Wolfhounds Secure Semi-Final Place With Dominant Performance Against Gwalia

A flying start set the Wolfhounds on course for a commanding 44-10 win over Gwalia Lightning in Cork, as they secured their place in the Celtic Challenge’s first-ever play-offs with four rounds to spare.

CELTIC CHALLENGE – ROUND 6:

Sunday, February 1 –

WOLFHOUNDS 44 GWALIA LIGHTNING 10, Virgin Media Park
Scorers: Wolfhounds: Tries: Maggie Boylan, Eve Higgins, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, India Daley, Fiona Tuite, Aoibheann Reilly, Maebh Clenaghan 2; Cons: Dannah O’Brien, Abby Moyles
Gwalia Lightning: Try: Chloe Thomas-Bradley; Con: Jodi Palmer; Pen: Carys Hughes
HT: Wolfhounds 32 Gwalia Lightning 3

In-form Gwalia Lightning were missing some key personnel, and fell 15 points behind inside the opening seven minutes as Maggie Boylan, player-of-the-match Eve Higgins, and Vicky Elmes Kinlan ran in unconverted tries.

Higgins was excellent in both defence and attack, helping the Wolfhounds to lead 32-3 at half-time, as further scores from India Daley, Fiona Tuite, and Aoibheann Reilly made this top of the table clash a one-sided affair.

The Welsh side improved after the break, touching down through replacement Chloe Thomas-Bradley near the end of the match. However, by that stage, a Maebh Clenaghan brace of tries had sealed the hosts’ sixth straight bonus point victory.

The results over the weekend mean it is an Irish 1-2 in the current standings, with Neill Alcorn’s defending champions, who visit Glasgow Warriors next up on Sunday, February 15, opening up a six-point lead over the Clovers.

After guaranteeing their place in the semi-finals on March 20-22, the Wolfhounds will now look to ensure they have a home play-off to look forward to. For their second successive outing at Virgin Media Park, they were fully loaded with 10 Ireland internationals in their team.

Seven Wales-capped players featured in Gwalia Lightning’s starting XV, although they were without Maisie Davies, Sian Jones, and five-try winger Courtney Greenway.

It took just 41 seconds for the Wolfhounds to score, as Stacey Flood snapped up a ruck ball that had squirted loose. She held off Molly Reardon close to the left touchline, feeding Boylan on her inside, and the winger fended off Catherine Richards on a rapid 40-metre run-in.

A slick second try followed in the fourth minute, with Dannah O’Brien unleashing Higgins from halfway. The Ireland centre slipped in between the first two defenders and stepped out to the right where Carys Hughes and Jodi Palmer were unable to stop her from scoring.

Moving the ball quickly to the edges, the Wolfhounds kept converting their early chances. Elmes Kinlan produced another terrific finish from halfway, using Flood’s skip pass to accelerate past three defenders and then cut inside Hughes close to the try-line.

It remained 15-0 with O’Brien missing her third conversion from out wide, one of which came back off a post. Hughes split the posts with a penalty after a solid spell of carrying from Gealia, with Isla McMullen, Alaw Pyrs, and Tilly Vucaj all getting on the ball.

Gwalia captain Bryonie King lifted her team with a turnover, responding to a well-won Elmes Kinlan penalty. Hughes’ right boot created a try-scoring chance for Palmer on the left wing, but Elmes Kinlan and Flood were able to bundle her into touch.

Hughes missed touch from a subsequent penalty kick, and when she did put them in range from another penalty, Linda Djougang stole the ball back at the maul. The Wolfhounds backs soon exploited the space on the opposite wing before O’Brien’s left boot pinned the visitors back.

The momentum was built for hooker Daley to plunge over from the back of a lineout drive, securing the bonus point on the half-hour mark. O’Brien curled over a sweetly-struck conversion from the left to make it 22-3.

A barnstorming carry by Boylan set the wheels in motion for Tuite’s 33rd-minute effort. The Ulster forward, the player-of-the-match against Glasgow last Sunday, showed impressive strength to ground the ball despite the presence of two defenders.

With Hughes missing another touchfinder, the hosts were soon threatening again with Flood, Boylan, and skipper Aoife Dalton launching down the left. Gwalia held out, but could not stop a superb sniping run from Reilly who broke from a ruck and rounded Hughes to leave 29 points in it.

Gwalia tightened up their defence during a scoreless third quarter, with Nikita Prothero’s interception and speedy burst down the right touchline providing an early boost. Their backs threatened during the next few phases, only for Higgins to come up with two tremendous defensive reads.

The 26-year-old swiftly popped up in attack a few minutes later, collecting an O’Brien kick to almost get over the whitewash. A lineout misfire from the Wolfhounds let Gwalia off the hook, and an Anwen Owen interception saw them deal with the next attacking wave.

Lily Terry turned over possession at a maul, giving her team-mates further encouragement. Despite that, the freshly-introduced Sophie Barrett was central to a scrum penalty won by the Wolfhounds in response, and they duly got the scoreboard moving again.

A powerful maul from 12 metres out saw Clenaghan cross in the 64th minute, with fellow replacement Abby Moyles adding the extras for a 39-3 lead. The Armagh native went on to double her tally, using a return pass from Erin King to score via a short lineout move.

A series of penalties had Gwalia knocking on the door late on, with Vucaj and Thomas-Bradley particularly prominent. Kate Jordan’s muscular rip in the tackle kept them out, yet a further surge ended with Thomas-Bradley burrowing over for Palmer to convert.

The Wolfhounds ended the game with Tuite in the sin bin as she paid the price for the number of team penalties. They hit back by winning a scrum against the head, before Clenaghan’s hopes of a last-gasp hat-trick score ended with a miscued lineout.

TIME LINE: 1 minute – Wolfhounds try: Maggie Boylan – 5-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 5-0; 4 mins – Wolfhounds try: Eve Higgins – 10-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 10-0; 7 mins – Wolfhounds try: Vicky Elmes Kinlan – 15-0; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 15-0; 16 mins – Gwalia Lightning penalty: Carys Hughes – 15-3; 29 mins – Wolfhounds try: India Daley – 20-3; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 22-3; 33 mins – Wolfhounds try: Fiona Tuite – 27-3; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 27-3; 39 mins – Wolfhounds try: Aoibheann Reilly – 32-3; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 32-3; Half-time – Wolfhounds 32 Gwalia Lightning 3; 64 mins – Wolfhounds try: Maebh Clenaghan – 37-3; conversion: Abby Moyles – 39-3; 68 mins – Wolfhounds try: Maebh Clenaghan – 44-3; conversion: missed by Abby Moyles – 44-3; 77 mins – Gwalia Lightning try: Chloe Thomas-Bradley – 44-8; conversion: Jodi Palmer – 44-10; 79 mins – Wolfhounds yellow card: Fiona Tuite; Full-time – Wolfhounds 44 Gwalia Lightning 10

WOLFHOUNDS: Stacey Flood (Leinster); Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster), Aoife Dalton (Leinster) (capt), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Maggie Boylan (Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Leinster), Aoibheann Reilly (Connacht); Caoimhe Molloy (Leinster), India Daley (Ulster), Linda Djougang (Leinster), Kate Jordan (Leinster), Naoise Smyth (Leinster), Fiona Tuite (Ulster), Claire Boles (Ulster), Erin King (Leinster).

Replacements: Maebh Clenaghan (Ulster), Cara McLean (Ulster), Sophie Barrett (Ulster), Regan Casey (IQ Rugby), Aoife Corcoran (Leinster), Jade Gaffney (Leinster), Abby Moyles (Ulster), Katie Corrgian (Leinster).

GWALIA LIGHTNING: Catherine Richards; Nikita Prothero, Caitlin Lewis, Isla McMullen, Jodi Palmer; Carys Hughes, Katie Bevan; Jenni Scoble, Molly Reardon, Evie Hill, Alaw Pyrs, Tilly Vucaj, Lily Terry, Anwen Owen, Bryonie King (capt).

Replacements: Molly Wakely, Chloe Thomas-Bradley, Cerys Cuming, Cat Stewart, Erin Williams, Lottie Buffery-Latham, Lily Hawkins, Molly Anderson-Thomas.

Referee: Tomás O’Sullivan (IRFU)