Parsons: These Are The Days You Dream Of

Having long dreamt of playing on the game’s biggest stage, the Rugby World Cup has definitely lived up to its billing so far for Béibhinn Parsons, who marked her tournament debut with a trademark rapid finish down the wing.

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With the twin threats of Parsons and Amee-Leigh Costigan out wide, Ireland kicked off their Pool C campaign as 42-14 bonus point winners over Japan in Northampton, and are now preparing to face Spain at the same venue on Sunday (kick-off 12pm – tickets are available to buy here).

It is inspiring to see how well the Ballinasloe native is playing just three games into her return to Test rugby. In a cruel twist of fate she broke her leg twice last year, at the Olympics in Paris and then last December during the HSBC SVNS Cape Town event.

The road back from two such heartbreaking blows was tough, but the ever-diligent Parsons counts herself as ‘one of the lucky ones’ given that she has made it to the World Cup while injured team-mates Erin King, Dorothy Wall, and Christy Haney have missed out.

Having been in camp during this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations, and on the back of working closely with IRFU physio Eduard Mias during her rehab period, she came through a rigorous pre-season to start both warm-up matches on the right wing.

Another major positive is that she is already back in try-scoring form, with her brace against Canada in Belfast, and her snappily-taken 24th-minute effort during the victory over Japan, moving her to third on Ireland’s list of all-time top try scorers.

“It’s incredible,” said Parsons, when asked afterwards about scoring on her World Cup debut. “These are the days that you dream of and that power you through all those hard times and to actually have one (a World Cup try) under your belt…

“I need to take a second now and just take it all in because you’re so in the moment and you’re so driven by the next job. We want to celebrate our win and get energy from that and then bring that into next week.”

The 23-year-old’s 15s international career haul now stands at 18 tries in 29 appearances, leaving Joy Neville just behind her on 17, and with only Niamh Briggs (20) and Alison Miller (24) ahead of her.

Briggs and Miller were two of the driving forces behind Ireland’s 2014 Rugby World Cup heroics, when they famously became the first Irish international team to beat New Zealand, and made further history by reaching the semi-finals.

It is a path that Parsons and the current crop are determined to follow over the coming weeks, but their only focus at the moment is doubling their win tally against Spain, a team they know well having played them in the 2021 World Cup qualifiers, and in the inaugural WXV3 title decider in 2023.

Those two matches were close encounters, with an 8-7 win for Spain in Parma in 2021, and a 15-13 comeback triumph for Ireland in Dubai two years ago. Indeed, five of their last nine meetings have been decided by fewer than three points.

Scott Bemand’s side have risen from 10th in the World Rugby rankings, when he took over in 2023, to their current placing of fifth. Following on from their 54-8 defeat to New Zealand, Spain head coach Juan González Marruecos spoke about Ireland and the improvements they have made.

“They are a team that have developed a lot since we played them in WXV two years ago,” he said. “You can see how much they have improved as they recently beat New Zealand.

“So, we know they’re a tough team and we know they have improved a lot since we last played them, it will be a really good challenge.

“We have focused more this week on our defensive organisation, and our toughness and intensity. We have to be really organised this weekend because Ireland are a very organised team. We have also talked about taking the opportunities in attack, along with our set-piece.”

Parsons played in both of those most recent tussles with las Leonas – scoring a try in the World Cup qualifiying fixture – and knows the qualities that a number of their players possess given she has also regularly lined out against Spain on the Sevens circuit.

Some of their most talented dual internationals are scrum half Anne Fernández de Corres, who has played 120 HSBC SVNS Series matches, versatile Harlequins back Clàudia Peña Hidalgo, and Toulouse centre Amàlia Argudo, who kicked a penalty goal against the Black Ferns.

Parsons commented: “Yeah, we’re moving in the right direction, and we’re not going to underestimate Spain either. They’re a very hardy team and they’re physical too.

“They have some very good players, very skilful players, good runners with the ball, good kickers. They have a lot of threats around the park, they’re physical and they don’t give up.

“We’re definitely not going to be complacent. This ‘fast start’ team is going to carry us into next week and we’re going to have that same pitch, playing at these same grounds, so we’re used to it now and we’re really going to implement what we’re about.”

Last Sunday’s clash with Japan marked Parsons’ first appearance in a 15s tournament setting since Ireland clinched World Cup qualification against Scotland in the last round of the 2024 Six Nations.

In between then, those devastating injuries took her out of Bemand’s plans for the team’s WXV1 debut and last season’s Six Nations. But before that, she did manage to become an Olympian alongside five of her World Cup team-mates.

Two of them, Stacey Flood and Costigan, joined her in the back-three against the Japanese side, while try-scoring centre Eve Higgins was a standout performer in the centre, making an average of 19.7 metres from her 10 carries, the best rate of any player across the opening round.

“Anytime you’re outside Stacey Flood, you’re going to have a good day. I love playing with her, and having the assist off Leigh as well,” admitted the Blackrock College and Connacht star.

“Leigh is a fantastic finisher, a fantastic player. She’s such a hard worker and yeah, she gave me a great assist for the try.

“Eve was phenomenal. (With her intercept try) she got us out of murky waters down on own five-metre line. To have her coming in clutch to score under the posts was great. We talked about a fast start to the campaign, and I think we got that.

“Playing at Franklin’s Gardens and just seeing all the Irish support, it felt like a home crowd. Every single corner of the stadium was filled with Irish flags and green jerseys, it was just fantastic.

“It’s exciting having such a big scoreline and a big win, a variety of tries, and still knowing that we have so much more to give, and that we have a lot of fixes throughout the week.”