Irish flanker relishes taking on the auld enemy

MOST athletes would be content with representing their country once, never mind 60 times. Butwhat about 60 consecutive internationals, never missing one, only being substituted once for three minutes near the end of one game.

"Well, there was one match where I was sin-binned too, so I missed ten minutes of another game," says Fiona Steed, Ireland's most capped women's rugby player.

While all eyes will be on the efforts of Brian O'Driscoll et al to take the World Champions off their perch this weekend, the Irish women will also be taking on the auld enemy.

And if you thought the chances for Eddie O'Sullivan's men were slim, well, just listen to Fiona talk about her opponents this weekend.

"England are superior to us in every facet of the game. That is not being defeatist, it is just being realistic. They are a semi-professional team; they have an excellent league structure; they are the second-best team in the world. But our scorelines are improving against England.

"We know the enormity of the task we face, but you play the game to play the best and England are one of the best. We are going to go out there and try to impose our pattern of play on them, we have to make sure the English are thinking they have to stop Ireland."

Steed came to the game relatively late. As a teenager, she was a keen camogie player in Tipperary.

"However, going to the University of Teeside to study physiotherapy, she had to find another sport GAA wasn't big in Middlesbrough. She spent a year playing hockey before taking a chance with the oval ball

She has rarely looked back.

"Ever-present with Ireland since, making her test debut against Scotland in February 1994, Steed believes the women's game is on the up in this country. A decade ago, she and her team-mates might have had to pay for their jerseys and flights for this weekend's game. Not anymore.

"There has been an absolute improvement in everything since I made my debut. Back then, there was no real level of organisation. The IRFU have got behind us, we have a good coaching team in place. From where we came from ten years ago, things have really improved. We train five nights a week now and all the girls would have a personal training programme that includes weights. Things are getting better all the time."

And so are the results. Although both France and Wales have beaten Ireland this year, the Welsh game was such a close affair the Irish girls came off Thomond Park feeling disappointed they lost.

"That was a game we should have won," Steed said. "And that is something I rarely say when I talk about games. If you lose a match, you lose a match, but the amount of possession we had, we should have beaten Wales. And their two tries came from mistakes by our defence."

The mistakes meant Ireland were 14-0 down at the break. The home side clawed their way back into the game, and were only trailing by a point when the final whistle went.

"Going in at half-time, 14 points down, to come back like we did and score 13 points, that is not something that would have happened a couple of years ago. We would have let our heads drop, let Wales run riot. So, it shows how much things have improved."

Although Steed is firmly cemented as a flanker, she began her career as a centre. For the past eight years though, she has been in the back-row. While she has been around for a decade, she notices that more and more experienced campaigners are coming into the team.

"A couple of years ago, I would have played more games than all of the rest of the team put together. But now we have girls with 20 or 25 caps playing for us. That will obviously help the game develop."

Even if victory against England is beyond them, Steed hopes they can end the Six Nations championship with some points on the board.

"Spain and Scotland would be more realistic targets. We have both of them in Thomond Park, which I love playing in for Shannon. Scotland might be a bit more tricky but with home support, we would hope to beat them."

In May, the European Championships will take place and Ireland have the chance to wreak some revenge on Wales. And what does the future hold for the stalwart of Irish women's rugby. "I would really love to play against New Zealand. They are the team that everyone is judged against in the game. In the past two World Cups, we have been drawn in different parts of the draw. So hopefully in the next one."

While her boyfriend John Hayes will be performing under the glare of bright lights, Fiona has to toil in relative obscurity. After a decade of soldiering with the Irish women's rugby team, Steed knows things are improving. It mightn't be long before she will playing under the same bright lights.