By Megan Carthew at Tallaght Stadium
Ireland looked to be cruising. A blistering first half and a
fast start to the second saw the hosts surge 19 points clear — but one fateful
yellow card changed everything.
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Sent to the bin, Vicky Elmes Kinlan's absence
proved fatal, as USA seized their chance and ran riot, with Kathryn Treder,
Hallie Taufoou and player of the match Freda Tafuna all crossing in a stunning
try-scoring frenzy.
Ireland threw one last punch through Dorothy Wall late on,
but a missed conversion and the clock running out meant it was too little, too
late for the girls in green.
WXV: Ireland 36-40 USA – USA stun Ireland with sensational
second-half comeback
USA started brightly, holding possession for the opening
exchanges, but it was Ireland who struck first, forcing their way into the
American 22. After two chances went begging, the breakthrough arrived through a
searing Stacey Flood line break, finished off in style by Vicky Elmes Kinlan to
open the scoring.
Ireland weren't done there. Just six minutes later, Clíodhna
Moloney-MacDonald charging over from the back of a rampaging driving maul to
stretch the lead to 10.
By the 15-minute mark, the hosts were seemingly in control.
Aoife Wafer got in on the act, powering through the USA defence to touch down,
and with Dannah O'Brien successfully converting, Ireland surged 17 points
clear.
USA finally found their way into Irish territory in the 22nd
minute, and after two minutes of relentless pressure, the Eagles got their
reward — Georgie Perris-Reading crashing over, with Bella Vogel adding the
extras to get the visitors on the board.
But Ireland had an answer ready. Anna McGann slipped a slick
offload to Eve Higgins, who raced clear for the hosts' fourth try of the
afternoon.
Exeter Chiefs prop Hope Rogers hit back for the Eagles with
ten minutes to go before the break, cutting the deficit to 12, before things
got scrappy as both sides scrambled for the ball heading into the interval —
Aoife Wafer eventually putting an end to proceedings, thumping the ball into
touch to bring the curtain down on a try-laden first 40.
Half Time Score: Ireland 24 –12 USA
Ireland picked up exactly where they left off. Captain Erin
King forced her way over early in the second half, and with Dannah O'Brien
slotting the conversion, the hosts pushed their lead out to a commanding 19
points.
But after a flurry of substitutions from both benches, the
momentum began to shift. USA finally got their hands on some ball and
territory, and made it count — a well-drilled driving maul saw hooker Kathryn
Treder barge over, with Bella Vogel converting to cut the gap to 11.
Then it unravelled fast for Ireland. Treder struck again to
make it back-to-back tries, and with Vicky Elmes Kinlan sin-binned, the hosts
were down to 14 at the worst possible time. USA pounced — Hallie Taufoou
crashed over to level the scores, and Vogel's successful conversion handed the
Eagles the lead for the first time in the match.
USA weren't finished. Freda Tafuna added another to stretch
the advantage further, and Vogel's conversion made it a nine-point game. A
brutal 20 minutes for the girls in green.
Ireland rallied late, Dorothy Wall crossing in the dying
moments to claw the deficit back to four — but it was too little, too late. The
damage from that USA blitz had already been done.
Ireland:
Tries: Elmes Kinlan (7’) Moloney-MacDonald (13’) Wafer (18’)
Higgins (27’) King (45’) Wall (79’)
Conversions: O’Brien (19’ 28’ 46’)
Yellow Cards: Elmes Kinlan (64’)
Starting XV: 1 Niamh O’Dowd, 2 Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald, 3
Linda Djougang, 4 Dorothy Wall, 5 Fiona Tuite-O'Sullivan, 6 Jemima Adams
Verling, 7 Erin King (c), 8 Aoife Wafer, 9 Emily Lane, 10 Dannah O’Brien, 11
Vicky Elmes Kinlan, 12 Eve Higgins, 13 Aoife Dalton, 14 Robyn O’Connor, 15 Stacey
Flood
Replacements: 16 Neve Jones, 17 Sadhbh McGrath, 18 Eilís
Cahill, 19 Jane Clohessy, 20 Brittany Hogan, 21 Aoibheann Reilly, 22 Anna
McGann, 23 Niamh Gallagher
USA:
Tries: Perris-Reading (24’) Rogers (32’) Treder (56’ 65’)
Taufoou (69’) Tafuna (72’)
Conversions: Vogel (25’ 57’ 65’ 69’ 72’)
Starting XV: 1 Hope Rogers, 2 Kathryn Treder, 3 Keia Mae
Sagapolu-Senele, 4 Hallie Taufoou, 5 Rachel Ehrecke, 6 Hann Humphreys, 7
Georgie Perris-Redding (cc), 8 Freda Tafuna, 9 Abigail Paton, 10 Bella Vogel, 11 Erica Coulibaly, 12 Emily Heinrich, 13
Tessa Hann, 14 Telesi Uhatafe, 15 Kayla Canett
Replacements: 16 Alivia Leatherman, 17 Chloe Hill-Huse, 18
Reece Woods, 19 Erica Jarrell-Searcy (cc), 20 Kapoina Bailey, 21 Kate Zackary,
22 Cassidy Bargell, 23 Nina Mason.
Ireland Player Ratings vs USA
1 Niamh O’Dowd (off at 50) - 6
2 Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald (off at 50) - 7
3 Linda Djougang - 6
4 Dorothy Wall - 6
5 Fiona Tuite-O'Sullivan - 6
6 Jemima Adams Verling (off at 50)- 7.5
7 Erin King (c) -7
8 Aoife Wafer - 7
9 Emily Lane (off at 50)- 6
10 Dannah O’Brien - 5
11 Vicky Elmes Kinlan - 6
12 Eve Higgins - 7
13 Aoife Dalton (off at 19) (on at 31) (off at 69’) - 6
14 Robyn O’Connor - 5
15 Stacey Flood - 7
Talking Points from Ireland vs USA
1. “A game of two halves”
It was Ireland head coach Scott Bemand himself who summed it
up best, with his side utterly dominant early on, tearing USA apart at will.
But around the 55-minute mark, the momentum swung truly into the USA’s hands.
USA's physicality began to dominate, and when Vicky Elmes Kinlan was shown
yellow, Ireland's control of the game unravelled completely with the Eagles
ruthlessly punishing the sin-bin period with three tries in the space of ten
minutes.
2. The Impact of the Eagles Bench
There's no hiding it that the USA were second best for large
chunks of the first half, and especially brutal were that opening 20 minutes as
Ireland ran in three tries unanswered. But once the substitutions started
rolling in, particularly from the USA bench, the picture flipped entirely. The
Eagles' physicality had been a constant threat all afternoon, but it cranked up
another gear after the changes and Ireland simply had no answer for it.
3. Jemima Adams-Verling Ireland debut
The result didn't go Ireland's way, but there was still
cause for celebration with Jemima Adams-Verling earning her first Ireland cap
after being named in the starting XV, and she didn't disappoint. Head coach
Scott Bemand was full of praise, calling it the start of what should be a long
international career in the green jersey.
With eight more uncapped players
still in the squad and back-to-back home fixtures against Japan on the horizon,
don't be surprised if more fresh faces get their chance in the coming
fortnight.
4. Nina Mason's Eagles debut
Ireland weren't the only side handing out first caps. Nina
Mason made her USA debut off the bench, and what an introduction it was — the
Life University (Georgia) centre played her part in inspiring the Eagles'
remarkable turnaround to victory. Eagles captain Georgie Perris-Reading
couldn't hide her pride afterwards, hailing Mason as "an incredible human
and talented athlete" with a great rugby IQ already to go with her talent.
