Lindsay Peat's try helps Ireland to cathartic victory after dreadful week for women's rugby

Ireland's Lindsay Peat acknowledges the crowd as she is substituted. Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Ireland 20 USA 10

A dreadful, demoralising week for women’s rugby in Ireland got the ending it so badly needed at the RDS tonight with what was an imperfect but gritty win for the national team in Ballsbridge.

This was cathartic. Energising. When it ended, the bench emptied as all 23 players and members of the support staff congealed near the midfield where the veteran prop Lindsay Peat was launched into the air in what is likely her final game.

Peat had led the team out in front of what was a disappointing crowd of roughly 2,000. That was likely two-thirds down on the team’s record attendance from two years ago but what it lacked in numbers it made up for in volume. They did their bit.

The build-up had been dominated by Monday’s comments from the IRFU’s director of sevens and women’s rugby Anthony Eddy which had prompted condemnation from former players and current front row Cliodhna Moloney who was ultimately backed by numerous teammates.

Eddy’s take on the squad’s failure to make next year’s World Cup had all but absolved the IRFU of blame and placed the focus squarely on the players’ shoulders. None of them has ever said they weren’t complicit in that downfall so they knew they needed a response here.

Head coach Adam Griggs, in charge for the second-last time before he hands over to Greg McWilliams, named just eight of the XV that started the last of those World Cup qualifier games against Scotland in September for what was the first women’s international at the RDS.

If his side’s lead-in to this was less than ideal then what of the visitors? The US hadn’t played a game in two years, until their recent pair of close losses to Canada. This one, on the back of a transatlantic trip, made it three fixtures inside two weeks.

Both sides stuttered through a scoreless opening quarter littered with individual errors and systematic breakdowns with the Americans suffering the added disadvantage of struggles with both their scrum and their lineout.

Ireland opened the scoring from one of the former, the feed to out-half Stacey Flood followed by a sweeping kick across field and over the inrushing American winger. Her target was Beibhinn Parsons and Beibhinn Parsons was in acres of space. Job done, goodnight.

The US took this as a cue to click into gear.

Though Saher Hamdan’s try was ruled out for an earlier knock-on, the penalty advantage allowed them a second attempt and, when a close-in assault was held up, the attacking side went wide and executed the sweep perfectly with Bulou Mataitoga crossing the chalk.

Now things were happening.

Back Ireland came, but at America’s invite. A dropped ball and the concession of two penalties gave the hosts all the wind their sails needed and tighthead Leah Lyons made them pay with a try converted by Flood to leave it 12-5 at the interval.

The best move of the game came shortly after the restart, the US stitching together a multi-phase attack that stretched the width of the pitch and owing its advancement to superb hands and angles of running. Elizabeth Cairns provided the killer surge.

Another missed conversion kept them two points adrift and the loss of Mataitoga to a yellow card left them short-handed when the action pivoted to the City End. The infraction was punished further when Lindsay Peat went over from a lineout maul.

Up by seven, Ireland spent most of the remainder defending their own try line and twice had to scramble to keep the opposition out. Maeve Óg O’Leary, on for her debut, held the ball up for one and Tess Feury was adjudged to be short by a whisker when grounding for the second.

It was an impressive resistance from a team that had declared its unity in a very different manner in the preceding days and they eventually broke the siege in the dying moments, to the point where Flood was able to land an injury-time penalty.

Ireland: L Delany; L Sheehan, E Considine, S Naoupu, B Parsons; S Flood, A Hughes; L Peat, C Moloney, L Lyons; N Fryday, S Monaghan; C Griffin, E McMahon, A Caplice.

Replacements: L Djougang for Lyons and E Higgins for Considine (both 55); K Dane for Hughes, N Jones for Peat and K O’Dwyer for Moloney (all 59); M Og O’Leary for Griffin (63); AL Murphy Crowe for Parsons (67); H O’Connor for Caplice (68).

USA: K Canett, T Feury, A Talei Bonté, K Howard, B Mataitoga; M Foster, C Waters; C Benson, S Hamden, H Rogers; K Sommer, A Washington; R Ehrecke, R Johnson, K Zachary.

Replacements: E Cairns for Johnson (18); N James for Benson (50); M Hawkins for Feury (68); O Ortiz for Waters and S Levy Foster (both 68); H Taofoou for Washington (71); M Learned for Rogers (78).

Referee: S Cox (England).