{"id":90713,"date":"2025-08-25T02:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/90713\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T02:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:23:07","slug":"ireland-open-with-six-try-win-over-japan-to-give-them-hope-of-making-last-eight-womens-rugby-world-cup-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/90713\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland open with six-try win over Japan to give them hope of making last eight | Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The shadow of the defending champions, New Zealand, looms over Pool\u00a0C and on that basis Ireland could not afford to lose. They kicked off their World Cup campaign with a \u00adfluent win, in which every element of their game functioned well on the immaculate Franklin\u2019s Gardens pitch.<\/p>\n

Japan won the previous match between these two, a 29-10 victory in 2022, and had they upset the odds it would hardly have represented a sequel to the Miracle of Brighton. But Ireland are a different proposition under Scott Bemand and their \u00adphysicality and accuracy, for the most part, was just too much for their willing opponents. Japan were outclassed and overpowered, but two converted tries gave their impressive supporters something to shout about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got what we wanted,\u201d Bemand said. \u201cComing into an event like this with a young and inexperienced group comes with a lot of unknowns. Japan are a very good team: \u00adorganised, disciplined and they don\u2019t give up. We scored tries with some variety, we\u2019ve shown forward power and backs prowess, but we\u2019re going to need to be better each week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some rock-solid maul defence first up showed Japan would not be intimidated, but the Ireland wing Amee-Leigh Costigan was soon \u00adflying over in the corner after \u00adhanding off Komachi Imakugi. Neve Jones scored a well\u2011taken second from a powerful maul, Dannah O\u2019Brien kicking the second of six conversions, and \u00adIreland were showing precision and power.<\/p>\n

Costigan timed a pass perfectly for Beibhinn \u00adParsons on the right, and she raced to the corner for a beautifully \u00adorchestrated try. Haruka Hirotsu crossed to get Japan on the board after 29 minutes, but Fiona Tuite added Ireland\u2019s fourth three minutes before half-time.<\/p>\n

Eve Higgins dives over for Ireland\u2019s fifth try after catching a careless Japan pass and running 80 metres to turn defence into attack. Photograph: Joe Giddens\/PA<\/p>\n

Japan came out in determined mood and, when the No 6 Masami Kawamura pushed over on 43 \u00adminutes, it seemed like Ireland\u2019s defence might wilt in the Northamp\u00adtonshire heat. Five \u00adminutes later, though, came the ultimate \u00admomentum-shifter when with brilliant anticipation Eve Higgins snatched a loose pass and ran the length of the field to score.<\/p>\n

Ireland had a penalty try disallowed, for a maul infringement by Sam Monaghan, but stayed in the ascendancy and Enya Breen, on as a replacement, added a sixth try. The prop Linda Djougang was sent to the sin\u2011bin on 69 minutes but it mattered\u00a0little.<\/p>\n

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Quick GuideEngland’s Botterman aims to ‘cement’ place as world’s bestShow\"\"<\/p>\n

England’s Hannah Botterman has said she wants to ‘cement’ herself as the best loosehead prop in the world at this Rugby World Cup. The Red Roses star produced a great performance against the USA in England’s opener, scoring a brilliant try and coming up with scrum and breakdown penalties. The Bristol player believes she has room to improve at this tournament and beyond, however.<\/p>\n

‘I\u2019ve worked really hard over the offseason to get into some decent shape,’ Botterman (pictured) said. ‘I don\u2019t want to be shy about the fact that I want to be the best loosehead prop in the world. I want to cement that this tournament. For me, that was a good start, but I feel like I\u2019ve still got a lot more I can give.’<\/p>\n

‘I don\u2019t want it to be questioned, if I\u2019m honest. I think I am within the conversation and now I just want to push on and keep improving’, the 26-year-old added. ‘Everyone can improve everywhere, but for a long time my scrummaging wasn\u2019t the best. I\u2019ve really worked on that and I think that is an area of strength now. Attacking wise, I\u2019m happy; defensively I think I can be a bit stronger and chuck my weight around a bit more. I feel physically in a really good spot.’<\/p>\n

Another name that could be included among the best looseheads in the world is the USA’s Hope Rogers, who played against Botterman on Friday night. The game was a record-breaker with 42,723 fans at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light \u2013 the biggest attendance for a Women’s Rugby World Cup opening game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I don’t think we probably quite knew how big it was going to be,’ Botterman added. ‘When we turned up and started seeing the crowds, when we walked out with\u00a0all the flames, it started to feel a bit real. We fed off the crowd well.’ Sarah Rendell<\/p>\n

Photograph: Steve Taylor\/Shutterstock Editorial<\/p>\n

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A quarter-final against France looks most likely for Ireland, but if they keep improving they will give the Black Ferns a serious test on the south coast on 7 September. Spain are up next for Bemand\u2019s side, next weekend here in Northampton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take Spain seriously,\u201d Bemand said. \u201cThey\u2019re a good team with a strong sevens background \u2026 We want to keep building momentum and keep giving people something to get after. We want to show people what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

After facing Spain, Ireland will prepare in earnest for New Zealand: on this evidence it might just be their own Miracle of Brighton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shadow of the defending champions, New Zealand, looms over Pool\u00a0C and on that basis Ireland could not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-90713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}