Ireland head coach Tom Tierney believes the huge build-up to the World Cup opener contributed to a nervy win over Australia, but is expecting his team to improve with each game.
On a day that saw Canada run up 98 points on Hong Kong and France enjoy a 58-point winning margin over Japan, the hosts had just two points to spare over the Wallaroos’ at the UCD Bowl.
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The vociferous home crowd witnessed a game where the six tries were evenly shared, with Australia’s 33 per cent conversion record proving crucial.
A number of unforced errors marred the win and with difficulties at times at the breakdown, Tierney knows there is huge scope for improvement if they are to harbour ambitions of challenging at the business end of the competition.
Ireland should expect to be challenging at this World Cup - hype justified #rterugby pic.twitter.com/DIFfpi8AVK
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) August 9, 2017
"There was a lot of tension before and during the game. We let ourselves down at critical times, but to get the win, that’s all that matters," he told RTÉ Sport.
"To be honest, in the pool stages, I don’t care how we win. It wasn’t as clinical as we wanted it to be, but we’ve got that game out of the way. At time tthe occasion did get to us, we won''t shy away from that fact.
"There are key areas to work on, but we’re up and running."
The university campus was awash with green and the packed venue provided the "16th player" encouragement that so many of the squad had hoped for in the lead-up to the game.
"It wasn't pretty but we got the job done" - Tom Tierney reflects on the win over Australia #rterugby pic.twitter.com/R2F10EQdoQ
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) August 9, 2017
On the flip side however, Tierney conceded that the support also heightened nerves for the 2015 Six Nations champions.
"We’ve [management team] been trying to manage that as best we can. There was always going to be natural nerves out there tonight. We had to take that into account.
"I think we’ll be better for it. A first game like that, you are just going into the unknown and thankfully we got through it.
"We’ve been waiting so long for this that it just created a huge expectation."
Two tries from substitutes Ciara Griffin and Sophie Spence in the space of eight minutes gave the hosts the initiative after falling behind for the first time in the game, and the bench was an area of strength for management.
"Everyone is always itching to get onto the pitch. You want to bring something to the game and do whatever you can to help the team," Spence said afterwards.
The 2015 World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year nominee powered over for the third line hailed the "amazing" support, but laughed at the notion that those in attendance were treated to a grand-stand finish.
"Hopefully we won’t have to do that again, but it just shows what resilience we have as a team and to have each other’s backs."
"I’m so proud of the resilience and the grit that we showed." – Ireland capt. Claire Molloy speaks to RTE Sport after the win over Australia pic.twitter.com/Sp113ODPw0
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 9, 2017
