Ireland secure World Cup quarter-final spot after hard fought encounter with Spain

Only an upset victory for Japan over defending champions New Zealand later on Sunday will prevent the Irish from progressing to the last eight though if they do make it.

Sun, 31 Aug, 2025 - 14:10

Simon Lewis, Northampton

Women's RWC: Ireland 43 Spain 27

Ireland all but secured their passage to the quarter-finals of the 2025 Women’s World Cup at the earliest opportunity with a well-deserved but hard-fought bonus-point victory over pool rivals Spain at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday.

Only an upset victory for Japan over defending champions New Zealand later on Sunday will prevent the Irish from progressing to the last eight though if they do make it, they may have to do without squad co-captain Sam Monaghan, the lock forced off through injury on 23 minutes of a seven tries to five win over their European rivals.

Just as they had against Japan in their tournament opener at the same venue seven days earlier, Ireland had secured their try bonus point before half time in the Northampton sunshine thanks to scores from a quartet of backs, fly-half Dannah O’Brien, left wing Aimee-Lee Costigan, centre Eve Higgins and right wing Anna McGann, one of seven changes made by head coach Scott Bemand following that opening win over the Japanese.

A second-half double from No.8 Grace Moore and a second from McGann saw Ireland home though Spain continued to give them problems deep into the match and Bemand will not be happy with the concession of a try bonus point to their opponents despite a second bonus-point win.

Spain had been rewarded for their aggressive approach in trying to emulate their upset 2021 World Cup qualifying victory over Ireland by claiming two first-half tries to cancel out the opening scores from O’Brien and Costigan through wing Claudia Perez and hooker Marieta Romain Mallen. Yet Ireland recovered their momentum to close out the opening period back in control with another couple of tries in the 10 minutes before the break. The only disappointment was the injury which forced match captain Monaghan off injured on 23 minutes, the lock having only returned from an ACL injury at the start of this tournament.

There was another blip at the start of the second half, which got underway during a brief rain shower, as Spain came fast and abrasively out of the blocks and scored through centre Claudia Pena but Ireland quickly restored their 12-point advantage with a try from Moore to take a 29-17 lead, O’Brien having struck an upright with her conversion attempt for the second time in the match.

O’Brien did add a third conversion on 56 minutes when Moore struck once more, although Spain did not give up the fight. A try from close range from flanker Lourdes Alameda brought up a try bonus point for the Spaniards on the hour to make it 36-22 and though McGann claimed her second on 70 minutes to finish a well-worked multi-phase Ireland attack, converted by O’Brien’s replacement Enya Breen, it was Spain who finished on a high, Cristina Blanco scoring her team’s fifth try of the game.

Thoughts now turn towards a pool-deciding clash with New Zealand in Brighton next Sunday and while the majority of the 8,834 crowd in Northampton will depart happy with a winning Ireland performance, Bemand and his staff will have a busy week on the training field to remedy a porous defensive display..

IRELAND: S Flood; A McGann, A Dalton (N McGillivray, 62), E Higgins, AL Costigan; D O'Brien (E Breen, 62), M Scuffil-McCabe (E Lane, 62); E Perry (S McCarthy, 62), C Moloney-MacDonald (N Jones, 62), L Djougang (S McGrath, 62); E Corri-Fallon, S Monaghan –captain (B Hogan, 23); F Tuite (R Campbell, 70), C Boles, G Moore.

SPAIN: A Argudo (L Ducher, 66); C Perez, C Pena, C Cano, C Piquero; Z Perez, A F De Corres (B Vergara, 71); G Silva (L Delgado, 58), M Romain Mallen (C Blanco, 55), E Garcia (M De Andres, 44); L Alameda – captain (A Puig, 71), E Martinez (M Castelo, 51); L Pinerio, A Peralta (N Garcia, 68), V Perez.

Referee: Kat Roche (USA)