Ulster’s Sheerin Focused On Fixing ‘One Percenters’

Try-scoring debutant Siobhán Sheerin believes Ulster can take a lot out of their Vodafone Women’s Interprovincial Championship opener against Leinster, despite the result not going their way.

The Ulster Women threatened to upset the defending champions in their own backyard, scoring three tries during purposeful spells either side of half-time before eventually succumbing to a 37-21 defeat.

Although frustrated not to take at least a bonus point out of the game, Murray Houston’s side still left Energia Park with a sense of pride, and especially centre Sheerin, who was one of six new caps in Ulster’s matchday squad.

“It’s always nice to get a score in any game, but when it’s your debut, stepping up (in the Ulster jersey), it’s a real good feeling,” she said afterwards.

“I think it was a turning point in the game as well. It lifted it, and they were fit to get a try after that. It just teed us up nicely into the second half, it gave the team a bit of belief.

“To convert (all three conversions), I just happened to be on form with the boot today. A real good feeling to start off the Interpros.”

Ulster were trailing 17-0 when the skilful Sheerin carved through for a brilliant try, five minutes before the break. She motored through midfield in a first-phase attack, linking with Lauren Farrell McCabe whose return offload sent the Clogher Valley back over the try-line.

A quality left-footed strike from Sheerin, 15 metres in from the left touchline, took her tally to seven points before Ulster captain India Daley swept in behind the posts, barely four minutes later, to reward Tara O’Neill’s initial break and the link play of Brenda Barr.

Leinster replied with two more tries of their own, but Sophie Barrett’s 49th-minute effort still had the visitors right in the hunt at 27-21 down. The title holders managed to pull away, although Ulster were a whisker away from a bonus point try when Niamh Marley unfortunately knocked on.

Sheerin commented: “I think that was a great game for us in one sense, that it showed the girls what we’ve been working on over the past three, four months, that it’s working. It all comes together.

“Look, sport is sport. Sometimes it comes together, and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve two big games ahead and I’d look forward to meeting Leinster again, no bother.

“It was a great game. We didn’t embarrass ourselves, we put a great faith in Ulster, we put great faith in the team, and it just shows everything we’re working on is going to come out in full bloom.”

The 29-year-old has made the step up with Ulster following a whirlwind season with Clogher Valley, whom she helped to win the Suzanne Fleming Cup in March and gain promotion. Houston saw her playing against Lisburn and was convinced she deserved a call-up.

Although coming in untested at Interprovincial level, she brings a wealth of experience from her Gaelic football background with Tyrone Ladies and Glenelly, and her time playing Australian Rules with the Casey Demons in Melbourne, and captaining the Ireland AFL squad.

She has been on Ulster Rugby’s radar for a while, playing with Omagh Accies initially and making the province’s Development squad. Her move to Clogher Valley, and her eye-catching displays in club colours, have opened the door to more adventures with the oval ball.

“I had initially said to myself that if I didn’t get the call-up to county GAA, I was going to see where the rugby took me. Thankfully, the hard work of this past season paid off.

“Clogher Valley were so welcoming. It didn’t matter what age you were, size you were, they were just so warm. When you make that step up (to Interprovincial level), you’re not just representing your province, you’re representing your club and where you come from.

“I hope that I can learn plenty…and be a role model to young girls both in the province and at home, that the opportunity is there when you work hard.”

Sheerin’s centre partnership with Ireland Under-20 international Tara O’Neill is already showing plenty of promise. What was most noticeable on Sunday was their ability to fight through and break tackles, making a total of 85 post-contact metres between them.

Coupled with the likes of Daley, Barrett, and Ruby Starrett up front, the strong-running midfield duo were able to cause problems for the Leinster defence. Sheerin beat five defenders in all, with Ulster spending a lot of the second half on the front foot with 53% possession and 74% territory.

Converting those favourable statistics into points will be key if Ulster are to bounce back against Connacht – the team that beat them to third place last year – at Dexcom Stadium this Saturday (kick-off 4.15pm – tickets are available here).

They will pitch up to Connacht’s home ground in Galway chasing a first Interprovincial victory since memorably overcoming the westerners 36-14 in the 3rd-4th place play-off two years ago.

Daley and Marley were among the try scorers that day in Cork as everything came together in the final game of Houston’s first season in charge. How they have started the current campaign augurs well, but Sheerin is mindful that they have things to tidy up.

They will want a better set-piece return, having lost four lineouts and three scrums against Leinster, while they will also be working hard on converting more of their scoring chances, and improving a tackle success rate of 78.9%.

“100%, we’re looking forward to it (the game against Connacht). Probably the main focus is fixing those ‘one percenters’ that we didn’t get right today.

“That’s all it is in a game, it’s one percent – maybe one tackle, one wrong move. We’ll be working on fixing those things coming into training, and we’ll be hitting the ground running again heading into Saturday,” added Sheerin.