Ireland strike late to claim WXV3 title

IRELAND 15-13 SPAIN

Ireland scored two late tries to beat Spain and secure the inaugural WXV3 title in Dubai.

Trailing 13-3 at the break, Grace Moore and Neve Jones touched down in the last quarter to deny Las Leonas and claim the silverware.

Having racked up huge wins over Kazakhstan and Colombia, Scott Bemand's side were pushed to the limit against Spain, who had beaten Ireland in the sides’ last meeting at the 2021 World Cup qualifier in Parma.

Co-captain Edel McMahon was in the sin-bin when Spain opened the scoring, Claudia Pena Hildago running in from her own half after pouncing on a loose ball.

Amalia Argudo converted and added a penalty with Dannah O’Brien grabbing Ireland’s only score of the first half with a 35th-minute penalty.

Ireland still trailed 13-3 with 60 minutes on the clock before Moore got a crucial score off the back of a powerful maul.

While a draw would have been enough for Ireland, they declined a kickable penalty in favour of a lineout and Jones was on hand to direct the pack over for the winning score with five minutes to play.

Ireland: Méabh Deely; Natasja Behan, Eve Higgins, Aoife Dalton, Béibhinn Parsons; Dannah O'Brien, Molly Scuffil-McCabe; Linda Djougang, Neve Jones, Christy Haney; Dorothy Wall, Sam Monaghan; Grace Moore, Edel McMahon, Brittany Hogan.

Replacements: Clara Nielson, Niamh O'Dowd, Sadhbh McGrath, Eimear Corri, Aoife Wafer, Aoibheann Reilly, Fiona Tuite, Leah Tarpey.