Ireland 109 Kazakhstan 0
Eve Higgins and Béibhinn Parsons both bagged four tries apiece at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai on Friday as Ireland kick-started their WXV 3 campaign with a record-breaking international triumph at the expense of an outclassed Kazakhstan.
Playing for the first time under new head coach Scott Bemand – who replaced Greg McWilliams in the wake of a disappointing Six Nations campaign in the spring – Ireland hit the ground running. Less than two minutes into the contest, scrumhalf Molly Scuffil-McCabe released tighthead prop Christy Haney for the first of Ireland’s astonishing haul of 17 tries.
This was a sign of things to come and with Meabh Deely, Higgins and Linda Djougang all touching down, Ireland had wrapped up a bonus point by the 23rd minute of the action.
Parsons and Higgins were both making their returns to 15s rugby after featuring prominently on the Sevens circuit in recent times and they inflicted further damage on the Kazakhstan defence with tries in the 30th and 34th minutes respectively.
Scuffil-McCabe and Grace Moore also crossed the whitewash in advance of O’Brien’s fifth conversion to hand Ireland an unassailable 50-0 cushion at the interval.
After Higgins swiftly completed her hat-trick on the resumption, her centre partner Aoife Dalton added her name to the scoresheet following excellent build-up by Nicole Fowley and Leah Tarpey. Not to be outdone by her Sevens compatriot Higgins, Parsons also brought her try tally for the night up to three as she touched down either side of Brittany Hogan’s maiden international five-pointer.
This put Ireland well clear of their previous record victory – a 73-3 demolition of Scotland that wrapped up their last Six Nations title in March 2015 – but with Dalton and teenage frontrow replacement Sarah Delaney dotting down to supplement the fourth tries of Parsons and Higgins, they also comfortably passed the 100-point mark.
SCORERS – Ireland: B Parsons, E Higgins 4 tries each, A Dalton 2 tries, C Haney, M Deely, L Djougang, M Scuffil-McCabe, G Moore, B Hogan, S Delaney try each; D O’Brien 6 cons, N Fowley 6 cons.
IRELAND: M Deely; N Behan, E Higgins, A Dalton, B Parsons; D O’Brien, M Scuffil-McCabe; L Djougang, N Jones, C Haney; D Wall, S Monaghan; G Moore, E McMahon, B Hogan.
Replacements: E Corri for Monaghan, L Tarpey for Behan (both h-t); N Fowley for O’Brien, A Reilly for Scuffil-McCabe (both 50 mins); S McGrath for Djougang (52); M Collis for Haney, M Óg O’Leary for Moore (both 62); S Delaney for Jones (68).
KAZAKHSTAN: Y Bekker; L Kibisheva, L Ivanova, D Tkachyova, A Melnivoka; K Baktybayeva, D Kazibekova; N Kamendrovskaya, M Askhat, T Dadajanova; A Chebator, D Simakova; T Kruchinkina, K Sazontova, S Zhamankulova.
Replacements: Y Yurova, A Akhbayeva, L Tankisheva, Y Oleinikova, D Kuznetsova, S Malezhina, K Turalykova, I Balabina.
Referee: D Domenjo (France).
