Ireland Women secured their first ever Triple Crown in a hard fought 3 – 30 win against Scotland at Lasswade RFC on Saturday afternoon.
Lean, mean, scoring machine Alison Miller grabbed a brace of tries with Siobhan Fleming adding Ireland’s third before Girl of the Game Niamh Briggs crossed for the fourth to add to her two penalties and two conversions giving the Munster legend a 15 point haul from the game.
Having dispatched the Home Nations Ireland now face France and Italy in their quest for their first ever Championship.
Scotland (3) 3
PEN: Lisa Ritchie
Ireland (8) 30
TRY: Alison Miller (2), Siobhan Fleming, Niamh Briggs
CON: Niamh Briggs (2)
PEN: Niamh Briggs (2)
Despite the comprehensive score in Ireland’s favour this was a tight game up to the last quarter with the hosts well in the game until Ireland cut loose.
In fact it was Scotland who started the game the stronger with Ireland looking out of sorts and somewhat edgy with moves frequently breaking down under pressure from a committed Scottish defence. The pressure from the hosts eventually told with a charge down in the Ireland half leading to a penalty which Scottish centre Lisa Ritchie slotted over to give the home side an early 3 – 0 lead.
Ireland worked their way back into the game with surging runs from Jenny Murphy, Briggs and Sophie Spence and the pressure told with Scotland conceding a penalty on the 23rd minute which Briggs dispatched to level the score. Minutes later the visitors were in front with Miller finishing off a sweeping move to go over in the corner. Briggs was wide with the conversion but Ireland led 3 – 8 and looked to be getting on top.
Scotland refused to lie down and home side pounded the Irish line for the closing minutes of the first half with the game on a knife edge. However the Irish defence held firm and a vital turnover from Ashleigh Baxter allowed Ireland to clear with the teams going into the break with the score reading Scotland 3 Ireland 8.
With Scotland in the ascendancy the first score in the second half was going to be vital and Scotland continued where they left off, growing in confidence as Ireland’s moves constantly broke down.
However a period of Irish pressure led to Scotland’s influential out half Tanya Griffith being yellow carded and Ireland took full advantage with Briggs slotting over the resultant penalty to give Ireland a 3 – 11 lead.
Moment’s later a surging run from Briggs sent Miller clear for her second, with the Connacht flyer touching down under the posts for Briggs to convert, taking the score to 3 – 18 with Ireland well on top.
Both teams looked to their benches and the strength of the Irish replacements allowed the visitors to dominate the remainder of the game with Stacey Lea Kennedy, Grace Davitt, Amy Davis and Niamh Kavanagh all making strong contributions as they kept the pressure on the hosts. However it was the ever present flanker Siobhan Fleming who spotted a gap in the Scottish defence to race clear for Ireland’s third, with Briggs again adding the extras to take the score to 3 – 25.
Ireland brought on Fiona Hayes, Lauren Day, Leigh Dargan and Laura Guest in the closing minutes and the visitors finished of the game in fine style with the hugely impressive Briggs blasting through the Scottish defence for a well deserved try.
Final Score: Scotland 3 Ireland 30.
IRELAND: Niamh Briggs, Ashleigh Baxter, Lynne Cantwell, Jenny Murphy, Alison Miller, Nora Stapleton, Larissa Muldoon, Fiona Coghlan, Gillian Bourke, Ailis Egan, Sophie Spence, Marie Louise Reilly, Siobhan Fleming, Claire Molloy, Joy Neville. Replacements: Stacey-Lea Kennedy, Fiona Hayes, Lauren Day, Leigh Dargan, Laura Guest, Amy Davis, Grace Davitt, Niamh Kavanagh.
