Six-try Ireland beat Japan for winning World Cup start
.jpg "Centre Eve Higgins played a pivotal role in Ireland's win")
Centre Eve Higgins played a pivotal role in Ireland's win
©Morgan Harlow - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images
Ireland kicked off their Women's Rugby World Cup campaign with a classy 42-14 victory over Japan at Franklin’s Gardens.
Scott Bemand's side had promised an explosive start, and they delivered, taking a commanding lead by scoring four first-half tries and securing the bonus point before the break.
Amee-Leigh Costigan powered through for the opener, followed by Neve Jones from a maul, Beibhinn Parsons off a set piece, and Fiona Tuite through a line break. All four tries were successfully converted by fly-half Dannah O’Brien, who was outstanding throughout the game.
Ireland demonstrated strong forward momentum and effective use of set pieces in the first half, while Japan struggled to break through Ireland’s aggressive defence but did eventually score their first try on 29 minutes through Haruka Hirotsu.
The second half began ferociously, with Japan coming out of the blocks and scoring shortly after the restart. Like their first try, it was a test of patience as they went through multiple phases on the try line before a brilliant pass from the base from Moe Tsukui saw flanker Masam Kawamura dot down for a seven-pointer.
In the 52nd minute, Japan reached within 10 metres of the line after excellent work from Kawamura and winger Misaki Matsumura.
However, one pass too many allowed Eve Higgins to brilliantly intercept and sprint almost the full length of the pitch, finishing with a cheeky dive. This sensational effort secured Ireland’s fifth try. Higgins’ phenomenal solo score provided much-needed breathing space after an earlier tense phase.
Ten minutes later, Ireland added their sixth try, an easy walk-in for replacement Erya Green after a weaving run from Aoife Dalton and a strong carry from Player of the Match Brittany Hogan.
The women in green had now set a new Irish record for the most points scored in a Women's World Cup match, but with prop Linda Djougang in the sin-bin after being penalised at the ruck, Ireland saw out the victory.
Ireland will return to Northampton next Sunday to take on Spain before facing New Zealand, who they beat in September.
Player of the Match Brittany Hogan spoke to the BBC after the full-time whistle: “What a beginning, we made sure we came out with a fast start, the tries that girls produced in the first half were electric. We had everything behind that performance, I’m so proud of the girls today.
"We have to challenge ourselves to become the most connected team in the world. If you’re willing to be connected off the pitch, you’ll be connected on the pitch”.
Ireland: Flood; Parsons, Dalton, Higgins, Costigan; O'Brien, Reilly; O'Dowd, Jones, Djougang, Campbell, Monaghan (co-capt), Tuite, McMahon (co-capt), Hogan.
Replacements: Moloney-MacDonald, Perry, McGrath, Corri-Fallon, Moore, Lane, Breen, McGann.
Japan: Nishimura; Matsumura, Furuta, Hirotsu, Imakugi; Otsuka, Tsukui; Kato, Kuge, Kitano, Sato, Yoshimura, Kawamura, I Nagata (capt), Saito.
Replacements: Taniguchi, Mine, N Nagata, Sakurai, Hosokawa, Abe, Yamamoto, Hatada.
