Ireland's women fail to beat Welsh counterparts

Ireland Women 7 Wales Women 14

The Irish Women's side failed to repeat last year's heroics as they lost 14-7 to Wales in this afternoon's 6 Nations meeting at Donnybrook.

Philip Doyle's girls in green, 11-6 winners over the Welsh last March, struggled in the opening half as the visitors cut free for an 11-0 lead at the interval.

Full-back Non Evans slotted two penalties before experienced Saracens winger Louise Rickard touched down.

The Irish reduced the gap to four when Blackrock lock Germaine Healy muscled over for a try, which fly half and captain Sarah Jane Belton converted, but Wales steadied themselves thanks to Evans' third penalty.

Irish manager Mark Andrews said afterwards: "We played poorly in the first half and that cost us the game really. We didn't make the most of the opportunities we had - we had six or seven scoring chances, but never made full use of them.

"It wasn't a case of us losing our discipline and allowing Evans to kick the penalties - Wales gave away something like 43 penalties throughout the entire match.

"Next up we're got Scotland in Navan. We're out of the championship so we'll look to put in a positive performance there."

Scorers:

Ireland: Try: Germaine Healy; Con: Sarah Jane Belton

Wales: Try: Louise Rickard; Pens: Non Evans 3