Bonus Point Win For Ireland Women

Munster and UL Bohemians Joy Neville celebrated her 50th cap for Ireland this evening by scoring two tries helping Ireland to a 22-12 victory over the USA.

Ireland countinued their Women's Rugby World Cup campaign today, bouncing back from their opening 27 nil defeat to England. The Irish secured a winning bonus point against a strong USA side after tries from Joy Neville, Niamh Briggs and Tania Rosser.

The Irish opened the scoring after 6 minutes with Neville getting the first of her two tries, Briggs was unable to add the conversion. The USA were quick to respond and used their dominance in the scrums to their advantage when prop Jamie Burke crashed over the line after 17 minutes, with outhalf Christy Ringgenberg adding the points.

Clonmel's Niamh Briggs put Ireland ahead again just before the half giving Ireland a three point advantage going in at the break.

On the return the Irish started strong once again with Joy touching down for her second try after 45 minutes and Tania Rosser added the bonus point winning try eight minutes later, and with Briggs converting Ireland had a 22-7 lead going into the final quarter.

USA continued to battle on and were rewarded with a try after 73 minutes bringing the final score to 22-12.

Joy Neville after the win "It wasn't about my 50th cap, it was about the team performance. We are in a good position now, we've a lot to work on still and are just looking forward to improving upon our set pieces and attacking options."

Ireland's final pool game before the play-offs is against Kazakhstan on Saturday at 4.30pm.

Looking forward to the next game Irish coach Philip Doyle said: "The scrum was under pressure today, but the USA are a strong and heavy pack and we're not. We know Kazakhstan are similar and so we'll have to have a look at that and work on our scrums and hope to improve.

"But we concentrated today on rucking low and keeping the ball tight and we did it well over the course of the match."

Acknowledging the contribution of former skipper Neville, he added: "Joy is one of the key players to be honest, and she was outstanding today, scoring two tries.

"With that very strong wind we had to play it the 'Munster' way and she does that brilliantly and that's fine by me!"

"She has great experience and 50 hard earned caps and I hope her family are very proud of her."

Ireland Women: Niamh Briggs, Amy Davis, Joanne O'Sullivan, Lynne Cantwell, Nora Stapleton, Helen Brosnan, Tania Rosser, Fiona Coghlan (capt), Gillian Bourke, Louise Austin, Kate O'Loughlin, Marie Louise Reilly, Orla Brennan, Claire Molloy, Joy Neville.

Replacements used: Mairead Kelly for Davis, Chris Fanning for Austin, Caroline Mahon for Reilly (all 64 mins), Shannon Houston for Brosnan (68), Sinead Ryan for Brennan (71), Louise Beamish for Rosser (74). Not used: Laura Guest.