Aussie women defeat Ireland in try fest

Feb 6 • General News, International, Womens Rugby • 1793 Views • Comments Off on Aussie women defeat Ireland in try fest

The world number one Qantas Australian Women’s Sevens team has got their three match series against Ireland off to a thrilling start, with a 26-7 victory at the HSBC Sydney 7s.

Australian Head Coach Tim Walsh was happy his side got a hit out at the tournament: “In the past the girls have loved the big stadiums. They’ve always played well in front of them so I think they use the adrenalin to their advantage.

“I think it will be different again tomorrow when it really fills up towards the finals time in the second game, so really looking forward to seeing them handle that and perform in front of a big home crowd.

“They did pretty well. Some really good turnovers, some good defensive stuff and then got a bit loose towards the end. It’s always hard when you’ve got a good lead and you’re in front of a crowd to stay disciplined.

“So I was a little bit disappointed with that but we have two more games to improve on that.”

Australian Captain Shannon Parry enjoyed the experience of a buzzing Allianz Stadium: “It was really exciting to be playing in front of such a large home crowd and it was obviously great to get the win.

“Ireland tested us in some areas but it was good for us to overcome those issues throughout the match. “

Playing in front of a full house, the Australians wasted no time in opening their account against the visitors with a try within the first minute taking the score to 7-0.

Australia’s dominance of the Irish was evident early with a second try coming through Alicia Quirk before a third visit to the tryline for the Aussie girls opened up a 19-0 lead at the half.

The second half saw no relenting from the world number one side as Emilee Cherry continued Ireland’s misery, slicing through the line untouched to score Australia’s fourth try and take the score to 26-0.

Evania Pelite showed her emerging talent as one of the players to watch in the team with some solid runs in attack.

After toiling hard throughout the contest, the Irish women eventually registered points with a penalty try at the death leaving the final score at 26-7.

Australia will play two final exhibition matches against Ireland on Sunday at the HSBC Sydney 7s. Both matches will be broadcast live on FOX SPORTS.