By Jonathan Bowen
In what was a horror weekend for Irish rugby, Leinster proved to be the shining light on a weekend were many of the Irish teams were beaten soundly by their opponents across various rugby tournaments.
Leinster kept their hopes of making a European Champions Cup Final at home alive with a solid 30-15 win against Ulster. Leinster were missing Johnny Sexton and the pre-game question being asked was could Leinster continue their perfect European Champions Cup record this season without him? The answer was a defiant YES!
Leinster didn’t really get out of first gear, dispatching Ulster with ease. It was a game where they made a lot of substitutes and tested the depth of their squad in a pressure game and delivered a result that validated Leo Cullen’s daring action. Leinster will face old foes Leicester in Dublin in the quarter-final for what should be an interesting game.
Munster traveled to Durban in South Africa to face the Sharks in their Round of 16 game. It was a game that Munster needed to win but also needed to prove that the loss to Glasgow last week was just a blip on the progress the team has been making over the last few months.
Munster were able to keep up with the Sharks going try for try with them in the first half. They were getting beaten in possession but were able to take advantage of the opportunities that the Sharks were providing them through slack defending. Munster were only two points behind at half time.
The Sharks came out in the second half and blitzed Munster off the park! In a performance that no doubt Andy Farrell and David Nucifora would have been watching with interest the Sharks dominated the Munster pack and would score four unanswered tries within the twenty minutes to kill off any chance Munster had on walking away with a win. The result in the end was closer than it probably deserved be with The Sharks winning 50-35.
The interesting part of the game was to see just how much power the Sharks pack had and, considering South Africa are in the same group as Ireland in this year’s Rugby World Cup, it will be interesting to see how Ireland deal with a pack that can just demolish any team that cannot stand up to it.
I know many people will point to Ireland defeating South Africa in Dublin last year, but this game showed that when the Sharks’s pack are on their game nothing, including a well organized Munster side will stop them.
Graham Rowntree will now focus on ensuring that Munster finish the URC season in a strong way so that they qualify for the Champions Cup again next season. Graham will be looking to see how he can build the Munster pack to ensure that his team improve on this year’s performance. Munster will face the Stormers in South Africa in their next URC game.
Connacht’s great European Challenge Cup run this season ended abruptly over weekend with a surprise loss to Italian side Benetton Rugby, 41-19, in a game that many Irish rugby supporters will be scratching their head over. With Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen back in the Connacht team the game was supposed to be tick box result where Connacht would turn up, win, and continue their journey. Instead, it was a disappointing end to Connacht head coach Andy Friend’s European season. Connacht, like Munster will need to work hard with their remaining URC games to ensure they achieve the results needed in the URC tournament to secure European Champions Cup rugby next season.
The Women’s Six Nations tournament continued this weekend with Ireland playing France at Musgrave Park in Cork. Ireland started the tournament with a heavy loss to Wales in week one which left fans scratching their heads looking for answers after the Combined Provinces success in the Celtic Competition last month.
The Irish women’s rugby team have been on a journey over the last twelve months which has seen players offered professional contracts and playing test matches against Japan last year. Supporters’ expectations were high that that women’s rugby had finally turned a corner and the teams’ performances and results would start to improve.
With Greg Williams and David Nucifora deciding not to recall the Irish women’s 7s players into the 15s squad as the 7s team are still in with a chance of securing Olympic games qualification next year, it was a decision that is proving to be costly.
Ireland lost to France by 53-3. It was a game that showed up the difference between a mature professional women’s rugby program and one that is still in development. The concern for Ireland was the fact not only did they lose heavily but they lost while playing with one extra player for much of the game. That point proves the current team need to be playing better quality teams more often.
That is the difference between the 7s and the 15s program. The Irish women’s team on the 7s tour play against the best of the best in the women’s game on a regular basis. The 15s team have only played four test matches is twelve months. That is just not enough top tier rugby that the women team are exposed to.
The IRFU and David Nucifora need to address the two-tier program they currently have for their women’s rugby pathway. Having the 15s side exposed to limited top tier rugby and having the 7s team playing against the best on a regular basis and with no integration between the two programs will need to change for the Irish women’s game to improve and progress.
It is amazing to think it was only ten years ago the Irish women’s side won the Grand Slam, a lot of development will need to be done in the game for Ireland to start challenging France and England again and claim that elusive crown.
On a positive note, I hold a lot of optimism for the women’s game in Ireland. The pathway program for women’s rugby is still maturing, the number of young girls and women playing the game at club and school level is at record levels. I have no doubt after this 7s season is over in May there will be a lot more integration between the 7s and the 15s program. The aim of seeing the Irish women’s 7s rugby side qualify for the Olympics is still very much a realistic one.
I’d like to see the Irish women’s rugby program move closer to the system the New Zealand Blackferns have. They send their top players out on the 7s tour but also integrate the players into the 15s test match program. It is no fluke that the New Zealand women’s side have dominated the 7s tour this year. The catch to this is that the Irish women’s side will suffer a lot more short-term heavy defeats against quality teams before the team start competing with the best of the best on a regular basis.
The Hong Kong Sevens tournament was on over the weekend and as expected New Zealand dominated both the men’s and women’s tournaments. If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching the New Zealand Sevens teams play yet, please make the effort to. Both their men’s and women’s sides are playing some extraordinary rugby and it is incredible to watch them play.
Both Irish sides struggled during the tournament. The men’s side finishing in 9th position and the women’s side finishing in 8th. Both sides can still potentially claim an automatic qualification spot for the Olympic Games in Paris next year. The men will need to lift their game and start reclaiming the results they did early in the season if they are to do it. Since gaining that third spot in the 7s Rugby World Cup last year and without the World Rugby 7s player of the year Terry Kennedy playing for the foreseeable future the Irish side have struggled for consistency with its results. The team are currently in 9th position on the series table and with the top four seeded teams along with France automatically qualifying for the Olympic Games competition top four results in the last three tournaments will be key to gaining that all important automatic qualifying position.
The women’s side struggled during the tournament, losing to both Australia and Fiji in the group stages with their only win of the group stage coming against Brazil. They then lost to Australia in the quarter final and then to France and the USA in the playoff rounds. The Irish team seem to have lost a little bit of what they had since Aiden McNulty was sacked and with one tournament left in the seven’s series for the women, Ireland will need to finish in the top four to secure that last automatic qualification place for next years Olympic Games. All eyes will be on this Irish women’s side when the seven’s tour finishes in Toulouse France on the 12th of May 2023.
A congratulations must go to the USA women’s 7s side who clinched an automatic qualification spot for next year’s Olympic games. It is great to see the USA women’s team go from strength to strength!
One other bit of news I would like you to keep your support going for is Orla Fowley who is looking to raise money for the CARI Foundation and CRY Cardiac Risk in the Young and The Mid-Western Cancer Foundation in honor of Munster and Irish Rugby Legend Anthony Fowley.
If you can spare a few dollars this is a very worthwhile cause to donate to. As part of the fundraiser Orla has cycled 3000km around Ireland and counting. She is looking to raise 40K euro for this very worthy cause.
Any contribution you can make would be most grateful. Here is a link to the website where you can donate: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/ORLASWILDWAYS.
\If you want to keep up to date with all the latest rugby news you can find me on Instagram @jb052006 or drop me an email at jonathan.joseph.bowen@gmail.com.