The Ireland Women’s Sevens team claimed the scalp of reigning European champions England tonight as Jon Skurr’s side ended the first day of the Marbella Sevens competition in fine style.
It was an admittedly understrength England side, with nine changes to the squad that won the first leg of the FIRA-AER European Sevens Grand Prix Series, but it should not take the gloss off what was a hugely encouraging result for fast-developing Ireland.
Alison Miller, Lynne Cantwell and Sophie Spence all scored tries as Ireland sealed a 17-0 victory over England, another confidence-boosting display for the girls in green on the road to the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow at the end of the month.
The ever-dangerous Miller crossed in the opening minute to establish an early lead and Ireland maintained a stranglehold of possession and territory with Jenny Murphy and Claire Keohane both prominent.
Cantwell then showed her class with ball in hand, splitting the English midfield wide open from a quick tap penalty and stepping off her right to score to the left of the posts. Both tries were unconverted and 10-0 is how it remained up to half-time.
Skurr’s charges burst out of the blocks again on the restart. This time Ashleigh Baxter raced out of her half on an arcing run and quick ruck ball led to fellow substitute Spence darting through a gap in the 22 and in behind the posts.
Keohane added the extras and while the tries were very well-taken, Skurr and his management team will have been just as pleased with Ireland’s defensive grit as they kept England scoreless during a fast-paced final five minutes.
The Marbella Sevens event is the second leg of the European Sevens Grand Prix Series. In the recent first leg in Brive, Ireland finished fifth overall of the 12 competing teams and beat the Netherlands 12-7 to win the Plate title.
