Women’s rugby battles against prejudices

IT felt so good to be Irish last Saturday.

France are ranked up there with the best in the world, currently number three, but with a magnificent show of courage, wit, intelligence, organisation in defence, of tackling that was fearless bordering on reckless, Ireland frustrated them at every turn, knocked them down from first minute to 81st, denied any of their high-flying backs the satisfaction of a touchdown from open play.

Led by the ferociously competitive and talented Fiona Steed, those Irish girls in Thomond Park on Saturday evening were something else. True, the French won anyway, courtesy of three tries, but they were not the kind of tries any of us would be particularly proud of. All were the result of 12-woman mauls off five metre lineouts the mighty French reduced to that.