Ireland have 'turned the page' on New Zealand win

Linda Djougang played a key role as Ireland defeated New Zealand in Vancouver

Ireland defence coach Hugh Hogan says the squad have "turned the page" on Sunday's shock WXV1 win over New Zealand as they prepare for Saturday's contest with in-form hosts Canada.

The Canadians also have a victory over New Zealand in 2024 having beaten the Black Ferns in Christchurch five months ago on the way to winning the Pacific Four tournament, when they were undefeated.

Hosts Canada also made a brilliant start to their WXV1 campaign by beating France 46-24 in their opener on Sunday, which moved them up to second in the world rankings.

"They are showing real confidence in how they play the game," said Hogan of the Canadian team.

"They had a very strong performance against France as well, so we definitely have huge respect for the way they play the game.

"We know it's going to be a physical battle so we are going to have to front up."

Hogan lauded the Ireland players for their "hard work off the pitch" and "incredible diligence".

Despite his warning about Canada's strength, Hogan seems confident that Ireland will be in the right frame of mind for this weekend's contest after the euphoria of Sunday's win over the world champions.

"It's always pleasing when you have a tight game and you win it in the end," he said.

"We were really pleased with that but we're able to turn the page quite quickly to Canada. It's only a six-day turnaround, so again we're building back up that excitement for this weekend."

After being given Monday afternoon off to go whale watching, an experience which Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe described as "amazing", the players and management watched footage of the competition hosts later in the evening.

Wing Murphy Crowe added that Ireland "all believed we could do something special" against New Zealand, but eyes are now fixed on facing Canada in Langley.

"We'll move on to the next job now," Murphy Crowe said. "We've our eyes on Canada."

Prop Linda Djougang added that Ireland were ready for the "massive leap" to WXV1, and the team need to "stick to our system" against the Canadians.

"We just need to bring our physicality as we did last Saturday. Just play our shape and what we have been training to do and continue to work hard," Djougang said.

"Canada are a really good team. We know what they bring and what a challenge they will be.

"We just really need to keep believing and play our style."