Four years ago on the Munster website, a report on Ireland’s game against Scotland in that year’s Six Nations circled around to a young Tipperary debutant from Fethard.
The report read: “Wall’s impact on debut was immediate.” It went on to explain exactly what it meant. The 19-year-old made a remarkable 20 tackles in just 40 minutes on the pitch, an average of a tackle every two minutes.
Dorothy Wall was given her first start against Italy at blindside flanker later that year in a rescheduled match played in October due to the pandemic.
The following year Wall’s fledgling career would face a particular headwind as 62 current and former players wrote to the government expressing their loss of trust and faith in their governing body, the IRFU.
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Now 24 and ready to face world champions New Zealand in the WXV tournament in Vancouver, Wall’s tumultuous introduction to international rugby during a pandemic and player revolt has smoothed out and is looking brighter than it has in previous years.
Third place in this year’s Six Nations ensured automatic qualification for the World Cup in England next year. Box ticked. A recent win in Belfast over Australia, ranked one place above Ireland at six in the world, again box ticked. This year has improved the mood music of the Irish team, but cautiously so.
“I think confidence isn’t bad as long as it’s not paired with complacency,” she says. “And we are certainly not complacent. We are very aware of the challenge. It’s like . . . considering the last few years of women’s Irish rugby, it was nice to have the confidence in qualifying for the World Cup and the win against Scotland in the Six Nations and to back that up with a win over Australia. You can’t deny it feels good. But we are very aware of the challenge ahead.”
It was the win over Scotland, who are now ranked five in the world, that secured the Irish passage to World Cup 2025, which runs through August and September.
More poignantly, qualification arrived after Ireland’s heartbreaking 20-18 defeat to Scotland, which ended hopes of playing in the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand three years ago.
In a last gasp effort Ireland aimed for a bonus point win that would have qualified them automatically for the finals at the expense of Italy. Instead, they failed to make second place in the pool.
It was a significant setback for the players and the IRFU, seven years after Ireland had beaten the USA, New Zealand and Kazakhstan to top Pool B and finish fourth in the 2014 tournament.
None of us have faced the Haka, so it’s going to be a cool experience but also a tough one. They have got such a history of rugby in their culture. It is very impressive. We are looking forward to it
Ten years on and the past is the last place Ireland wish to look, although it frames where they are now on their journey with the first match against New Zealand on Sunday and further games against Canada and the USA. Transition might still be the word to describe where they are. Then, perhaps this Ireland team have moved on again.
“I mean, I feel like that has been used for ages now, that role of being in transition,” says Wall. “I suppose we are trying to transition to new heights and we have added players. Like we added four new caps at the weekend [v Australia]. They added great value.
“Our Sevens players who were just made Olympians came in and they added some value. It’s just a really good group of girls, very talented and driven, smart players. I hope our transition is to better performances, competing with some of these tier teams and competing for a final spot at the World Cup next year.”
The quality games will stand to the players, especially the younger ones, where the idea of tournament rugby away from home and a succession of tough Test matches is a set of new challenges. New Zealand are ranked two, Canada three and USA eight in the world.
“Oh absolutely, in a World Cup we are going to have to play the top teams, so how bad is it to get a run at them a year from it?” she says. “It is less ominous when you have done it once before. I have never faced the Haka and I’ve never played the Black Ferns [New Zealand].
“I think there are only two of our girls, Cliodhna Moloney and Nicole Farrelly, that would have played them in 2016 but our Sevens players have played them in the World Series.
“Bar that, none of us have faced the Haka, so it’s going to be a cool experience but also a tough one. They have got such a history of rugby in their culture. It is very impressive. We are looking forward to it.”
New Zealand have won six out of nine women’s World Cups since the competition began in 1991, when the USA won. All their wins have come in the last seven editions of the tournament with England the only side to break a glorious run.
Wall understands the significance of the games in Vancouver, not just in the final outcomes against top sides, but in how Ireland conduct themselves on the pitch and how players react to stress positions and bounce back mentality if beaten.
“The Black Ferns are number one in the world,” she says. “To have won as many World Cups as they have in the last few decades . . . they are excellent. There is a reason they won them. They play a brand of rugby that I think a lot of nations don’t know how to deal with and try to emulate.
“It’s cool to be able to go to Vancouver and play against these amazing teams, see a new place with your friends. We’ll work hard but we also have a good craic, which is important. We’ve done the work. We just need to get our final bits.”
For the World Cup, there is almost a year to do that. What Vancouver will show the Irish lock is what bits are strong and more importantly what bit require attention.
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