Aoife McDermott eager to sample French fire
It was Thursday when the Regional Health Agency in the far north of France confirmed the first case of coronavirus in that neck of the woods, a student in the Regional Centre for Circus Arts having tested positive after arriving back in the region from Italy.
Lomme was originally a town to the west of Lille in the Nord département but it has long been swallowed up by the city where Ireland's women are due to face France in the last round of Six Nations fixtures tomorrow week.
French authorities have enacted some far-reaching measures in their bid to halt the spread of the virus but it remains to be seen whether the trio of Six Nations games across men's, women's and U20s levels go ahead next weekend.
Paris had just five recorded cases of coronavirus and, unfortunately, one death as of Friday. Perpignan, where Noel McNamara's U20s are due to face their Gallic counterparts next Friday, was writing free of any such findings at the time of writing.
“Obviously they are monitoring things on an ongoing basis but it is all systems go for now,” said Ireland lock Aoife McDermott earlier this week. “We need to keep that focus in our minds, that it is going ahead, and we need to prepare in that vein. That's all we can do.”
The women, like the senior men's side and underage colleagues, have already had to press pause with the postponement of respective meetings with Italy but there is a widespread understanding that these are minor issues in the greater scheme of things.
Civil authorities the world over are wringing their hands over the question of whether to postpone or cancel events which attract large crowds but McDermott and the rest of the Ireland team would normally be chomping at the bit for just that scenario.
Ireland have begun to attract serious numbers to their home games at Donnybrook but the French remain the market leaders in terms of the women's game for attendances with over 14,000 taking in their opener against England in Pau.
McDermott aims to be part of a Railway Union side that will hope to set an official AIL attendance record when they face Suttonians on April 4 and the prospect of facing the World Cup semi-finalists from three years ago is one to relish.
“They get massive crowds at home,” said McDermott. “I've never been away in France so hopefully I get that chance next week. Some of my teammates have spoken to me about it before and they say it is an atmosphere you don't experience anywhere else. It's such a huge test to face France with that crowd behind them.”
Their would-be hosts next weekend lost that first fixture at home to England on a 13-19 scoreline and, with Ireland going down to the English on a 27-0 scoreline in Doncaster earlier this month, the scale of the challenge awaiting the girls in green is clear.
France scored four tries and 24 points while keeping Ireland scoreless on their last trip to the continent, in 2018. Even more alarming is the fact that the margins of victory over there when these two teams meet have been expanding for pretty much a decade now.
“They're a very tough outfit. We're under no illusions that it could be a very tough day at the office so we are going to have to be switched on for the 80 minutes. They have some big ball carriers and their setpiece is really good and really exciting backs as well. They have threats all over the park.
“We have looked into them and we know what to do. We need to focus on ourselves and what we want to achieve in the game as well. There were things we didn't quite nail against England. If we can do those better we can put in quiet a strong performance and see what happens from there.”
