Ireland win over New Zealand 'a really big moment'

Ireland secured victory with a converted try in the final minute

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says his side's stunning 29-27 win over world champions New Zealand in their opening WXV1 match in Vancouver is "a really big moment" for the squad.

Ireland ran in five tries against the Black Ferns, with replacement Erin King crossing for the crucial score in the final minute, which Dannah O'Brien converted.

They next play Canada on Saturday and complete the tournament against the USA on 11 October.

"It's an important step, a really big moment for this group and a really big moment for Irish women's rugby, but we'll not get ahead of ourselves," said Bemand.

"We've got to keep going after it, there's two games left to come. We'll enjoy it but we'll be going after the next two games."

The landmark victory follows on from an encouraging third-place finish in the 2024 Women's Six Nations, which secured World Cup qualification, and a thrilling success over Australia in September.

'We're getting there, it's the next step'

Bemand expressed satisfaction that his side remained composed and focused on their gameplan despite going behind early in the match.

"They came out pretty fast and there was a bit of hanging on style but as the girls start to adapt to the pace of it we started to really believe in what we'd been doing behind the scenes and that transmits to the pitch.

"We managed to put them into their half and we defended for our lives for each other inside our own half.

"It's been a bit of heart, soul and effort that kept us in the game."

The Ireland coach says his team began to fully realise that a potentially historic victory was within their grasp around the hour mark as the game ebbed and flowed.

"We always talk about keeping the momentum going, we want to be first and foremost a really hard team to play against. At 60 minutes when we were in it we started to believe more and more," he said.

"We wanted more from our set-piece against a strong New Zealand team. It wasn't all perfect but we were able to hold them, drive them and hold our own in the scrum. We put them in the positions that we wanted to and built out pressure moments on our terms.

"We're building minutes, we're building important moments within games, which feeds the evidence really, which feeds the confidence bank. We're getting there, it's the next step."

'Massive belief'

Ireland captain Edel McMahon said it was "an unbelievable feeling" to topple the Black Ferns and a marker laid down for next year's World Cup.

"The group had a massive belief all week. We believe in what we’re doing," she said.

"We believe in the connections we have with each other, believe in the staff, and we work really hard off pitch and even harder on pitch. This validates what we are doing and I couldn't be more proud of the girls.

"We have a World Cup to compete in and this is the platform where we showed we can show the world that we can."