'Ireland are improving and will bring a big fight': France wary of Irish threat
France fullback Emilie Boulard scored two of her her side's nine tries against South Africa in their final pool stage game at the Rugby World Cup. Pic: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Consolation is where you find it after a defeat like Ireland’s on Sunday. A 40-0 loss to the Black Ferns in Brighton wasn’t the ending Scott Bemand’s team wanted to their World Cup pool campaign but there isn’t much in the way of time to dwell on it.
Among the straws that could be grasped after their suffering at the hands of the world champions on England’s south coast was the theory that they won’t face an opponent of the same quality when they play their quarter-final in Exeter next Sunday.
