WE HAVE MOVED

To stay up to date with all of the latest Irish rugby news, visit us at any of the following:

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Totalrugbyie/168094683587

BLOGGING: http://total-rugby.blogspot.com/

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/#!/Totalrugby1

Thanks for following, the team!

Playoff disappointment for Ireland

There was no repeat of last week’s pool victory over the USA as Ireland’s winning run at the Women’s Rugby World Cup came to a disappointing end.

IRB WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP: 5TH-8TH PLACE PLAY-OFF: Wednesday, September 1IRELAND WOMEN 3 USA WOMEN 40, Surrey Sports Park Scorers: Ireland: Pen: Niamh Briggs USA: Tries: Victoria Folayan 2, Penalty try, Amy Daniels 2, Vanesha McGee; Cons: Christy Ringgenberg 5 The Irish were 22-12 winners when these sides meet in Pool B last Tuesday week, but the Americans’ power and athleticism helped them dominate this 5th-8th place play-off at Surrey Sports Park. Ireland ended the first half 21-3 down and with lock Marie Louise Reilly in the sin-bin, as touchdowns from Victoria Folayan and Amy Daniels sandwiched a penalty try. A second seven-pointer from Daniels, on the hour mark, ended the game as a contest, and with influential centre Lynne Cantwell in the sin-bin, Ireland leaked two late tries. Joanne O’Sullivan, who slotted in at out-half for the first time in the tournament, got the Irish back-line moving early on and the Americans needed some aggressive first-up defence to keep a fast-starting Ireland at bay. Cantwell and Joy Neville looked threatening with ball in hand, but the USA’s impressive scrum gave them a platform from which they built their match-winning lead. Ireland fell behind in the eleventh minute when flanker Beckett Royce broke the defensive line and winger Folayan showed great pace and strength to finish off close to the posts, allowing out-half Christy Ringgenberg an easier conversion. Shannon Houston, Niamh Briggs and Louise Beamish countered well as the girls in green hunted for an immediate response, however the forward battle was going the Americans’ way. They had the psychological advantage too when referee Sebastien Minery awarded them a penalty try after the Irish had illegally collapsed a maul close to their line. From a scrum in the Irish 22, the Americans set up a rolling maul from which the Irish were penalised. Ringgenberg tapped over the conversion for a 14-3 lead. The Americans launched a couple of kick chases which saw the ever alert Briggs scramble well, and a solid lineout gave Ireland some welcome possession as Kathy Flores’ side continued to look dangerous. Another well-worked lineout saw the Irish forwards drive it up and earn a 25-metre penalty, on the half hour, which Briggs knocked over for her side’s only points. Just when it looked like Ireland would draw closer, they lost Reilly to the sin-bin. And only a minute later, the Americans used scrum ball to send centre Daniels scampering through for their third converted try. 21-3 down at half-time, Ireland regrouped and enjoyed one of their best spells at the start of the second period, maintaining possession in the USA half. The lineout looked strong and Neville and team captain Fiona Coghlan orchestrated a couple of penetrating drives, but the pressure amounted to little. The USA had flanker Kristin Zdanczewicz yellow carded as the girls in green began to press, and winger Nathalie Marchino needed a textbook tackle to bring down Briggs on a superb attacking run. Any hopes of an Irish comeback were buried though by the Americans’ fourth try. With 56 minutes on the clock, winger Folayan broke away from two tacklers and offloaded for Daniels to complete her brace, with Ringgenberg again adding the extras. Philip Doyle’s charges did not let their heads drop and continued to play some good quality rugby, but Cantwell’s sin-binning invited the USA back on the attack and they notched two tries in the space of four minutes, through the excellent Folayan and replacement Vanesha McGee. A last-minute penalty miss from Briggs just summed up a day Irish captain Coghlan and her team-mates will want to quickly forget. Although a huge setback, Ireland at least have a chance to bounce back from today’s loss when they take on Six Nations rivals Scotland in Sunday’s 7th-8th place play-off at Surrey Sports Park (kick-off 11.15am). Reflecting on his side’s second defeat of the tournament, Irish coach Doyle said: “America’s power in the scrum was fantastic and they put us under tremendous pressure right from the start. “Joy Neville at the back had a lot of problems trying to get that ball out. A lot of occasions we got it, but they were just too powerful for us today. You’ve got to call a spade a spade – they were just too powerful on the day.” He added: “We play Scotland every year and they’re a great team in themselves. To be honest, just coming into this tournament I wanted a one place improvement on eighth, from four years ago. “Now it’s our little final, and we will go out and endeavour to get that seventh. Scotland we know very well and they know us well, so it’s going to be a good game.” TIME LINE: 11 minutes – USA try: Victoria Folayan – 0-5; conversion: Christy Ringgenberg – 0-7; 20 mins – USA try: Penalty try – 0-12; conversion: Christy Ringgenberg – 0-14; 29 mins – Ireland penalty: Niamh Briggs – 3-14; 35 mins – Ireland yellow card: Marie Louise Reilly; 36 mins – USA try: Amy Daniels – 3-19; conversion: Christy Ringgenberg – 3-21;Half-time – Ireland 3 USA 21; 49 mins – USA yellow card: Kristen Zdanczewicz; 56 mins – USA try: Amy Daniels – 3-26; conversion: Christy Ringgenberg – 3-28; 67 mins – Ireland yellow card: Lynne Cantwell; 72 mins – USA try: Victoria Folayan – 3-33; conversion: missed by Christy Ringgenberg – 3-33; 75 mins – USA try: Vanesha McGee – 3-38; conversion: Christy Ringgenberg – 3-40; 80 mins – Ireland penalty: missed by Niamh Briggs – 3-40; Full-time – Ireland 3 USA 40 IRELAND WOMEN: Niamh Briggs; Amy Davis, Lynne Cantwell, Shannon Houston, Eliza Downey; Joanne O’Sullivan, Louise Beamish; Fiona Coghlan (capt), Yvonne Nolan, Gillian Bourke, Kate O’Loughlin, Marie Louise Reilly, Orla Brennan, Sinead Ryan, Joy Neville. Replacements used: Louise Austin for Nolan (22 mins), Nora Stapleton for Downey (half-time), Claire Molloy for Ryan (43), Carol Staunton for Brennan (57), Mairead Kelly for Houston (61), Chris Fanning for Bourke, Caroline Mahon for O’Loughlin (both 68). USA WOMEN: Ashley English (capt); Victoria Folayan, Amy Daniels, Emilie Bydwell, Nathalie Marchino; Christy Ringgenberg, Kim Magrini; Farrah Douglas, Maurin Wallace, Lara Vivolo, Blair Groefsema, Sharon Blaney, Kristin Zdanczewicz, Beckett Royce, Mel Denham. Replacements used: Claudia Knudsen-Braymer for Magrini (54 mins), Phaidra Knight for Royce (55), Lisa Butts for Wallace (62), Vanesha McGee for Marchino (64), Mel Kanuk for Bydwell (71), Rachel Reddick for Douglas (74), Stacey Bridges for Blaney (76). Referee: Sebastien Minery (France)

Springboks -V- Wallabies at Loftus 2010

Ireland post 7 tries against Kazakhstan

Ireland were comfortable 37-3 winners over Kazakhstan in their final pool game at the Women’s Rugby World Cup, but just fell short of qualifying for the semi-finals for the first time.

IRB WOMEN’S RUGBY WORLD CUP: POOL B: Saturday, August 28IRELAND WOMEN 37 KAZAKHSTAN WOMEN 3, Surrey Sports Park Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Niamh Briggs, Joy Neville 2, Louise Beamish, Orla Brennan, Eliza Downey, Kate O’Loughlin; Con: Niamh Briggs Kazakhstan: Pen: Aigerym Daurembayeva Saturday evening’s bonus point victory, a second in quick succession for Philip Doyle’sside, meant that the Irish joined Australia and Canada, the second-placed teams in Pool A and Pool C respectively, on ten points. With the three pool winners and the best-placed second ranked side going through to the semi-finals, it was the Australians who progressed to the final four thanks to their superior points difference, topped up by a fine 62-0 final day triumph over South Africa. Ireland are still on course for their best ever World Cup finish, however, and will enter next week’s 5th-8th place play-offs determined to pick up two more wins at the Surrey Sports Park venue. The girls in green kicked off knowing they need to score 60 points or more to have any chance of making it to the semis, as well as hoping that the South Africans would keep Australia to a low enough score. By the time the Ireland v Kazakhstan game started, Australia were already 10-0 up against South Africa but Doyle’s charges made a blistering start of their own when Eliza Downey’s surge helped set up full-back Niamh Briggs for a second minute try. Kazakhstan then enjoyed a period of dominance when firstly winger Irina Amossova had a nice dart down the touchline and then centre Amina Baratova made 20 yards on a lively run. Fiona Coghlan and her team-mates were forced to defend which is exactly how they did not want to spend the first half and although Kazakhstan never really looked like registering a try, their spell of possession ate up valuable minutes as Australia continued to take South Africa apart on the adjoining pitch. Finally, the second Irish score came. A nice maul saw in-form number 8 Joy Neville drive over and Briggs landed a superb conversion for a 12-0 lead, with Ireland men’s coachDeclan Kidney an interested spectator. Kazakhstan out-half and captain Anna Yakovleva was then yellow carded for consistent infringements and Ireland made their opponents pay immediately, scrum half Louise Beamish scrambling over the line for another score. Hard-working flanker Orla Brennan then got Ireland’s bonus point-clinching try after a lovely break from centre Joanne O’Sullivan put her away. Kazakhstan replied with their first points of the tournament when full-back Aigerym Daurembayeva kicked a penalty to leave it at 22-3 for half-time. Winger Downey got the second half off to an encouraging start for the Irish with a try after just a minute, the eagerness to rack up the points now obvious on both pitches. Kazakhstan though were now throwing the towel in and a burst from Daurembayev almost led to a try, with Ireland’s scrambling defence doing just enough to clear the danger. As Australia added to their dominance on the pitch next door, Ireland continued to make hard work of turning pressure into points – the Kazakhs doing their best to make life difficult at the breakdown. It was disheartening for the travelling Irish fans who could see who the better team was but Kazakhstan were desperate to avoid another pasting after suffering two heavy losses to England and the USA. Ireland’s frustrations were further compounded when they lost out-half Helen Brosnanto injury but eventually they broke through when lock Kate O’Loughlin pushed the score out to 32-3. The all-action Neville then notched her fourth try in two games as she crashed over to make sure Ireland ended on a high. Despite not making the semi-finals, the girls in green now have an excellent shot at finishing higher at a World Cup than ever before, with fifth place still in their sights. TIME LINE: 2 minutes – Ireland try: Niamh Briggs – 5-0; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 5-0; 16 mins – Ireland try: Joy Neville – 10-0; conversion: Niamh Briggs – 12-0; 22 mins – Kazakhstan yellow card: Anna Yakovleva; 24 mins – Ireland try: Louise Beamish – 17-0; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 17-0; 32 mins – Ireland try: Orla Brennan – 22-0; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 22-0; 40 mins – Kazakhstan pnalty: Aigerym Daurembayeva – 22-3; Half-time – Ireland 22 Kazakhstan 3; 42 mins – Ireland try: Eliza Downey – 27-3; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 27-3; 63 mins – Ireland try: Kate O’Loughlin – 32-3; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 32-3; 68 mins – Ireland try: Joy Neville – 37-3; conversion: missed by Niamh Briggs – 37-3; Full-time – Ireland 37 Kazakhstan 3 IRELAND WOMEN: Niamh Briggs; Amy Davis, Joanne O’Sullivan, Lynne Cantwell, Eliza Downey; Helen Brosnan, Louise Beamish; Fiona Coghlan (capt), Gillian Bourke, Louise Austin, Kate O’Loughlin, Marie Louise Reilly, Orla Brennan, Claire Molloy, Joy Neville. Replacements used: Carol Staunton for Brennan (50 mins), Sinead Ryan for Molloy (53), Yvonne Nolan for Austin (56), Shannon Houston for Brosnan, Mairead Kelly for Davis (both 60), Laura Guest for Coghlan, Jackie Shiels for Briggs (both 72). KAZAKHSTAN WOMEN: Aigerym Daurembayeva; Olga Sazonova, Valentina Nezbudey, Amina Baratova, Irina Amossova; Anna Yakovleva (capt), Anastassiya Khamova; Natalya Kamendrovskaya, Tatyana Ashikhmina, Olga Nikulich, Svetlana Karatygina, Olga Kumanikina, Alfiya Mustafina, Olessya Teryayeva, Irina Radzivil. Replacements used: Marianna Balashova for Radzivil (31 mins), Farida Kalen for Ashikhmina (36), Tatyana Tur for Baratova (half-time), Svetlana Klyuchnikova for Khamova (61), Tatyana Pshenichnaya for Daurembayeva (64), Symbat Zhamankulova for Kumanikina, Kundyzay Baktybayeva for Mustafina (both 78). Referee: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)

Irish womens sqaud to face Kazakhstan

After a bruising encounter and subsequent victory over the USA, the Irish womens squad goes in search of group qualifing against Kazakhstan.

Ireland head coach Philip Doyle has made two changes to the starting line-up from the 22-12 victory over the USA at Surrey Sports Park on Tuesday.

Scrum half Tania Rosser, who picked up a shoulder injury in that game, is replaced by the highly-experienced Louise Beamish.

The other change is also in the back-line as Cooke and Ulster’s Eliza Downey, making her first appearance in the tournament, comes on to the left wing in place of Nora Stapleton.

Carol Staunton, Jackie Shiels and Yvonne Nolan are included on the bench for this, the final Pool B encounter for the girls in greens.

Commenting on Saturday’s game, Philip Doyle said: “The scrum was under pressure against the Americans, but they are a strong and heavy pack and we’re not.

“We know Kazakhstan are similar and so we’ll have to have a look at that and work on our scrums and hope to improve.”

IRELAND WOMEN’S TEAM & REPLACEMENTS (v Kazakhstan Women, 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup Pool B, Surrey Sports Park, Saturday, August 28, kick-off 4.30pm):

15 - Niamh Briggs (Clonmel/Munster)
14 - Amy Davis (Blackrock/Leinster)
13 - Joanne O’Sullivan (Richmond/Exile)
12 - Lynne Cantwell (UL Bohemians)
11 - Eliza Downey (Cooke/Ulster)
10 - Helen Brosnan (Highfield/Munster)
9 - Louise Beamish (UL Bohemian/Munster)
1 - Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemians/Leinster) (capt)
2 - Gillian Bourke (UL Bohemians/Munster)
3 - Louise Austin (UL Bohemians/Munster)
4 - Kate O’Loughlin (Clonmel/Munster)
5 - Marie Louise Reilly (Navan/Leinster)
6 - Orla Brennan (Blackrock/Leinster)
7 - Claire Molloy (Bristol/Connacht)
8 - Joy Neville (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Replacements:

16 - Yvonne Nolan (Blackrock/Leinster)
17 - Laura Guest (Highfield/Munster)
18 - Carol Staunton (Galwegians/Connacht)
19 - Sinead Ryan (Blackrock/Leinster)
20 - Jackie Shiels (Richmond/Leinster)
21 - Shannon Houston (Blackrock/Leinster)
22 - Mairead Kelly (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Ireland Women’s Rugby World Cup Pool B Results/Fixtures:

England 27 Ireland 0, Surrey, Friday, August 20
USA 12 Ireland 22, Surrey, Tuesday, August 24
Ireland v Kazakhstan, Surrey, Saturday, August 28, 4.30pm

Facebook giveaway

Well folks we thought here at Total Rugby that we would show our support for the Irish women rugby team who have departed for the World Cup by running a little competition!

Up for grabs is two Ireland white away jerseys and all you have to do is email facebook@totalrugby.ie with the subject Ireland Womens Rugby. It’s that easy!

Ireland womens group preview

IRELAND

The Irish have been steadily improving over the last four years, developing from an inconsistent 6 Nations team to the competition’s third best team in the past two seasons. Their first match against England is a tough opener but they may be glad to get it over with early. England should win that match but if Ireland can push them hard and make it a tight game they’ll keep themselves in with a good chance of the best runner up from the pool stages.

The Ireland V USA game is likely to be the key game for the Irish as they will expect to beat Kazakhstan in their other game. A semi-final place would be a spectacular return for Ireland, a country with limited playing numbers, but more likely is a chance to finish in the top 6.

Player to watch: Joy Neville. The former captain is one of the best number 8s in the world and with Ireland’s scrum often unsteady, she is regularly called on to clear up at the base. She’s an intelligent player with strong ball skills and regularly acts as a “sweeper” for Ireland, taking high balls and setting up good positions for her side.

Key game: V USA. Ireland know that beating England may be asking too much of their improving squad so the USA are the main team standing in their way of second spot and the chance to make the semis.

Ruddock appointed Ireland U-20 coach

The appointment of Ruddock is a significant coup for the Ireland under 20 side who won last seasons SIx Nations Championship. Ruddock has an impressive coaching background at both club and international level and as a player he represented Swansea and Wales B before injury cut his playing days short.

His coaching career began following that retirement and his strong ties with Ireland started with a spell as coach of Dublin club side Bective Rangers before he returned to coach Swansea for six seasons. He returned to Ireland to take the position of Leinster Director of Rugby in 1997 where he remained until 2000 when he moved to Ebbew Vale as coach, assisting with the Wales A team.

He then coached Newport Gwent Dragons before taking the post of Wales national coach in 2004, leading them to an RBS Six Nations Championship Grand Slam in 2005. He left that role in 2006 and has been coaching English club side Worcester until this summer. Ruddock’s ties with Ireland go beyond his own coaching career as his mother originally comes from County Clare and his wife hails from Dublin. Both his sons, Ciaranand Rhys, have also played for Ireland at under 20 level. Rhys captained the side to the 2010 Six Nations title and then finished the season by winning his first senior international cap for Ireland against Australia during the summer tour in June.

Mike Ruddock will concentrate purely on the coaching of the Ireland Under 20 Team, which will allow IRFU High Performance Manager Allen Clarke to focus fully on the further development of the elite player pathway and programmes that have been implemented by Clarke since his appointment in 2007.

“It has been a fantastic honour to coach the Ireland Under 20′s for the past two seasons”, said Clarke. “However it was only ever a bridging arrangement and I am really looking forward to supporting and working with Mike. His wealth of experience and success at senior international level will further add to what is a very important age grade in Irish Rugby”.

“The challenge as High Performance Manager is to ensure that our elite programmes and their delivery are world class. Working with our provincial structures, national age grade teams and our schools and clubs we will look to continue to provide a continuous flow of indigenous quality players for the professional game in Ireland”.

Commenting on his own appointment, Ruddock said, “The importance of this age grade level is vital and the chance to work in Irish Rugby again was one I did not want to pass up on. Allen has made some real strides with the team, with their championship success last season and runners up spot the previous year a testament to this. I am looking forward to working very closely with him to ensure there is continuity with what I want to bring to the team and most importantly keeping the under 20 team as the focal point for the identification pathway for future professional players”.

“The focus with any underage team is trying to develop players and also trying to add a winning culture to the ones that pass through the team each year. A good part of my coaching career has been spent here in Ireland and with my own personal experiences through Ciaran and Rhys playing for the under 20′s, I feel I have a good understanding of the systems and I am really looking forward to getting involved to help develop young players.”

IRFU Director of Rugby Eddie Wigglesworth was also delighted with the appointment and said, “This appointment is an important and welcomed addition to the elite player pathway. The time needed to coach an under 20 team, in terms of selection and preparation, has increased significantly. With Allen Clarke doubling up his role as High Performance Manager as well as under 20 coach, it was felt that it would be more beneficial to focus on the high performance aspect which has become more vital over the last three years. Mike adding his considerable coaching ability to work with Allen strengthens the overall elite player systems”.

Mike Ruddock will take up his role with the IRFU at the end of August as he is currently on a family holiday and will be made available for media interviews upon his return

Losing Bok coach a clow

Sydney – Under-siege South African rugby coach Peter de Villiers continues to wheel out the gems, likening himself to a “clown” after a run of three defeats to open the Tri Nations.

Which is ironic considering the Springboks demanded former Wallaby hooker and Fox Sports rugby analyst Brendan Cannon publicly apologise for using the same term to reference the controversial coach prior to their Tri-Nations Test in Brisbane last month.

Though you couldn’t fault De Villiers’s honesty, it was a strange choice of terminology for the Boks coach as he answered fans’ questions in the latest South African Rugby Union electronic newsletter, Bokzine.

De Villiers has been criticised for some of his media comments during and after the back-to-back defeats to the All Blacks and one-off loss to the Wallabies in Brisbane, and faces a SANZAR disciplinary hearing on Friday over a televised assertion in Australia that his team had been caught up in a World Cup conspiracy in New Zealand.

De Villiers has been roundly bagged since returning from the unsuccessful Tri-Nations tour and answered a fan question in the newsletter about how he handled the criticism.

“I was always saying the greeting ‘even the bad days are good’ and there have been some bad days just now, that we can’t deny,” De Villiers answered.

“But I keep myself motivated because I believe in this team and what we are doing and know that we have the answers within ourselves to the problems that we had overseas.

“It’s not like other years where we were bad and had no solutions in sight – we definitely know we can beat anyone in the world when we fix the small things that add up to a bad defeat.

“As for the criticism, I have had it since before day one! But it goes with the territory – a winning Bok coach is a superman; a losing Bok coach is a ‘clown’, I’ve learnt to take both with a pinch of salt. But thanks for your support.”

Wallabies hammered by the All Blacks 31/7/2010