WALES AS A RUGBY nation has a certain obsession with the breakdown, something Ireland Women are expecting to have a central role in their Six Nations clash in Swansea on Sunday [KO 12.00, RTE 2FM and live stream at www.IrishRugby.ie].
Rosser says Ireland are consistently focused on improvement, even after wins against England. Source: James Crombie/INPHO
The likes of Sam Warburton and Gethin Jenkins lead the Welsh men’s teams in sniffing out turnovers on the deck, but it’s the the likes of Sioned Harries and Sian Williams who will be looking to cause trouble at St. Helen’s RFC.
Jackaling and fighting for space over the ball post-tackle is almost a way of life for the Welsh, so Ireland have been spending plenty of time focusing on the breakdown and ruck in the lead-up to this game.
“Wales are Wales, they always want to slow down the ruck ball and make it slow for us to get any good attacking ball off it,” says Ireland’s Tania Rosser.
“I think our forwards are playing really well at the moment though, and if we can get any quick ball out our backs can attack.”
So what’s the key to limiting the Welsh threat? Rosser says the formula is straightforward.
Rosser has confidence in Ireland’s ability to do so, something that was boosted by the win over England in Ashbourne a fortnight ago. That result was just Ireland’s second win against the English ever, and re-ignited their Six Nations hopes.
A defeat at home to France the previous week had left Ireland’s title tilt in some doubt, but Rosser says the England performance was more reflective of this group.
Rosser in the zone before Ireland’s win over England. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
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“It’s brilliant, the girls put in a huge performance to come back after losing to France. It shows the true character of our girls. I think the forwards did an extremely good job to hold them out and get the last penalty, then to slot that and get the win was brilliant.
“If we get in two good performances against Wales and Scotland, who knows? We could win the championship.”
It’s a game-by-game focus for the Irish camp under head coach Tom Tierney and forwards specialist Declan O’Brien, meaning Rosser and her teammates are not looking beyond proceedings in Swansea.
Despite their historic achievement against world champions England last time out, it’s a mark of this Ireland side that they believe there’s more to come.