CANADA MOVED TO the top of the WXV1 table on Saturday night as they took full advantage of two Ireland yellow cards in a 21-8 win.
Looking to back up last week’s shock win over the Black Ferns, Ireland started brightly at the Langley Event Centre before losing props Linda Djougang and Niamh O’Dowd in the space of two first-half minutes.
By the time Ireland were back to their full complement, the hosts had opened up a 21-3 lead from which they never looked back, and although Ireland hit back through an Eimear Considine try in the second half, they couldn’t bridge the gap.
Canada hit the front in the 26th minute. Linda Djougang was penalised and sin-binned for what referee Aimee Barrett-Theron deemed to be deliberate knock-on within metres of the Irish line, and when Ireland collapsed the resulting lineout maul, Barrett-Theron awarded a penalty try and sent O’Dowd to the bin as well.
Canada found themselves down to 14 shortly afterwards when they lost Alex Ellis following a series of breakdown infringements, Dannah O’Brien slotting the penalty to make it 7-3.
But Canada struck for a quick double in the space of three minutes before the break, Claire Gallagher and Julia Omokhuale going over, and Alex Tessier converting both, for a comfortable 21-3 lead at half time.
Ireland weren’t going down without a fight and a colossal carry by Aoife Wafer sparked their comeback on 46 minutes. Two phases later, O’Brien picked out a perfectly-judged cross-field kick for Considine to dot down in the corner.
Ireland had moments on the front foot but couldn’t find another breakthrough as thoughts now turn to their final game of the campaign against USA on Friday night.
Written by Niall Kelly and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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