{"id":65409,"date":"2025-08-13T15:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/65409\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T15:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T15:44:11","slug":"the-black-ferns-were-gracious-in-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/65409\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Black Ferns were gracious in defeat’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fiona Coghlan captained Ireland<\/a> during their remarkable 17-14 upset against the Black Ferns<\/a> at the 2014 Rugby World Cup<\/a> in Marcoussis, France.<\/p>\n

This victory marked the end of the Black Ferns<\/a>\u2018 16-year reign as world champions. A spectacular long-range try by winger Alison Miller, scored an hour into the match, propelled Ireland into a lead that they maintained for the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n

While halting the Black Ferns\u2019<\/a> unprecedented 20-match tournament winning streak, Coghlan emphasised that Ireland<\/a> had a clear vision of their game plan and remained composed, even when they faced an 8-0 deficit \u2013 except for one moment.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith a couple of minutes to go, Laura Guest thought she had scored. I had to pick her up and remind her to keep going. She put the ball down on the five-metre line,\u201d Coghlan reminisced, roaring with laughter.<\/p>\n

Guest, a future Munster Women\u2019s coach, capped 39 times for Ireland as a prop or loose forward, was briefly guilty of looking too far ahead, something Ireland stressed to avoid while striving for success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were excited about the prospect of playing against New Zealand<\/a>, but our immediate focus had to be on the USA at the start of the tournament,\u201d Coghlan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew we had to win that game to give ourselves a chance to advance to the knockout round. After that win, it was essential to ask ourselves, \u2018How do we beat New Zealand<\/a>? What do we need to do to improve our performance in just four days?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cManagement had a long-term plan for that campaign focused on becoming the fittest country in the tournament. The pre-season was massive, absolutely savage. We knew that if we were there or thereabouts with 20 minutes to go, we wouldn\u2019t falter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had access to some footage, and upon reviewing it, we noticed that New Zealand<\/a> weren\u2019t as connected as they could be during kick-and-chase situations. Our strategy was to apply pressure down their end of the field, which ultimately led to the try scored by Alison Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first half, New Zealand played tighter to bait us in. In the second half, they would become more expansive because they had the athletes to do that. This would challenge our scramble defence, and they certainly tested it with several line breaks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother area where we believed we could gain an advantage was their scrum. I thought we should have received a penalty try in the right corner during the first half because their back row broke away while the scrum was still moving. But never mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland<\/a> executed their game plan precisely to start the match, but a mistake, ironically by Ireland\u2019s New Zealand-born Tania Rosser, celebrating her 50th cap, threw a wayward pass. Black Fern Selica Winiata<\/a> pounced on the opportunity from halfway to score, making it 8-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat happened against the run of play, and the trouble with the Black Ferns<\/a> is that one mistake is all it takes,\u201d Coghlan said. \u201cThere was no panic because, except for a penalty to New Zealand, we had dominated up to that point. Tania was a wonderful player \u2013 tough, smart, and quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crucially, Rosser atoned for her mistake eight minutes later. From a scrum, the halfback gained ground with an assertive snipe, setting in motion a strong series of pick-and-goes finished by number eight Heather O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the plaudits for the win went to Alison Miller and her second-half try. I completely understand that, but there were many unsung heroes.<\/p>\n

\u201cJenny Murphy, off the bench, made a huge impact, and our back row of O\u2019Brien, Paula Fitzpatrick, and Claire Molloy<\/a> were incredible \u2013 so clear in their roles and relentless. You should have seen them afterwards, battered and bruised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fullback Niamh Briggs, capped 62 times, was Ireland\u2019s most gifted attacking player. Her vision, followed by a precise chip kick, engineered the famous Miller runaway try in the 60th minute when Ireland were down 11-7.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one of those moments \u2013 just brilliant \u2013 but not entirely spontaneous because of our planning,\u201d Coghlan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiller excelled in athletics, gymnastics, and Gaelic football. She is a natural at anything she turns her hand to. She was in the team to finish opportunities, and she did that well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland<\/a> was brought back down to earth within five minutes when Kelly Brazier<\/a> punished Fitzpatrick for failing to release a tackled player.<\/p>\n

Undeterred, Ireland regrouped at 14-14, and tenacious work from O\u2019Brien, Rosser, and Ashleigh Baxter earned a penalty, which Briggs kicked with ten minutes to go.<\/p>\n

Inevitably, the Black Ferns rallied, forcing Ireland<\/a> to scramble and thwart Linda Itunu and Emma Jensen, who had earlier been outpaced by Miller.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, territory swung in the Black Ferns\u2019 favour until O\u2019Brien came up trumps with another terrific carry off the base of a scrum, followed by Briggs\u2019 thumping touchfinder, giving Ireland the territory they craved.<\/p>\n

The Black Ferns<\/a> ominously launched an attack from deep, but Rosser\u2019s pestering at a scrum, combined with a crunching tackle by centre Lynne Cantwell, and patient, precise, close-quarter forward surges finished the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Black Ferns<\/a> were very gracious in defeat, but smarting underneath, they told us: \u2018Don\u2019t make this your final\u2019. A pity it was,\u201d Coghlan said.<\/p>\n

England went on to win the 2014 Rugby World Cup, eliminating Ireland in the semi-finals. France defeated Ireland in the playoff for third place, and Coghlan retired after 85 Tests, solidifying her status as a true warrior during a golden era of drastic improvement.<\/p>\n

From her debut in 2003 until 2009, Ireland<\/a> lost 33 out of 50 internationals. However, between 2010 and 2014, Ireland achieved 22 victories in 35 matches.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter we beat New Zealand<\/a>, my phone exploded. The whole country rallied behind us. It put Irish women\u2019s rugby on the map. No national Irish team had ever beaten New Zealand before.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Ireland prepares to face the Black Ferns<\/a> in their final match of Pool C for the 2025 Rugby World Cup<\/a> in Brighton on September 7th, there\u2019s hope they can repeat history. Ireland stunned the Black Ferns 29-27 in their first WXV 1<\/a> fixture in 2024, having been promoted from WXV 3<\/a> just a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Fixture<\/p>\n

Women’s Rugby World Cup<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New Zealand Women <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ireland Women <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Speaking of that match, Coghlan admits: \u201cI was gobsmacked. I had written the team off. They finished third in the Six Nations, and I thought going to WXV 1<\/a> was a poor choice for development at that time. Wales had done the same and got absolutely hammered. But credit goes to Scott Bemand and the players; they were outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest similarity I noticed between the 2024 team and our win was how well connected they were. They knew how they wanted to play and were sharper than the New Zealand team, who I expected to be better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey turned them around and forced them to make mistakes. Aoife Wafer<\/a>, with her two tries, was phenomenal, and it\u2019s a shame Erin King<\/a> will miss the World Cup<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coghlan will be commentating for Ireland\u2019s<\/a> next match up with the world champions in Brighton, while enjoying the company of several of her pioneering teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a constant WhatsApp group. A number of us met when the All Blacks<\/a> played Ireland in Dublin last year. The same will happen in Brighton.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result in Vancouver has unfortunately given the Black Ferns a wake-up call, but win or lose, we\u2019ll dine out on our 2014 victory for as long as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fiona Coghlan captained Ireland during their remarkable 17-14 upset against the Black Ferns at the 2014 Rugby World…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-65409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}