Barrett Bags Brace As Wolfhounds Start With Six-Try Win

CELTIC CHALLENGE – ROUND 1:

Saturday, December 20 –

WOLFHOUNDS 34 EDINBURGH RUGBY 7, Energia Park
Scorers: Wolfhounds: Tries: Sophie Barrett 2, India Daley, Maggie Boylan, Eve Higgins, Linda Djougang; Cons: Dannah O’Brien 2
Edinburgh Rugby: Try: Cat Moody; Con: Lucy MacRae
HT: Wolfhounds  17 Edinburgh 7

Neill Alcorn’s team, led this season by Ireland centre Aoife Dalton, put a quick-fire dozen points on the board at Energia Park, when Enniskillen pair Barrett and India Daley both crashed over, the latter from a maul.

Maggie Boylan then collected Dannah O’Brien’s cross-field kick to add to the 12 Energia All-Ireland League tries she has scored for Blackrock College. Cat Moody replied for Edinburgh before half-time.

The defending champions, who had young full-back O’Connor in player-of-the-match form, took care of their bonus point by the 45th minute. Barrett bulldozed in under the posts before Eve Higgins broke clear to score from her own tap penalty.

Edinburgh lost full-back Scarlett Haddow to the sin bin for a high tackle on Higgins, but the Wolfhounds had to wait until late on for Linda Djougang to expertly slip past three defenders for their sixth and final try.

The competition’s two Irish sides will lock horns in the second round on Saturday, January 3, with Creggs RFC the venue for the rematch between the Clovers and the Wolfhounds, the top two finishers in last year’s Celtic Challenge.

A Daley turnover penalty had the Wolfhounds on the prowl early on, the Ulster captain also threatening from the resulting lineout drive. Prop Barrett then sucked in a number of defenders, staying upright and spinning out of contact for a very well-taken third-minute try.

O’Brien, who made it a full seven-pointer, was connecting well as part of an all-international 9-10-12-13 axis. That cohesion was evident too in quite a youthful pack, Daley finding Naoise Smyth at an eighth-minute lineout before she drove over to make it 12-0.

Young second row Smyth was having success too in disrupting Edinburgh’s lineout, but the Scottish outfit gradually made inroads. Prop Talei Tawake showed herself to be a strong ball carrier, and the visitors had the better of the territory approaching the midpoint of the first half.

Aoibheann Reilly was quick off the mark, using a Claire Boles pass from a scrum to go on an arcing break that almost saw her put Vicky Elmes Kinlan away. Just three phases later, Boylan took down a pinpoint O’Brien kick to score past the covering Cieron Bell in the left corner.

Natasha Logan and Aila Ronald won a couple of breakdown decisions to get Edinburgh moving in the right direction. An overthrow in the lineout left them frustrated before they hit back impressively to win a scrum penalty.

Their efforts duly led to seven hard-earned points, Bell being denied by a combination of O’Connor and Reilly, but following a concerted spell of pressure, Moody scored from three metres out. She profited from the clean ball presented by fellow flanker Alex Stewart.

Speedy Wexford native O’Connor led the Wolfhounds back to the opposition 22 with a terrific leg-pumping run. Elmes Kinlan shut down a Hannah Ramsay-inspired break, and Poppy Garvey read an Edinburgh lineout as both sides continued to heap pressure on the opposition throw.

Alcorn’s charges took control in terms of possession and territory on the resumption. After Garvey was held up, the 21-year-old Barrett was able to barge over past Lucy MacRae and Moody. The straightforward conversion from O’Brien extended the lead to 24-7.

It was a quick-fire double for the title holders as Higgins, having won a turnover penalty, took it quickly to break clear out on the right. Haddow got across to challenge her but went too high, as Higgins bounced back up to get the grounding and the Edinburgh full-back was sin-binned.

Turnovers and handling errors halted the Wolfhounds’ progress as they attempted to strengthen their grip on the game. Smyth stole another lineout, and Stacey Flood had come on, moving to half-back on the hour mark with Jade Gaffney replacing Reilly who unfortunately hobbled off.

Bell covered a Flood chip kick past the Edinburgh try-line, as Sevens international Amy Larn chased it down. Continuing her memorable Celtic Challenge debut, O’Connor countered brilliantly when running a kick back from inside her own half, jinking and breaking a tackle before launching a kick chase.

In wet and windy conditions, despite failing to convert a couple of maul opportunities, the Wolfhounds’ persistence paid off in the 79th minute. Replacement Djougang raided over in impressive fashion, rewarding good initial work from the tireless Maeve Óg O’Leary and Larn, on the left wing.

TIME LINE: 3 minutes – Wolfhounds try: Sophie Barrett – 5-0; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 7-0; 8 mins – Wolfhounds try: India Daley – 12-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 12-0; 21 mins – Wolfhounds try: Maggie Boylan – 17-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 17-0; 34 mins – Edinburgh Rugby try: Cat Moody – 17-5; conversion: Lucy MacRae – 17-7; Half-time – Wolfhounds 17 Edinburgh Rugby 7; 45 mins – Wolfhounds try: Sophie Barrett – 22-7; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 24-7; 49 mins – Wolfhounds try: Eve Higgins – 29-7; conversion: missed by Dannagh O’Brien – 29-7; 49 mins – Edinburgh Rugby yellow card: Scarlett Haddow; 79 mins – Wolfhounds try: Linda Djougang – 34-7; conversion: missed by Stacey Flood – 34-7; Full-time – Wolfhounds 34 Edinburgh Rugby 7

WOLFHOUNDS: Robyn O’Connor (Leinster); Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster), Aoife Dalton (Leinster) (capt), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Maggie Boylan (Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Leinster), Aoibheann Reilly (Connacht); Cara McLean (Ulster), India Daley (Ulster), Sophie Barrett (Ulster), Naoise Smyth (Leinster), Kate Jordan (Leinster), Poppy Garvey (Connacht), Maeve Óg O’Leary (Munster), Claire Boles (Ulster).

Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan (Ulster), Caoimhe Molloy (Leinster), Linda Djougang (Leinster), Clíodhna Ní Chonchobhair (Leinster), Aoife Corcoran (Leinster), Jade Gaffney (Leinster), Amy Larn (Leinster), Stacey Flood (Leinster).

EDINBURGH RUGBY: Scarlett Haddow; Cieron Bell, Rachel Philipps, Lucy MacRae, Hannah Walker (capt); Hannah Ramsay, Emily Love; Talei Tawake, Aila Ronald, Faye Sutherland, Adelle Ferrie, Natasha Logan, Cat Moody, Alex Stewart, Merryn Gunderson.

Replacements: Millie Whitehouse, Alison Wilson, Hannah McMahon, Charlotte Russell, Lauryn McGrotty, Pip Benson, Nicole Marlow, Lisa Brown.

Referee: Padraic Reidy (IRFU)