Four players got their first taste of international Sevens rugby as the Ireland Women (sponsored by TritonLake) kicked off their Rugby Europe Sevens Championship campaign.
The opening leg in Lisbon placed Aiden McNulty's side in Pool B and they sit second in the table, following wins over Spain (21-14) and Germany (36-0) which sandwiched a 19-12 defeat to Scotland.
15s international Enya Breen, Donegal native Maeve Liston, who has impressed at club level for Blackrock College, and promising youngsters Méabh Deely and Ella Roberts all made their debuts for the national Sevens team.
Ireland wrap up the pool phase tomorrow morning against Romania at 11.22am, before the final ranking games take place. The second and final leg takes place next weekend in Krakow.
It was a game of two halves between World Series rivals Ireland and Spain, with Megan Burns and captain Lucy Mulhall (2) leading the early charge as the girls in green built a 21-0 half-time lead.
Good approach work from Eve Higgins and Anna McGann set up Burns for an early opening try, and then Mulhall, fed from a scrum, was quickest out of the blocks to scoot in under the posts.
Spain lost Maria Garcia to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on, and Mulhall immediately took advantage, sent over in the left corner after Katie Heffernan had attacked the blindside of a scrum.
Mulhall's third successful conversion gave Ireland a comfortable buffer at the break, but Spain got off the mark early in the second half thanks to some strong running from Garcia.
Kate Farrell McCabe broke up the Spanish momentum with a turnover penalty, only for Maria Calvo to hit back with a well-taken try which closed the gap to seven points.
However, a turnover won by Liston, who was sprung from the bench, helped Ireland to see out the game on their terms and get off to a winning start in the Portuguese summer heat.
McNulty's charges struck first during their second round clash with Scotland, Mulhall weaving out to the left off a third-minute scrum and taking out two defenders as she sent Farrell McCabe squeezing over in the corner.
However, two missed tackles allowed the lightning-quick Chloe Rollie to dart clear and score from halfway. Helen Nelson's conversion gave Scotland a 7-5 half-time lead.
The Scots exerted the greater control on the restart, Meryl Smith released for the try-line by Lisa Thomson after the latter had taken a quick tap inside the Irish 22. The score went unconverted at 12-5.
Ireland were being edged out at the restarts, and Scotland used their possession intelligently as Smith found a defensive gap out to the left and broke clear to put 14 points between the sides.
Lucinda Kinghan, fresh on from the bench, lifted her team-mates with a turnover penalty and Mulhall swiftly fed Farrell McCabe who burned off the cover on a run-in from Ireland's 10-metre line.
Mulhall's conversion made it a seven-point game with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, but Ireland's late push for a levelling score fell short with a crucial breakdown decision going against them.
It was a scrappy closing match against Germany initially, before quick scrum ball allowed Breen to launch a break, Claire Boles then spinning out of a tackle and offloading out of another one for Heffernan to touch down.
Breen, who started at out-half, soon won a turnover penalty, took it quickly and released replacement Higgins to finish smartly in the left corner. Ireland led 10-0 at the interval.
Vicky Elmes Kinlan, the youngest of nine players in the squad aged between 19 and 23, got back to cover a dangerous kick through from Germany.
From then on, Ireland dominated with Higgins eventually finishing with four tries to her name. She made it 17-0, running clear courtesy of a lovely one-handed offload from McGann.
Kinghan provided the assist for Higgins to complete her hat-trick, and with Deely and Roberts showing some good touches and Mulhall also brought on, Ireland kept their foot on the gas.
Higgins cut in from the right with a nice hand-off and burst of pace to get in behind the posts with 90 seconds left, taking the margin out to 29 points.
Mulhall's direct running from the restart opened up another late opportunity and she connected with Liston who fended off the last defender to score at the posts. Fellow newcomer Deely added the extras.
Valuable Game-Time For Ireland Women As Four New Caps Feature At Lisbon 7s
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25th June 2022
