with character as Ireland grind out victory

While she acknowledged there are areas of their game that will require some fine tuning, Tullow’s Dannah O’Brien was pleased with the character shown by the Ireland women’s rugby team in their 27-21 victory over Scotland at Virgin Media Park last Saturday.

Playing the first of two warm-up games in advance of the forthcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, Ireland fell 14-0 adrift during the early exchanges in the Cork venue following the concession of converted tries to Lisa Thomson and Lucia Scott. Yet after Sadhbh McGrath and Meabh Deely crossed the whitewash in the latter stages of the opening period, Ireland squeezed in front with a five-pointer from debutant Nancy McGillivray on the resumption.

Scotland threatened to spoil the party when Emma Orr grabbed their third converted try, but Ireland fired back with powerful finishes from Niamh O’Dowd and Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird to ultimately escape with the spoils.

“Huge character. I think the important thing was not to panic. There was still a long game of rugby left. I think the first caps as well did absolutely brilliant. Ivana [Kiripati] playing nearly a whole game. Ailish [Quinn] coming off the bench and I thought Nancy held her ground very well as well in the centre. Huge congrats to them as well,” O’Brien remarked after Saturday’s game.

“I suppose we started slow and let them come at us physically in the first 20 minutes of the game, but we didn’t panic. We trusted the game plan, got a few points on the board then and we felt like we had a bit of the momentum back at half-time. Happy with the win overall, but there is definitely a few things to work on.” From a senior international perspective, this was the first appearance for both O’Brien and the Irish team since losing out to Scotland in the closing round of the Women’s Six Nations Championship in Edinburgh on 26 April.

After enjoying a period of rest and recuperation, O’Brien and 36 other players returned to collective training as part of a preparation squad for the World Cup at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Monday 2 June.

Although the Carlow native has undoubtedly reaped the benefit from being within an elite environment overseen by Ireland head coach Scott Bemand for this extended spell, she was thrilled to get an opportunity to pick up her 25th Ireland senior cap at Virgin Media Park on the weekend just gone.

Despite being short of the target from two of three conversions she attempted during her 60 minutes on the pitch, O’Brien superbly split the posts from the touchline in the wake of Deely’s try on 38 minutes.

She also dovetailed to good effect with half-back partner Molly Scuffil-McCabe, who was making her 22nd appearance at the senior grade for her country.

“It’s great to get back into playing games. It’s very different from a pre-season training week. It’s good to get the first nerves out this weekend. Hopefully we’ll be better again next weekend.

“I was happy enough [with the conversion]. Disappointed about the other two. There’s just stuff to work on and that’s one of them. Definitely we’ll focus on improving for the next game.” Upon full-time in Cork on Saturday, O’Brien made her way into the stands to connect with family and friends who were on hand to offer support to the Leinster out-half. She was also in demand for photographs and autographs from Irish fans and with some of those closest to her set to be in attendance at the World Cup finals, she is hoping for more special days over the next few weeks.

“Always a good crowd here in Musgrave. Hopefully we’ll get another good turnout up in Belfast next week. I know my family are coming over [to the World Cup]. Looking forward to that as a first experience at a World Cup as well.” 

Even though their opening pool game at the World Cup against Japan at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton on August 24 will soon become a significant focus, Ireland will also be aiming for a fitting send-off when they face Canada in another warm-up test at Affidea Stadium in Belfast this coming Saturday.

The Maple Leafs have reached the semi-final stage in five of the last seven Women’s Rugby World Cups and O’Brien is expecting a stern examination from Kevin Rouet’s side.

“I think it’s going to be another physical battle, similar to Scotland. They’re really good athletes and I think we have to bring it to them next week as well,” O’Brien added.

“It’s going to be an exciting one. Hopefully we’ll have a big crowd. It’s our last chance to grow our green wave and hopefully bring a bit of that support over to England. We’re massively looking forward to it.”