‘The belief was there’: Hanratty hails USA’s remarkable Ireland comeback

After his USA Women’s Eagles side overturned a 19-point deficit to beat Ireland 40-36 in their WXV Global Series opener, Skerries-born head coach Jack Hanratty hailed his young team’s resilience.

For much of the first half at Tallaght Stadium the North Americans struggled to impose themselves.

Ireland made the most of that and scored four tries in the opening 30 minutes. Tries from the USA’s Georgie Perris-Redding and Hope Rogers meant the half-time scoreboard read 24-12 in favour of the hosts.

Erin King’s converted try after the restart extended Ireland’s lead to 19 points.

Kathryn Treder scored tries either side of Vicky Elmes Kinlan’s yellow card, while Hallie Taufoou and Freda Tafuna also scored with Ireland a player down. Dorothy Wall’s try time almost done was merely a consolation.

For Hanratty, it was a more than pleasing result. It was just his third win since starting his role as Eagles head coach in the new year – in which time he has capped 10 new players, seen his team finish third in the Pacific Four Series and draw a Test series with the Springbok Women in South Africa.

“The resiliency of the group was excellent,” Hanratty told TG4 at full-time. “I think that was probably the biggest thing for me.

“With a young group that hasn’t played together a whole lot, you wonder whether there’s that belief, and today they showed it. They just kept going, and the energy was brilliant.”

He added, “In that second half, it was just like this spark. I don’t know if that was the introduction of the subs or the half-time team talk, but we came out with a completely different energy and just kept going.”

The USA will now prepare to take on a Wales team that will be similarly enthused. On Friday night Sean Lynn’s team upset the odds to beat the Springbok Women 50-19 at Cardiff Arms Park.