Ireland 'belief' key to WXV3 victory, says Monaghan

Ten points down with just 20 minutes to play, Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan says the team never lost belief that they could get the job done.

Spain had led since the 10th minute in Dubai and, with a quarter of the game to go, Ireland had only a solitary Dannah O'Brien score on the board and were staring at what would have been another set-back loss.

Grace Moore’s converted try got them to within three points and even though a draw would have been enough to top the WXV3 table, the decision was made to turn down an easy penalty kick and go for the corner.

Moments later Ireland had their score with hooker Neve Jones grabbing her eighth try in 21 games for her country and with that a 15-13 lead.

On the decision to decline the shot at goal, Monaghan said: "It’s something we’ve practised a lot.

"Going direct is dangerous, but that was a point in the game where we were building momentum, when you could see they were on their knees.

"Although this was a harder challenge this week, I think the resilience we showed and the decisions we made in the second half under pressure showed how much we’re building as a squad, and the confidence we can play with now."

So Ireland begin life under Scott Bemand (below) with three wins from three, Saturday’s success coming on the back of mis-matches against Kazakhstan and Colombia.

While the result could have gone either way, Monaghan was eager to point out the importance of getting over the line and being able to take home some silverware after what has been a harrowing couple of years for the team.

"100% (it was important)," said the Gloucester-Hartpury lock.

"It was our goal coming into this. I’m just extremely proud of the girls.

"It’s not easy going into a dressing room 10 points down at half-time