IRELAND HAVE HAD better results but found themselves in more sour form afterwards.
When asked about the palpable buzz emanating from Greg McWilliams’ first camp in charge, a mood not dampened by an opening-day defeat to a vastly improved Wales at the RDS last Saturday, openside Edel McMahon describes 2022 as the “turning of a new leaf”.
“Everyone that’s involved is kind of ready to just put the past behind them, move forward, and kind of entrusting that what’s in place now is happening,” says the Kilmihil woman. “But we’re already starting to see that: Gemma [Crowley, team manager] has been excellent since her appointment in. Greg, Niamh, the whole new staff… I think the whole encouraging environment is probably what’s the biggest turnaround, and the licence to play.
“Greg has come in with a plan and it’s quite consistent in what he wants, very constructive. The feedback is very good and there’s a clear path, a transparency around it, so it definitely breeds that positive environment where people are comfortable and happy.
Definitely Greg does promote that style of: you want to be brave, you want to play, but you want to see that we have that structure. But it’s like 80:20. If that door opens, you take it, you go with your gut. If you make a mistake, you make a mistake but at least be brave enough to try it.
Edel McMahon, Nicole Cronin and Sam Monaghan console each other after last weekend's defeat. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
McMahon herself threw a nice offload which brought Ireland over the gainline in advance of their stunning second try against the Welsh, although she soon had her thunder stolen by her Wasps “comrade”, Sam Monaghan.
The imperious lock’s impact was felt all over the park last Saturday — partially through charge-downs or the tournament-high eight lineouts she claimed from the sky, but mostly via a combination of her physicality and her wrists when she took the ball to the line.
Her highlight-reel offload to send Linda Djougang over for Ireland’s second score was practically unfathomable conceptually and yet expertly executed. The only people at the RDS who saw it coming were those on the pitch wearing green, and particularly her club team-mate.
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“Sam’s brilliant,” gushes McMahon. “She’s an athlete, you know? She played goalie for Meath, I think, before she moved over to England.
“We briefly were both in NUIG. Our paths never crossed, actually, even though we were in college at the same time.
“Even from our first day coming up to Wasps, you knew she had the eagerness to learn, you knew she had the raw ability. It was just about getting gametime and gametime and gametime so that she could get more comfortable in her position. And she’s really, really started to shine, like.
“I believe that Sam can do those offloads because I can see her doing them in training. I’m actually not surprised that she’s gotten a few charge-downs because she’s a bit of a charge-down queen now. But we instill that belief in each other, so then it just becomes habit. In the same way, I know if [Amée]-Leigh gets hands on ball, she’s going to score, she’s going to finish that try — same with Beibhinn [Parsons]. I think there’s certainly that air of belief and confidence that we instill in each other; we know that we’re masters in those particular areas, our ‘super-strengths.’”
McMahon, asked to clarify if Monaghan also produces such picturesque offloads at training with Wasps, laughs: “She’s doing it everywhere! Most nights of the week, yeah…
“We had an internal game with Ireland and she made the same offload — and to Linda [Djougang] as well; she was on the inside, and then Linda to me.
“It’s just something that you know she’s going to do and I think that helps even with the support lines. It happened to be Linda again [v Wales], so she knew it was coming.”
Injury has in the past prevented McMahon from facing France away from home in a competitive fixture, and so Saturday’s outing in the caldron that will be Toulouse’s Stade Ernest-Wallon will be something of a novel experience.
And the combative McMahon, with 14 senior caps, is more experienced than most members of McWilliams’ squad.
Edel McMahon. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The temptation against Annick Hayraud’s Bleus, surely, would be to try fewer things, albeit that comes with the associated risk of Ireland ultimately playing within themselves and shipping some heavy damage.
McMahon, though, sees that risk as a moot point: her side are going down there to play some ball when the right opportunities arise and, as they see it, to compete with their hosts — not merely to continue their overall development as it pertains to their coaches’ philosophy, or to survive.
“No, I don’t think that’s ever an Irish way. So, like, there was times like when Wales got ahead and we had a player in the bin, and Nichola [Fryday] came in and she was like, ‘We’re the Irish, we don’t go down fighting — we keep going.’
“Like, there are so many elements of the game that you have to work on: breakdown, lineout, lineout attack, maul setup, maul attack, maul D; and there’s a lot of things that we still need to tick off. The last three weeks, we’ve been learning so, so much, so we’re hoping to build every element over the course of the campaign.
“Breakdown is another focus,” McMahon adds, after Ireland conceded 14 penalties to Wales’ five last weekend. “I think it’s a new one that the refs are pinning on, and I’m seeing it in a lot of games, is not rolling away. Same in the AIL, same in the Premiership. That’s something we have to be keeping a check on every week. Like, it’s not just fixing one week, it’s constant reiterating, constant learning, constantly keeping a check on the rules. We just need to tighten that up and pick and choose our moments better.
We’re definitely not going to shy away from it. We’re going to relish the challenge to play against a top-three team in the world. You don’t often get the opportunity to do that. But the Irish certainly tend to show up for those kinds of performances as well. Likewise when we last played England as well. I think we’ll show up for the occasion, definitely not go into our shells.
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Edel McMahon: Wasps team-mate Monaghan throws outrageous offloads 'most nights of the week'
IRELAND HAVE HAD better results but found themselves in more sour form afterwards.
When asked about the palpable buzz emanating from Greg McWilliams’ first camp in charge, a mood not dampened by an opening-day defeat to a vastly improved Wales at the RDS last Saturday, openside Edel McMahon describes 2022 as the “turning of a new leaf”.
“Everyone that’s involved is kind of ready to just put the past behind them, move forward, and kind of entrusting that what’s in place now is happening,” says the Kilmihil woman. “But we’re already starting to see that: Gemma [Crowley, team manager] has been excellent since her appointment in. Greg, Niamh, the whole new staff… I think the whole encouraging environment is probably what’s the biggest turnaround, and the licence to play.
“Greg has come in with a plan and it’s quite consistent in what he wants, very constructive. The feedback is very good and there’s a clear path, a transparency around it, so it definitely breeds that positive environment where people are comfortable and happy.
McMahon herself threw a nice offload which brought Ireland over the gainline in advance of their stunning second try against the Welsh, although she soon had her thunder stolen by her Wasps “comrade”, Sam Monaghan.
The imperious lock’s impact was felt all over the park last Saturday — partially through charge-downs or the tournament-high eight lineouts she claimed from the sky, but mostly via a combination of her physicality and her wrists when she took the ball to the line.
Her highlight-reel offload to send Linda Djougang over for Ireland’s second score was practically unfathomable conceptually and yet expertly executed. The only people at the RDS who saw it coming were those on the pitch wearing green, and particularly her club team-mate.
“Sam’s brilliant,” gushes McMahon. “She’s an athlete, you know? She played goalie for Meath, I think, before she moved over to England.
“We briefly were both in NUIG. Our paths never crossed, actually, even though we were in college at the same time.
“Even from our first day coming up to Wasps, you knew she had the eagerness to learn, you knew she had the raw ability. It was just about getting gametime and gametime and gametime so that she could get more comfortable in her position. And she’s really, really started to shine, like.
“I believe that Sam can do those offloads because I can see her doing them in training. I’m actually not surprised that she’s gotten a few charge-downs because she’s a bit of a charge-down queen now. But we instill that belief in each other, so then it just becomes habit. In the same way, I know if [Amée]-Leigh gets hands on ball, she’s going to score, she’s going to finish that try — same with Beibhinn [Parsons]. I think there’s certainly that air of belief and confidence that we instill in each other; we know that we’re masters in those particular areas, our ‘super-strengths.’”
McMahon, asked to clarify if Monaghan also produces such picturesque offloads at training with Wasps, laughs: “She’s doing it everywhere! Most nights of the week, yeah…
“We had an internal game with Ireland and she made the same offload — and to Linda [Djougang] as well; she was on the inside, and then Linda to me.
“It’s just something that you know she’s going to do and I think that helps even with the support lines. It happened to be Linda again [v Wales], so she knew it was coming.”
Injury has in the past prevented McMahon from facing France away from home in a competitive fixture, and so Saturday’s outing in the caldron that will be Toulouse’s Stade Ernest-Wallon will be something of a novel experience.
And the combative McMahon, with 14 senior caps, is more experienced than most members of McWilliams’ squad.
The temptation against Annick Hayraud’s Bleus, surely, would be to try fewer things, albeit that comes with the associated risk of Ireland ultimately playing within themselves and shipping some heavy damage.
McMahon, though, sees that risk as a moot point: her side are going down there to play some ball when the right opportunities arise and, as they see it, to compete with their hosts — not merely to continue their overall development as it pertains to their coaches’ philosophy, or to survive.
“No, I don’t think that’s ever an Irish way. So, like, there was times like when Wales got ahead and we had a player in the bin, and Nichola [Fryday] came in and she was like, ‘We’re the Irish, we don’t go down fighting — we keep going.’
“Like, there are so many elements of the game that you have to work on: breakdown, lineout, lineout attack, maul setup, maul attack, maul D; and there’s a lot of things that we still need to tick off. The last three weeks, we’ve been learning so, so much, so we’re hoping to build every element over the course of the campaign.
“Breakdown is another focus,” McMahon adds, after Ireland conceded 14 penalties to Wales’ five last weekend. “I think it’s a new one that the refs are pinning on, and I’m seeing it in a lot of games, is not rolling away. Same in the AIL, same in the Premiership. That’s something we have to be keeping a check on every week. Like, it’s not just fixing one week, it’s constant reiterating, constant learning, constantly keeping a check on the rules. We just need to tighten that up and pick and choose our moments better.
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EDEL MCMAHON Irish Rugby picking the lock Women's Six Nations