Womens World Cup – Ireland Scorched by Canada.

14/05/02. Ireland’s opening World Cup game ended in a comprehensive defeat yesterday in Girona when the Irish side were beaten 57-0 by fourth seeded Canada.

The Irish started brightly enough and enjoyed the better of the early territorial dominace but were unable to put points on the board. They had an opportunity after five minutes to open their account but instead opted to run a penalty before full-back Sarah-Jane Belton made a nice break but, with no support, was swallowed by the Canadian cover. Two Moira Shiels penalties gave the Canadians a six nil lead at the end of the opening quarter. They scored their first try in the 34th minute following a strong forward drive and then when Belton was yellow-carded for handling on the ground, Christie Thompson scored two tries in as many minutes to give her side a commanding 23-0 lead at the interval.

A Shiel penalty shortly after the restart ushered in a five try blitz as the Irish wilted under the scorching sun.
Next up for the Irish is the daunting prospect of facing Samoa on Friday.

Ireland.SJ Belton (J Sparkes); R Boyd (F Neary), P Kelly, N Milne, S Fleming (capt; L Cantwell); R Howell, K Eagleson; M Coulter, E Collins ( J Lonergan), C Coen (M Dolo), R Foley (M Quirke), A-M McAllister, R Reid (B Montgomery), M O’Loughin, F Steed.