{"id":451544,"date":"2026-05-16T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/451544\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T07:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T07:00:13","slug":"ireland-coach-admits-fears-he-had-before-giving-new-star-a-shot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/451544\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland coach admits fears he had before giving new star a shot"},"content":{"rendered":"

With a win on Sunday, Ireland won\u2019t just have had a successful day out in front of a record crowd, but they\u2019d have met the expectations they set on themselves heading into the tournament.<\/p>\n

Disappointment in London and Clermont aside, the main aim for this group was to win the three home games, and after brushing Italy and Wales aside<\/a> with relative ease, the Scots await to make it three from three at home.<\/p>\n

For scrum coach Denis Fogarty, he\u2019s more than enjoyed Ireland\u2019s strides in the set-piece and the depth built along the way.<\/p>\n

\"\"Scrum coach Denis Fogarty. Pic: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

\u2018What I\u2019ve really enjoyed is how we\u2019re bringing other players through now,\u2019 the former Munster man said. \u2018I think that was the key going into it, there were times where we needed to bring a bit of depth through, get them some caps, and Eil\u00eds has done really, really well when she\u2019s been involved with us, which is really, really positive.<\/p>\n

\u2018And the likes of Sadhbh McGrath and Niamh O\u2019Dowd as well are battling it out for positions, and Elle Perry\u2019s been brilliant. So the competition there now is quite competitive, so it\u2019s a tough selection every week because they all want to be involved. But look, it\u2019s also a good place to be, and long may it continue.\u2019<\/p>\n

This group have built solid foundations to start the new World Cup cycle. Injuries have been at a minimum and each week the mood around camp is always high.<\/p>\n

\"\"Eil\u00eds Cahill of Ireland with Ireland scrum coach Denis Fogarty. Pic: Shauna Clinton\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

\u2018They build it during the week,\u2019 Fogarty explained on the atmosphere. \u2018I wouldn\u2019t say Monday now, they\u2019d be saying they would to be fine, to be perfectly honest, especially after 3 games in a row. But definitely through the week, they build in that energy, and it\u2019s kind of built from within, within themselves. <\/p>\n

\u2018They know when they\u2019re down, and they know when their energy is low, and they kind of gather themselves, kind of go, \u201cRight, we need to nail tomorrow, and get on from there.\u201d So, look, they\u2019re a great bunch to work with.\u2019<\/p>\n

Several new faces have broken out this tournament, from Robyn O\u2019Connor to Katie Whelan to more. Fogarty believes looking back they\u2019ve all been able to hang in the big time.<\/p>\n

\"\"Robyn O\u2019Connor. Pic: Shauna Clinton\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s been brilliant, and I think it shows by Katie, obviously getting her 1st cap, and now she\u2019s in around the squads now, which is brilliant, and it\u2019s so deserved. You know, she\u2019s been knocking on the door for years. <\/p>\n

\u2018But the likes of Eili\u00eds Cahill has really impressed us at a Celtic Challenge, and then, you know, to be honest, when I was looking at her, I was there, you were kind of half nervous, giving her an opportunity, and then she takes it, you know, and they\u2019ve built from that, and they grow from that, and they\u2019ll make mistakes. <\/p>\n

\u2018But I think everyone who\u2019s come in has deserved to be here, and they certainly don\u2019t look out of place. And even Robyn, she\u2019s someone so young, but someone so electric when she gets on the ball, and again, doesn\u2019t look out of place. She looks like she\u2019s played lots of international games. So, you know, it\u2019s very pleasing. It\u2019s exactly what we need as a squad.\u2019<\/p>\n

One of those new faces Katie Whelan, made her debut in that record-breaking game at Twickenham, and as she gets ready to break another record at home<\/a> this Sunday, she feels that having the Irish crowd behind them now will be even bigger.<\/p>\n

\"ireland\"Katie Whelan during an Ireland Women\u2019s Rugby squad training session at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin. Pic: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

I think in Twickenham, I was so excited, because it was my first cap, that the 77,000 people didn\u2019t faze me. Whereas when the home crowd, the 9000 in Dexcom were there, actually, I felt it [nerves] a lot more. Just knowing that everyone\u2019s there to see us and support us, and knowing that, like, it doesn\u2019t matter what we do in the pitch, people are gonna be so excited to see us and proud of us.<\/p>\n

Over 30,000 tickets have been sold already for Sunday, and Whelan, although only having a handful of caps, has had vast experience in front of huge crowds before this tournament.<\/p>\n

\u2018When I played in the seven series in Hong Kong, for the day of the finals, I think there were 55,000 there. <\/p>\n

\u2018But, like, that sevens, you\u2019re on the pitch seven minutes, you\u2019re gone. But not everyone is there to see you. Do you know what I mean? Like, whereas for a 15s game, everyone\u2019s there just for that one occasion.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"Katie Whelan. Pic: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

And this occasion will be a huge one for Irish rugby, and Whelan still isn\u2019t sure if it has hit her yet.<\/p>\n

\u2018Kind of unbelievable. Like, we kind of forget that we\u2019re actually gonna be playing the Aviva. Everyone\u2019s really, really excited, but we\u2019re kind of trying to just focus on the actual game first.<\/p>\n

\u2018But yeah, it\u2019s surreal.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a win on Sunday, Ireland won\u2019t just have had a successful day out in front of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-451544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}