Ireland head coach Scott Bemand said they “knew it was coming” when asked about their 40-0 drubbing at the hands of an electric New Zealand squad at Brighton & Hove stadium last weekend.

The heavy and comprehensive defeat leaves Ireland in second place in Group C and facing a savage test when they face France this weekend in Exeter after Les Blues thumped South Africa by 57-10 in their Pool D meeting in Northampton.

“We knew how New Zealand defend, culturally, we know that they embrace the physical side of the game,” said Bemand when interviewed after the game by RTÉ.

“We know that our ball movement has got to be a bit quicker, so sometimes, at the end of the first half, we got a bit passive, a bit steady with the ball, and then their line speed can get you behind the gainline.

“When we were fast with it, we got the ball to the edge and made some momentum, there were times we caught behind it and times we created opportunities.

“So, look, there’s bits we can go at, but acclimatising to playing at this speed is a big part of our growth.”

Despite a very industrious start by the Ireland team in front of a massive crowd, they were unable to turn their possession into points on the board, and, following the strange circumstance of the a pause in the game due to the British Government testing a nationwide text alert system, the Black Ferns struck in the 15th minute when Mikaele-Tu’u made a fine break that allowed the New Zealand backs move the ball through the hands, with Stacey Waaka finishing off and Renee Holmes converting.

At half-time it was 19-0 in favour of the Black Ferns and Ireland were now without Dublin’s Stacey Flood who picked up a serious looking foot injury after 33 minutes. Flood was followed onto the injury list by Edel McMahon early in the second half and Eve Higgins to a HIA later on.

New Zealand had their bonus point in the bag when they stormed over for their fourth try on 57 minutes, and while the impressive Irish crowd at the Brighton venue tried to lift their team, Ireland just couldn’t break down the Black Ferns despite laying siege to the opposition line with a series of driving mauls.

New Zealand broke away from one Irish attack but had their try ruled out with a knock on.

Try number six saw Braxton Sorensen-McGee secure her hat-trick and the Black Ferns’ fifth try of the game on 79 minutes while the outstanding Maia Joseph scored from the resulting kick-off to leave it 40-0 in a disappointing end for Ireland.

“I think in terms of how we started the game, we created momentum, and we created opportunities and if you look back at that I think we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter in how we take points when we’re in the score zone,” said Scott Bemand.

“If you look over the last two weeks, we’ve actually been pretty clinical in terms of getting into the score zone and coming away with points. Clearly, a different challenge against New Zealand in the type of athlete and the type of player they’ve got, the physicality they bring.

“The fact we’re getting in there and creating momentum and getting opportunities to get ‘ins’ will be something we’ll look at and go ‘OK, we understand we need to do more of that again against another World Cup contender next week’.

“We just need to be a little bit smarter in how we get over the whitewash when those opportunities come.”

Ireland: Stacey Flood; Béibhinn Parsons (for Higgins, 73), Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe; Dannah O’Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Niamh O’Dowd, Neve Jones, Linda Djougang; Ruth Campbell, Sam Monaghan (co-capt); Grace Moore, Edel McMahon (co-capt), Brittany Hogan. Replacements: Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald (for Jones, 50), Siobhán McCarthy (for O’Dowd, 60), Sadhbh McGrath (for Djouigang, 60), Eimear Corr-Fallon (for Monaghan, 60), Claire Boles (for McMahon, 44), Emily Lane (for Reilly, 60), Nancy McGillivray (for Flood, 33), Anna McGann (for Parsons, 44).

New Zealand: Renee Holmes; Braxton Sorensen-McGee, Stacey Waaka, Sylvia Brunt, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe; Ruahei Demant (co-capt), Risi Pouri-Lane; Chryss Viliko, Georgia Ponsonby, Tanya Kalounivale; Maia Roos, Alana Bremner; Layla Sae, Jorja Miller, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u. Replacements: Vici-Rose Green (for Ponsonby, 66), Kate Henwood (for Viliko, 55), Amy Rule (for Kalounivale, 30), Laura Bayfield (for Bremner, 25-30 [blood] and 55), Kennedy Tukuafu (co-capt) (for Sae, 55), Maia Joseph (for Pouri-Lane, 63), Theresa Setefano (for Brunt, 70), Ayesha Leti-I’iga (for Woodman-Wickliffe, 51).

Referee: Hollie Davidson

 

7 September 2025; Edel McMahon of Ireland is tackled by Laura Bayfield and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u of New Zealand during the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool C match between New Zealand and Ireland at Brighton and Hove Community Stadium in Falmer, England.

Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile