Ireland show fight against England in spite of defeat

One of the most frustrating aspects of the plight in Irish women's rugby is that in spite of several years on a downward curve, their support from the outside remains as strong as ever.

The unwavering support this team have was best summed up just after the half-hour mark at Musgrave Park this afternoon.

After watching England run over and through Irish bodies for 30 minutes and scoring four tries, Ireland's first foray into the English 22 was greeted as if they'd scored a try of their own.

Aoife Doyle skipped by a couple of tackles, among just 14 England had to attempt in the opening half, and the resulting Irish penalty, which ultimately came to nothing, was met with the biggest roar of the afternoon.

Imagine what a crowd like that could do with a team that was set up to compete?

Every little moment of positivity for Ireland was greeted in a similar manner; Brittany Hogan stopping a maul in her 22 in the opening minutes, the Irish front row forcing a penalty at the scrum moments later, Natasja Behan intercepting from Claudia MacDonald as the winger looked to set up a near-certain try, and the relentless Deirbhile Nic a Bháird running hard and fearlessly.

They were moments, and Ireland were only ever going to able to get by on moments. The gap between these sides is as large as it ever was, and hopefully as large as it ever will be.

Winning was never an option in this game, and despite never getting close to top gear, England dominated from start to finish, crossing for their first try inside two minutes through second row Sarah Beckett, and eventually running out 48-0 winners.

The narrative all week was that the World Cup runners-up could put up a record score, and in reality they were held to their lowest of this