Ireland head coach Scott Bemand has declared that the team that faces England in Saturday’s Women’s Six Nations in Cork is a very different collective to the version that lost 88-10 when the sides met in Twickenham 12 months ago.
Ireland went into that with a modicum of momentum behind them having shown clear signs of rebirth in defeats to France and Italy and then a 36-5 win over Wales but they shipped 14 tries to the tournament’s giants in London in front of a crowd of just under 49,000.
England are still England, but Ireland have kicked on again.
Beating New Zealand’s world champions in the WXV1s tournament in Canada late last year was a result that made the entire game sit up and take notice and they were disappointed not to beat a strong French side in Belfast last month.
“We have spoken around last year, and around the performance and the occasion, but we're not playing that occasion now,” said Bemand. “We're not playing that team now. We're a better team than we were.
"We've got plenty of bits from us we can focus on and plenty of bits that we think we can get some advantage over them. There's no perfect rugby team in the world, and the Red Roses are no different. We think we can get some pressure on them.
watch video here
“Last year we managed to get a scrum penalty and win a maul in their 22 and get a penalty try. We know we can get pressure on them. We know there's a challenge to stand up to and, if we can get enough of those moments, we can keep the score ticking.”
Clinging on to the one try they scored that day in London is a slim enough reason for hope this week. Or it would be if there was nothing else to back it up. There is no doubt but that Ireland should be far more competitive this time around.
Tickets for the Musgrave Park match have been selling well, and the team's injury situation continues to be manageable following a lighter week previously; however, Beibhinn Parsons is not yet sufficiently recovered to stake her claim as a starting winger.
The team has discussed both within and outside their group the necessity of narrowing the significant gap between themselves and the towering presences of England and France. This effort has become even more crucial as they find themselves only months away from the upcoming World Cup.
We feel we've made more progress compared to where we stood last year, and we reckon we have opportunities this coming weekend," stated Bemand. "Should we stay competitive and hit our stride, we anticipate being able to create some difficulties for the opposition.
Do you want a midday roundup of key articles from the Irish Examiner online site? It will be sent directly to your email every day at 1 PM.