Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan says her side will do "everything in our power" when they take on France in Sunday's Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final in Exeter.
There will be familiar Six Nations opposition for Ireland following their humbling 40-0 defeat to New Zealand, while Les Bleues topped Pool D after thrashing South Africa 57-10.
The 40-point loss to the Black Ferns doesn’t give a true reflection of the contest, with New Zealand scoring twice in the final three minutes, while it took them an hour to reach the bonus-point.
A famous Irish win never looked to be on the cards though.
While Ireland had plenty of scoring opportunities, particularly in the early stages of each half, they were bullied by a ferocious Kiwi defence which forced five dominant tackles to Ireland’s one, while they won two tackle turnovers, as well as stopping two rolling mauls which looked bound for the line.
"Look, as a squad, I know we’re quite disappointed in the scoreline," Monaghan said.
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand will place an emphasis on improving his side's finishing for the remainder of the tournament pic.twitter.com/tph4rrqGZn
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 7, 2025
"I don’t think it reflects the passion and pride we played throughout the game. Maybe not consistently.
"At times we had them under pressure and were on top, especially at the start of the first and second half, and if we had converted and got over the line it would have been a different game.
"We let them into the game and our errors gave them tries, so it’s how we manage our composure. That’s what we said against Spain and Japan as well, we need to manage those moments better and it could have been a different game."
Ireland were physically dominated at the grainline when they had the ball, and when they didn’t have it they were pulled wide, with the centre combination of Sylvia Brunt and Stacey Waaka manipulating the Irish defence over and over again, as 18-year-old wing Braxton Sorensen-McGee scored a hat-trick.
"They’re a class outfit and were playing really well," Monaghan added.
"We were passive in 'D’ at times, letting them play to the edges. We need to shut that down quicker and get on top of them.
"We know our errors let them into the game.
"They’re a quality side. They’re world champions, so if you make an errors, they’re going to bounce back on top of that and punish you.
"We know going into next week we need to be more clinical. We can't give away as many penalties and errors and we need to play on top more and be more aggressive in defence."
It’s eight years since Ireland last beat Sunday’s opponents, France, but their last two Six Nations meetings will give Ireland confidence that they can knock off the world number four side, and become the first Ireland team to win a World Cup quarter-final game.
In Bemand’s first season in charge, an inexperienced Irish side performed above expectations in their 38-17 defeat, while it was 27-15 when the sides met in Belfast just over five months ago.
"France, we have come up against them numerous times in the Six Nations. Again, at the start of the Six Nations this year it was a game we were in and we probably let ourselves down a bit. Should have been more clinical again so something we will focus on this week.
"That’s on us. At the end of the day, when we are on top of teams, when we are firing, we know we can score, we know we can play. We have some great individual players but in that first half we just needed to win the physical battle, carry harder.
"We’ve a quarter-final to go into and we’re doing everything in our power to win that game.
"We’re going to throw everything at that team who we’re playing, who is in front of us. We know we can't make as many errors as we did today.
"We’ll analyse that game hard, but then leave it and go on to what faces us next Sunday," said Monaghan.
The result, and in particular the two late New Zealand tries, marked a sour ending to the game, after what had been an incredible occasion, where a crowd of more than 30,000 – most of whom were in green – packed into the Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium.
And Monaghan says the support they received yesterday will stand to them when they head to Exeter next week.
"I know we are all extremely disappointed but it was an incredible occasion. You are playing in Brighton, basically a stone’s throw away from home and the fans were absolutely fabulous.
"We could hear the screams, the chants, the ‘Fields of Athenry’. God, if I could do it all over again I would even though I am so tired.
"We have to embrace the moment and the challenge, reflect really hard on how we could have done better and play better.
"Going into next week we are firing for a quarter-final. We want to win."
