3.25pm Ireland’s Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign came to a shattering end as they were edged out of a nail-biting quarter-final by Six Nations rivals France at Sandy Park on Sunday.
Link to the report just below. Until next time.
3.10pm Thanks for following our liveblog. Stay tuned to our website for Simon Lewis’ match report as well as they best of the reaction and analysis.
3.08pm Heartbreak for Ireland. They rue not scoring more before half time, deserved to be more than 13-0 ahead.
But you can’t fault their effort. Fair play to France, who are through to the semi-finals.
Ireland’s wait for a win in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup – men’s and women’s – goes on.
83mins Ireland lose the ball and unfortunately lose the match.
83mins O’Brien again heads to the corner. Ireland lineout.
81mins Ireland fans roaring on their side.
81mins Ireland advantage. Six metres out from the French line.
80mins Ireland win the lineout and are driving forward.
80mins O’Brien kicks to the corner. Last chance.
PENALTY REVERSED! IRELAND STILL IN IT.
TMO reviewing the penalty.
FRANCE PENALTY!
79mins Ireland win their lineout. Ireland on the attack.
79mins Yellow card for France. They will finish with 14. O’Brien kicks towards the corner, not great distance on the kick though.
78mins Break in play as a France player goes down injured after a collision with her own player.
78mins Lucky break for France as their kick squirms under O’Brien’s foot and goes into touch.
76mins Never in doubt, unfortunately. Bourgeois splits the posts with ther kick. Five between the teams now.
75mins Bourgeois going for the posts, which would mean Ireland would need a try to level it. Maybe even win it.
FRANCE PENALTY!
74mins Ireland building. But France win the ball back.
71mins Ireland now back to 15 players and they are on the attack.
68mins Huge blow for Ireland. Just as they are building pressure, they lose the ball and Grisez races away to score a try. France now lead. Bourgeois misses the conversion from a tough angle.
TRY FOR FRANCE!
Charlotte Escudero of France is tackled by Sam Monaghan and Neve Jones. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
66mins Double sub for Ireland. Jones and Monaghan off, Moloney-MacDonald and Corri-Fallon on.
62mins Fiona Halligan: France’s momentum is growing and Ireland need to get their hands on the ball and hold onto it to try and stop the French purple patch..
60mins Big ten minutes now for Ireland, need to hold firm.
59mins Double blow for Ireland. Moments after going a player down for 10 minutes, Escudero crosses the line for a try. Great conversion by Bourgeois.
TRY FOR FRANCE!
59mins TMO reviewing a tackle by Moore, who has just come on. Yellow card is the decision, dangerous tackle.
59mins Fiona Halligan:
France growing into the game with the elements at their back. There are some errors creeping into the Irish game.
58mins Double sub for Ireland: Moore on for Hogan, and Perry on for O’Dowd.
55mins The weather doesn’t seem as bad in Exeter now compared to the first half. Although it is hard to tell from my living room in Cork!
54mins Ireland collect their lineout and the Irish fans are urging them forward. Not releasing called by the referee so France regain the ball.
53mins Ireland penalty and O’Brien heads for the corner.
52mins Brittany Hogan down injured so play has been halted.
51mins Fiona Halligan: Another error from Ireland obstructing in the lineout. Two successive penalties that will frustrate Ireland.
49mins Fiona Halligan: That’s frustraing there, massive penalty from the scrum that remains dominant and then having the penalty reversed for foul play.
48mins And she is going for the posts. And it drops over. France finally on the board. Great kick by Morgane Bourgeois.
PENALTY FOR FRANCE
46mins Another scrum for Ireland. They’ll be pleased with this start to the second half.
44mins Ireland again going for the scrum, has worked well for them so far.
43mins Ireland win a penalty on their own 22 metre line.
42mins France on the attack now, they’ve plenty of work to do.
2.17pm SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!
2.06pm Simon Lewis in Exeter: Ireland take a 13-0 into the half time break and it’s thoroughly deserved after making the most of the conditions and exploiting French edginess.
Yet their failure to add a third try just before the break with a player advantage could cost them, 35 phases ending in a turnover.
They’ll turn around playing into the wind and France surely will begin to apply pressure. Will 13 points be enough of a cushion?
2.05pm Fiona Halligan: Great first half from Ireland, very dominant in the scrum and forwards are leading the way.
Ireland not giving France any space with quick line speeds and forcing errors and taking advantage of the yellow cards.
Ireland’s Eve Higgins is tackled by France’s Joanna Grisez and Gabrielle Vernier. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady
40+8mins Wafer loses possession and France clear to end the half. Great half by Ireland. But of scurmish there at the end, sets up a fiesty second half.
40+7mins Ireland up to Phase 32 now. Still pushing, still trying to find a gap.
40+5mins Phase 12 of Ireland’s attack. They’re so close to another try.
40+3mins Ireland power forward with their scrum. Close to the French line again.
40+1mins Yellow card for France.
39mins Ireland kick to the 22metre line, looking for another score before the break.
39mins Scrum penatlies so far. France 3 Ireland 0
39mins Fiona Halligan: A great score, I thought it was going to drift wide there. Ireland still very dominant in the scrum.
38mins Rather than go for the corner, O’Brien kicks for the posts. Good decision, a great kick given the conditions and Ireland extend their lead.
PENALTY FOR IRELAND!
36mins Fiona Halligan:
It is a very un-French like performance but Ireland are putting great pressure on them with fast line speed and good scramble defence when needed.
34mins Tackles made stat update. France 99 Ireland 38. Three tackles missed by both teams.
34mins It took her a few moments but Wafer is back on her feet. Looks to be ok.
34mins Fiona Halligan: That doesn’t look good for Aoife Wafer, she is just back from a knee injury.
31mins France penalty and they take it quickly but they lose it close to Ireland’s 22. Think that was the first time they made it up that far!
Linda Djougang of Ireland scores her side’s first try during the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 quarter-final match between France and Ireland at Sandy Park in Exeter, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
27mins A sliced kick clear gives Ireland a lineout on the 22 metre line. The girls in green claim it and are on the attack again.
26mins Fiona Halligan: The scrum is very dominant for Ireland and their forwards are on the front foot.
25mins Bernadou’s yellow card will remain just a yellow card. She will be back in play in just over three minutes.
25mins Left and wide again from O’Brien with her conversion. Really tough with the wind.
24mins Ireland move it quickly from right to left and Stacey Flood dives across the line. She even had a spare player over to her left if needed. Brilliant this from Ireland.
TRY FOR IRELAND!
23mins Ireland send a line out too long but a France knock on gives Ireland a scrum close to the French endline.
21mins Great turnover by Ireland and the players celebrate as if they have scored a try.
Fiona Halligan:
Brilliant choke tackle there from Jones and O’Dowd to get the turnover. France had to make a change to bring in a front rower there for the scrum.
19mins Our other rugby expert (along with Simon Lewis, not me) Fiona Halligan says: Its brilliant pressure and line speed from Ireland to keep Fance in their half.
18mins Yellow card for Bernadou for a high tackle. Bunker will check to see if it should be a red.
18mins Ireland again on the attack but play halted following a collision. TMO checking for a French high tackle. Bernadou is currently off with a HIA.
16mins So far france have made 41 tackles, compared to just eight for Ireland. France have hardly been in Ireland’s half as of yet. Famous last words.
13mins A nice kick towards the corner by O’Brien. Still a good distance out from the line though.
10mins From Simon Lewis earlier. He is in the stadium for us: Chucking it down here at Sandy Park but the atrocious weather is not dampening Irish spirits in the crowd.
It will be an uphill task against a quality France side who have been building nicely coming into the knockout stages on their mission to break their World Cup semi-final hoodoo but Sam Monaghan’s team have a great opportunity to stage an upset today.
7mins Tough kick by O’Brien in the wind and the rain drifts wide of the near post.
6mins And there will be no disallowing of this one. Djougang gets her first try of this World Cup. She played in France earlier in her career so a nice moment for her, I’m sure.
TRY FOR IRELAND!
4mins A knock on in the build-up sees TMO disallow the try but it is a penalty for Ireland and they kick to the corner.
TRY DISALLOWED!
TMO REVIEW!
4mins Great start by Ireland and they get their rewards. Monaghan powers her way over the line for her first Irish try and Dannah O’Brien adds the extras.
TRY FOR IRELAND!
3mins Great pressure by Ireland. They reclaim possession close to the line.
2mins Ireland fail to make the most of it and now it’s a France scrum.
1mins Mistake from France and Ireland have a scrum on their five metre line.
WE ARE UNDERWAY!
12.59pm Before kick-off, just some sad news from the world of sport to bring you below.
12.57pm Hmmm, not going to lie, the French anthem is just much better. Isn’t it?
12.55pm And now the teams are out on the pitch. Time for the national anthems, starting with Ireland.
12.54pm The teams are in the tunnel.
12.52pm Irish fans in good voice, and in good numbers. As always.
Ireland fans ahead of the match. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.
Ireland fans ahead of the match. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.
12.48pm And sure while we are talking about rugby. This is surely of interest to Irish, and French fans.
In their first home outing of the season, Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle condemned Christophe Urios’s Clermont to a second defeat in a row.
For more, click on the link here.
12.40pm The weather looks horrendous in Exeter. Really wet, really wind. Should that suit Ireland?
12.38pm Here is a reminder of the Ireland team to take on, and hopefully defeat, France.
Ireland: 15. Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) 14. Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) 13. Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 12. Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) 11. Amee-Leigh Costigan (Railway Union RFC/Munster) 10. Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 9. Aoibheann Reilly (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) 1. Niamh O’Dowd (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 2. Neve Jones (Gloucester Hartpury) 3. Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 4. Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) 5. Sam Monaghan (Gloucester Hartpury/IQ Rugby) – captain 6. Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster) 7. Aoife Wafer (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) 8. Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster).
Replacements 16. Clíodhna Moloney MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs) 17. Ellena Perry (Gloucester Hartpury/IQ Rugby) 18. Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke RFC/Ulster) 19. Eimear Corri-Fallon (Blackrock RFC/Leinster) 20. Grace Moore (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby) 21. Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) 22. Enya Breen (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) 23. Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC/Connacht).
12.30pm Welcome all to our liveblog on a huge day for Women’s rugby in Ireland.
My name is Andrew Horgan and I will be talking you all through the best of the action as the Girls in Green take on France in the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.
Ireland have never won a knockout game at the Rugby World Cup – Men’s and Women’s – but today would be a good day to change that.
Kick-off is at 1pm so before then, fell free to read the best of the previews below from our website.
Ciara Griffin believes that Set-piece battles and playmaker duels define World Cup quarter-finals
After their defeat to New Zealand last time out, Ireland ready to bounce back against France says Aoife Dalton.