HOCKEY: Ireland went down to the first defeat of their World Cup build-up in Australia yesterday when they lost 2-0 to Germany in an unofficial game in Busselton.
The Germans took the lead after 10 minutes and added a second eight minutes before the break, but Ireland improved in the second half, thanks largely to the performances of Catherine Murray and Karen Humphreys.
Both captain Rachael Kohler and Jill Orbinson recovered sufficiently from shoulder injuries to play part of the game in which coach Riet Kuper gave most of her 18 players a run-out.
The squad moves from its Bunbury base to Perth today where they will play World Cup fifth seeds New Zealand tomorrow in their final warm-up game.
After Friday's World Cup "welcoming ceremony" in Perth the players will get down to their final preparations for Sunday's game against England.
It was to have been the opening game of the tournament, but has been replaced by the Spain v South Africa match to accommodate Spanish television which will be covering the game live.
