Super Saturday is always a really epic day for matches because it's generally really, really tight, close games and this weekend was no different. Wales blew it out of the park early doors by beating Italy. Ireland then followed with an incredibly close game against Scotland as they secured the final World Cup qualification spot. Then there was obviously Le Crunch between England and France, which saw England win their 3rd Grand Slam in a row.
For Ireland, the Scottish game was a determining factor of whether the Six Nations was a success or a failure. A win meant that we had two wins from a Six Nations campaign and a loss meant only one which would have been a pretty disappointing campaign, so a lot was on the shoulders of this win against Scotland.
On the flipside we also had results go our way on the day by Wales doing us a massive favour by beating Italy so that allowed for us to easily maintain a 3rd place position and that we weren’t fighting for points difference or bonus point win as a result of that Welsh win.
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It must be a sigh of relief for the people who were involved in the last World Cup cycle and the efforts to qualify for that. You think of the likes of Sam Monaghan and how it was her first cap when she went to Parma for the World Cup qualifiers. She has obviously flourished into a fantastic player since then and is now a brilliant leader and captain and has come a long way from that disappointment.
Then you think of other players that were involved in that campaign like Beibhinn Parsons, Dorothy Wall, Edel McMahon, Cliodhna Moloney, Aoibheann Reilly and Brittany Hogan so there was a massive amount of the squad who were involved in that World Cup qualification process that failed to succeed.
Edel McMahon will finally get to play in a World Cup having missed 2017 due to injury. It is fantastic that someone like her for as long as she's been involved in the Irish rugby set up gets to finally qualify for a World Cup.
It wasn't a pretty performance at the weekend by any means, but I think it showed heart and determination. Similar to the game from two years ago where, in the same fixture above in Kingspan, Enya Breen scored a last-minute conversion to win the game against Scotland.
There was nothing really between the teams. Scotland had a lot of handling errors, Ireland had a lot of handling errors. The pressure of that game, it was an important one for both sides to secure that third-place finish, and Ireland just showed more composure and more unity to get that done.
27 April 2024; Katie Corrigan of Ireland scores her side's first try during the Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and Scotland at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by John Dickson/Sportsfile
They had some really good carries out on the wing especially Brittany Hogan’s break that set Katie Corrigan up for her to try. I thought Enya Breen had a really good impact on the game in general play but also was really central in stealing the ball from Scottish captain Rachel Malcolm. It was such an important moment in the latter end of the game as they were approaching their try line and to rip them and stop their attack at such a crucial moment just showed the leadership of Enya Breen.
It was obviously fantastic to have both Sam and Edel back on the field together.
Niamh O’Dowd had an excellent impact off the bench. She came on with energy and it was great to see her get some significant game time. Cliodhna Moloney made a good impact off the bench too and I think that was the difference. Ireland were able to show really good impact from the players that they brought off the bench.
In the other games England v France, or Le Crunch as many know it, lived up to everything that everyone had anticipated, and France didn't let England have it all their own way. They showed moments of absolute brilliance in the way that they counterattacked and spread that English defense putting them under pressure that they probably haven't had opportunities to do in the in the Six Nations before this.
We saw some of the back three out of position and then we saw people miss tackles because the French had such a good offload game forcing errors onto the English pack which have been so steady and so strong up until this point. This then showed that in England there is gaps there to break and teams will look to target them in future.
I thought it was interesting that England went back to a very power-forward-orientated attack. They knew their strengths and they just decided to play to them. In the last few rounds, we had seen them play an expansive game of rugby. Looking to get it wide, offloading, getting their back three involved in the plays, going down and getting that pop off from a maul instead trying to maul and use their power and strength game.
But at the end of the day a win is a win, and it doesn't matter how you grind it out. England retreated back to their kick to touch, line out, maul and then picking goes as they needed to as they need to get points on the board.
I think if we can take key positives from this campaign, they obviously have succeeded in World Cup qualification, which they can relax about.
They finished third place in a campaign of firsts. It's the first time for Scott Bemand and his coaching ticket. It's the first time implementing a new structure both in attack and defence. It’s the first time that Sam and Tricky have got to captain the team in a Six Nations with the added pressure of high-quality games unlike what they had in WXV3.
It is the first time that Ireland qualified for WXV1, and they now play against the best in the world in the likes of Canada, New Zealand, France and England in the upcoming tournament.
Then it is a first for the likes of Katie Corrigan who got her first cap and her first couple of tries for Ireland in her debut season and even though this isn’t Aoife Wafer’s first season as a Six Nations player, it's her first time cementing her place. It is the first time that eyes are on her, and people get to see the skills and what she brings and deservedly so nominated for player of the tournament.
20 April 2024; Aoife Wafer of Ireland is tackled by Tatyana Heard of England during the Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at Twickenham Stadium in London, England. Photo by Juan Gasparini/Sportsfile
But it's only the beginning for so many of these players and the journey that they're on and it is an exciting few months ahead of the World Cup next year in England.
I can't finish this column without mentioning my own clubmates UL Bohs and the festival of rugby, the festival of tries, that they put on at the weekend. For a neutral to watch the game it must have been spectacular as it was end-to-end attack. The skills on show were phenomenal and hopefully Scott Bemand can start looking at these girls who are playing AIL week in and week out and the skills that they show.
Chisom Ugwueru, who had been an Irish camp, was outstanding with three tries and player of the match performance. Aoife Corey in fullback needs to be looked at from an Irish camp perspective. She's phenomenal in attack and really good in the air and never misses a line-break tackle.
Kate Flannery controlled everything at number 10 off space in the backfield. She put people into gaps, controlled the pack and created opportunities for the back line. She was phenomenal and obviously led by a fantastic pack led by Chloe Pearse.
It was a phenomenal spectacle of rugby and I suppose credit has to go Railway for answering every try that UL Bohs put on the board and in particular Lindsay Peat who is still excelling at this stage of her career and still putting it up to everybody.
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