Player Comparisons: Ireland improve while Red Roses start slowly

In a game that saw the Red Roses take 35 minutes before they scored against a ferocious Ireland side, before running up the scoreline in the second half, the stats don’t tell the full story. Here’s which opposition players had the upper hand in the clash.

Ireland’s ferocious first 40 minutes showed just how far Scott Bemand’s side have come since the Red Roses handily beat them in the same fixture last year. The 5-49 scoreline will look like an easy win for the reigning Six Nations champs, but this will be a rude awakening for John Mitchell’s charges.

Front Row – advantage England

You’d have been forgiven for expecting this to be a walk over for the Red Roses, their set piece has been such a reliable weapon for them after all. Ireland though, showed their quality from the off. Neve Jones is an absolute dynamo who doesn’t know how to quit, while Niamh O’Dowd and Linda Djougang were so key in the loose. England’s scrum was reliably dominant and Maud Muir is rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous carrying threats in the game.

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

‘This Energy Never Stops’ – Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025

O’Dowd’s yellow card for repeated scrum infringements and England replacing their entire row on 52 minutes, were signs of how the second half would go. Sarah Bern bulldozed her way over the line to capitalise on a Meg Jones’ break on the 57th minute and added a second less than ten minutes later. Kelsey Clifford scored her first England try to give her team their seventh of the game with five minutes left on the clock.

Second Row – advantage England

Morwenna Talling opened the scoring for England and looked perfectly capable of carrying the ball all the way home as she powered through a green wall. Her partnership with Abbie Ward is reaping rewards for Mitchell, with Ward’s nous and Talling’s immense physicality matching up perfectly.

Dorothy Wall and Fiona Tuite feel like they need more time together to gel, but they did what was asked of them without ever letting their side down.

Back Row – advantage Ireland

The Irish trio of Brittany Hogan, Erin King and the brilliant Aoife Wafer play as if they are psychically linked. They never seem to get in each other’s way and always pop up in the right place to back up a tackle or run a support line. By contrast England’s back row – captain Zoe Aldcroft alongside Sadia Kabeya and the returning Alex Matthews – all played their own game and did so effectively, but their counterparts in green were excellent.

Half Backs – advantage Ireland

Dannah O’Brien for the Women’s Lions? She’s been one of the shining lights of the team’s resurgence and pulled the strings perfectly for her team today, creating a number of opportunities, including the opening try for Amee-Leigh Costigan with a perfectly weighted chip over the top of the English defence to allow the wing to score in front of her home crowd.

Nicole Fowley came on with 20 minutes to play, which felt more like a move to protect O’Brien for next week than to spark the team in this fixture. Emily Lane and Aoibheann Reilly both kept Ireland supplied with quick ball, though by the time Reilly joined the action she had less opportunity to do so.

Natasha Hunt was her mercurial self, always with an eye for a break while Zoe Harrison made a few errors despite scoring a try and maintaining a perfect record from the kicking tee, she however lacked the spark of her Irish counterpart to open up the game.

Centres – honours even

A very quiet first half performance could have lead viewers to question who England’s centres were, but Megan Jones came through in the second half with her team’s third try. It wasn’t a game to remember for Tatyana Heard who made a few fumbles at key moments.

Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton were pure class with ball in hand and solid in defence, but as England put a chokehold in possession in the second half, they struggled to further impose themselves on the game.

Outside Backs – honours even

Costigan might be the star player for Ireland to build their marketing campaign around and she backed it up with a beautiful solo effort to score the first try of the day, as well as a perfectly timed last ditch tackle to deny Jess Breach at the very start of the second half.

She was perfectly complemented by Stacey Flood who gave a masterclass in full back play with some excellent defence and a dose of threatening attack. Anna McGann and Vicky Elmes Kinlan both defended strongly to ensure England couldn’t gain any real attacking opportunities on their line.

All of England’s outside backs showed glimpses, but it felt like Ireland had answers for them for much of the game. Breach was closed down repeatedly and Ellie Kildunne was often out of position early on and lucky that Ireland didn’t make more of the opportunities she gave them, though she made up for it with a try late in the game.

Abby Dow, on her 50th cap, made some good runs including an assist for Meg Jones’ try, but saw very little ball to allow her to impress to her usual standards.

The introduction of Helena Rowland at full back, with Kildunne moving to the wing, made for a much more interesting attacking shape while Kildunne was lucky to stay on the field in the dying minutes after a deliberate knock on.