2nd try for Japan. 12-3
Some excellent handling, support play by Japan..
great play by japan , can they replay the commentaor saying it's going to be a long afternoon for japan in the first 5 notes.
Japanese player lowered her body slightly at the last second.... that’s clear from the side on angle.
that should be enough to mitigate against a red in my view.
Badly needed that score.
Blockdown by Ciara Griffin and she gets the try. 12-8 conversion to come
Cracking second half so far.
Referee is doing my head in, missing a blatant high tackle on the neck of an Irish player but pinging us for a forward pass that was borderline at best.
I think it took Ireland a good 30 minutes to get into shape today. Until the 2nd half, I thought it was going to be a bad day at the park.
Djougang seemed to be the only player doing her best from the start.
Second game in a row we won against the run of play. The Japanese were incredible today, such fast pace in every aspect. Kicks not finding touch was as problem again this week (not as big as last week but it still cost us). Don't think Enya Breen is the answer at 10, I hope we see Nicole Cronin in the 6n squad.
Ciara Griffin was immense today, she'll be missed.
Dates for 6 nations confirmed
Home to Wales March 26th
away France April 2nd
home Italy April 10th
away England April 24th
home Scotland April 30th
Important to note, the three home fixtures will be played in the RDS, Musgrave Park and Ravenhill respectively.
An excellent initiative from the IRFU I must say. Put the team in the heart of the Community and encourage as many young people to come and see them. Its certainly been a winning formula for the FAI in carving out a distinct niche for their Women's senior team.
And gets away from such high percentage of home irish games at all levels being played in 1 city.
It does, but in fairness the 20s are already permanently playing in Cork. The Senior Men will never play test matches outside of Dublin.
I see the women's team have now sent a letter to the government https://www.the42.ie/ireland-women-rugby-irfu-5598857-Dec2021/ I would say this is an excellent move as they need to stand their ground or the IRFU will end up forgetting them completely. Over the last 4 years, the game has gone backwards and that is a clear fact.
I do hope the IRFU now gives proper respect and representation to the women's game.
the announcement that the in-depth review was not going to be published in full, for public viewing, was a MAJOR mistake by the IRFU in my opinion.
this situation (the failure of the RWC campaign and the steady decline of women rugby for the last 6 years) is not "business as usual" for the IRFU, and thus the "this is the way we always do it" excuse absolutely does not wash this time.
As much as I back the women who submitted that letter, I also agree with not publicising the report. Various people need to be able to input honestly into it without fear of how others might interpret what they say or react. We saw the sh!tshow in England after the 2011 report came out.
What they should be doing is commissioning a summary findings report by the independent body and not producing that themselves, which I believe is the plan.
Various people need to be able to input honestly into it without fear of how others might interpret what they say or react.
sorry, but these are professional managers working in a professional environment. If they cannot be honest, truthful, clear and concise in their statements for fear of misinterpretation than they are not doing their job properly.
summary findings by an independent sounds very much "payer of piper calls the tune".
also, their is very much a sense that the IRFU in their internal review will be soft and selective on who is questioned and what questions are asked:
Many of us have felt that the range of stakeholders asked to take part in these reviews have not always reliably represented the game well enough to capture accurate, independent data and insight - neither do all of us feel fully confident that the information submitted has been factual and designed to act in the best interest of the women’s game.
at the end of the day as their is public monies given to the IRFU as part of their management of womens rugby, how that money is spent and how the resultants are achieved / not achieved should be a matter for public record.
IRFU STATEMENT ON LETTER TO MINISTER
The IRFU is aware of a letter sent to the Minister for Sport re Irish Women’s Rugby and refutes the overall tenor of the document which questions the IRFU’s commitment to, and leadership of, the women’s game in Ireland.
It is disappointing that this group should chose now to come out with a series of allegations, given all involved in Irish Rugby are fully aware that two well resourced, independent reviews are in train and it is from these reviews that lessons, based on fact, can be learned and the foundations built which will serve the women’s game well for future generations.
The IRFU is fully committed to the development of the women’s game based on a sustainable structure, from grassroots up to international level. This is evident from the level of absolute commitment already in place by volunteers in clubs throughout the country, the IRFU rugby development team who are working tirelessly to bring the game to ever widening playing audiences and the committee who have sanctioned ever increasing budgets in support of the women’s game.
The responsible approach would be to allow these reviews progress and conclude their work independently, without attempts to influence their work through outside interference.
For the benefit of those who may not be aware and to balance, in some way, the opinions promoted in this recent letter it is important to reiterate that the IRFU has already publicly announced and set in train an independent review into, what was for all in Irish Rugby, players, team management, IRFU committee and executives, the hugely disappointing failure of our women’s senior international team to qualify for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2023. This review is under the direction of an independent consultant, Amanda Bennett, former Welsh Rugby International and Founder of FairPlay, and will examine the preparation, participation, and performance of the Ireland Women's XV during the recent RWC 2021 qualifying campaign. It is important that the integrity and independence of this review, which includes feedback from players, is not compromised in any way. The Union is already publicly committed to relying on the findings of that report as it plots future campaigns.
Allied to this is the more far-reaching review, established several months ago following a recommendation from the IRFU’s Women’s Advisory Group. The review group is chaired by John Robinson, Senior Vice President IRFU and IRFU committee members Fiona Steed and Su Carty and will be looking in depth at the long-term interests of the women’s game, including the alignment between the Domestic Game and The High-Performance areas, player pathways and women’s competitive structures.
All understand the importance of the international game in this matrix but of equal importance is the development of a structure for the long-term growth of the game at grassroots around club players and young girls coming into the game for the first time. An up-to-date summary of the exceptional work being done by the IRFU’s rugby development team in the promotion and coaching of the game highlights the work being undertaken by club volunteers for the 5,800 girls active across 68 U14 Girls teams, 64 U16 Girls teams and 56 U18 Girls teams, together with the 2,784 women playing across 81 adult women’s teams. In addition, it paints the pathway from mini rugby, which is played by over 29,000 girls, to international level for girls entering the game.
These are not seen as an end but rather strong foundations from which to build.
Full details can be seen on: https://www.irishrugby.ie/2021/11/20/nothinglikeit-signs-of-growth-in-rugby-for-women-and-girls/
The IRFU need to fire their PR company. Pathetic response
the fact they view current and past players as "outside influence" tells you everything you need to know about how they are trying to wash these reviews.
Very bad move from the current players to sign that letter
the problem is none of the contracted sevens players signed the letter and that says either one of two things
either way you can easily draw the conclusion that the 15s are very bitter and jealous towards the 7s and the last few years of the 15s being very very poor has just made the situation worse
Not a great look.
And it makes the new coaching team, the people preparing the reports and any women working in the IRFU feel completely thrown under the bus
No, you'll find that it's in their contract not to take part in anything that paints their employer in a bad light. Standard in ALL contracts.
thats my very point - the 7s are paid the 15s get expenses
bitterness and jealousy when they get into a community, a workforce or a team you are as good as finished
No, you said that there were two reasons the 7s players didn't sign the letter. The third, as I posted, is actually correct.
Have a look again at the list of former players who signed the letter, some of them are long long gone, some of them are former 7s players. This isn't a knee jerk reaction, it's been a long time coming.
Current players that signed the letter didn't do it as a them and us thing, they signed because they are free to do so, mindful that others couldn't.
There is only 2 reasons
they refused to sign. To imply they did not refuse to sign but their employment contracts stopped them makes no sense
Were legally not permitted to sign!!
Have you never signed an employment contract???
I don't think the outside influence refers to the players themselves, more so, the request for government ministers to get involved, and bringing the whole dispute into the public, via the media, and what influence that might have, while the official review is still ongoing.
Whether you agree or not with them doing this is fine, but I don't think the IRFU referred to the players as the outside influence.
i dont agree at all.
there is no reference at all to the government in the IRFUs response letter.
In the paragraph which which refers to "outside interference" they are suggesting that some body could influence the reviews, yet all the women's letter called for is oversight of the review process to make sure nothing is hidden.
again ill point you towards the line in the women's letter which says :
In my eyes that is what the IRFU are referring to as "attempts to influence their work through outside interference."
but anyway, the fact that its even debatable just goes to show how poor the IRFUs methods of communication are on this subject.
Nobody really knows that's for sure, but just 2 small points on the IRFU's letter having no reference to the government.
1) The letter starts with.
"The IRFU is aware of a letter sent to the Minister for Sport"
2) I don't think the IRFU want to be name checking anyone at this stage, that may end up being involved, so they keep all their wording very ambiguous.
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