Ireland moving on from Twickenham horror show and eying up World Cup qualification

MOVING ON: Ireland head coach Scott Bemand has turned his focus to Scotland. Pic: Ben Brady

Scott Bemand is adamant that his Ireland players have digested the worst of Saturday’s 78-point defeat to England and are now fully focused on a win against Scotland that could earn qualification for next year’s World Cup.

That 88-10 loss in Twickenham, with England running in 14 tries against a side that missed 61 tackles, made for a sobering and embarrassing afternoon for a team that had shown clear signs of improvement after last year’s Six Nations wooden spoon.

Yet Ireland still have the opportunity to finish third in the table, should they beat the Scots in Belfast and Wales upset Italy, and by doing so they would secure an automatic place for the global tournament in England next year.

There will still be another route to that expanded and more accessible World Cup via the WXV event this autumn but the carrot still in front of their noses has prompted coaches and players to turn the clichéd page in double quick time after some honest conversations.

“Yeah, they did,” said Bemand. “We talked around why things happened, why people made decisions, why momentum looks the way momentum did and we turned the page a couple of days in. We’re back on the pitch, back training and fully gassed up ready for the weekend.” 

The whys still need addressing, all the same.

“I mentioned things before the game around occasion and learning to compete in those arenas,” said the head coach. “There is a piece around respect. Sometimes teams give teams they are playing too much respect.

“Once the floodgates started opening there is an experience piece about how you control momentum when it is cascading against you. We have had some really good conversations this week, we have tested it in training and judging by training this morning the players are fully ready to bounce back.” 

Co-captain Sam Monaghan has declared herself fit and ready to play at the Kingspan Stadium having sat out the horror show in London. And the forward is happy to admit that the shocking scoreline leaves Ireland with a point to prove.

“Yeah, a hundred per cent. It’s not the result we wanted. We went and experienced that and we have it under our belt now for next time but going into this week we are all guns blazing. It’s really dialled up in training this morning.” 

Hooker Sarah Delaney aside, Bemand has a full squad to choose from for the game against a Scottish side that sits in the coveted third place in the table having won two and lost two games to date.