Ireland Face Scotland In Play-Offs
Ireland will play Scotland in a 5th-8th place play-off at the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup on Tuesday, following their their win over South Africa on Friday night.
…Scrum half Tania Rosser on the attack for Ireland…
Ireland will play Scotland in a 5th-8th place play-off at the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup on Tuesday, following their win over South Africa on Friday night.
Scotland, despite a brave performance against New Zealand which saw them trail by 6-0 at half-time, ended up in fifth place, thanks to an inferior points difference to Canada and France. Ireland’s win saw them climb the table to finish eighth – aided by Spain’s shock win over Samoa.
Ireland beat Scotland just a week before their departure for the World Cup and if they win they could finish fifth in the final table – a remarkable feat considering their two early losses to France and the USA and their tournament seeding of tenth.
New Zealand finished top of the pool standings at the World Cup after defeating Scotland 21-0 and will play France in the semi-finals.
England also retained their unbeaten run, defeating France 27-8, and they will play Canada in the other semi.
USA defeated Australia 10-6, but results elsewhere meant that they finished sixth and will play the Wallaroos once again in the first knock-out stage.
Spain’s surprise 14-12 win over Samoa at Ellerslie Rugby Park allowed Ireland to sneak into eighth position and, with it, a chance of finishing fifth overall.
Samoa will play South Africa and Spain will face Kazakhstan in the first knock-out round to decide positions 9-12.
The first knockout round, including the semi-finals, takes place on Tuesday (tomorrow).