McWilliams asks public to stay with Ireland after record defeat

Humbling 53-3 Six Nations defeat to French follows 31-5 loss to Wales but head coach insists he saw fight from players

Sat, 01 Apr, 2023 - 19:06

Stephen Barry

Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams has asked the Irish public to stay with his team after a record 53-3 Women’s Six Nations defeat to France at Musgrave Park.

Les Bleus played an hour with 14 players but showed they’re a level above this Irish team at present in terms of experience and execution with seven of their nine tries coming after loosehead prop Annaëlle Deshayes was red-carded.

But McWilliams hailed the improvements evident from their 31-5 loss to Wales, albeit against better opposition this time around.

“If you look at certain individuals that played there today, they stood up,” he said. “We want to see fight in this group at the moment and I understand that’s not what the Irish public want. They want us to be winning games.

“But I remember back, with Niamh Briggs over there, in 2010 and ’11 losing matches by bigger scorelines but it wasn’t shown on TV and we got a couple of column inches so we were able to go through that journey without the public and without being on TV.

“Now, the public are seeing this journey and we just hope that they stay supportive. The most important thing is the players.

“We know there are areas to improve on and we just hope we continue to improve because in years to come we’ll look back on these as really important moments. We just have to stick with the players, they’re unbelievable, love them.” He praised the improvement in the Irish set-piece, particularly the scrum, as well as the composure of out-half Dannah O’Brien on her Six Nations debut.

“Unbelievable! Isn’t it great? We’ve found somebody who belongs on this stage. She belongs out here,” said McWilliams.

“We’re seeing that with the likes of Aoife Dalton, Sadhbh McGrath, and look at Deirbh [Nic a Bháird]’s influence today, look at her as an energiser. There are so many positive things.” Ireland had 33 missed tackles in the first half (they reduced that number to 10 in the second half) and that will be a key focus of the fortnight’s preparation for Italy away.

“If you’re not folding around the corner and getting your spacing right and you’re not getting square off the line, you’re chasing shadows a little bit.

“We did get high, we got a bit handsy in terms of how we were defending, and we’re just going to have to improve on that.

“Last week, we were focusing on areas and the areas we focused on were absolutely evident today. That’s what we’re really proud about because we had a group that believed in the plan. Now, we just have to work on areas going into Italy.

“Those first-up tackles are essential in a contact sport. It’s all about that gain-line and unfortunately, France dominated again today.” ENDS