Tierney expects Ireland to learn from England defeat

Tom Tierney says Ireland's Six Nations defeat to England in March was "worth its weight in gold" ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup.

England ran in four tries to complete the Grand Slam with a 34-7 victory in Donnybrook, as Ireland matched the English for physicality but struggled with their game management in wet conditions.

And Ireland's head coach Tierney says the lessons learned against Simon Middleton's team will hold his players in good stead ahead of the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017, which takes place between 9-26 August and will be staged in Dublin and Belfast.

"The learnings that we took from that Grand Slam decider were worth their weight in gold," Tierney said.

"It shaped a lot of our planning over the course of the next three months in camp, in terms of putting the onus back on the players, getting the players to train at a level, and play at a level.

"There was a lot of game time in those training sessions — that is going to replicate the scenarios and the situations that we had in that final game against England.

"That was worth its weight in gold. We know that we can be competitive at certain stages of a game. 

"Now it's about just imposing ourselves a small bit more at the critical moments. Those are the learnings that we've taken out of that game.

"Obviously, the atmosphere, the build-up, all the outside factors, that was a great thing to experience.

"Because again, if we play as well as we feel we should, and we can, we're going to be there or thereabouts. 

"It''s just about keeping ourselves focused on the job, focused on the processes of doing our job as we can, and not letting all those outside factors take over."

The 28-woman squad will take part in a four-day training camp at Fota Island, Cork from Friday, before returning to Dublin to complete their pre-tournament preparations.

Ireland face Australia on 9 August, Japan on 13 August and will conclude the Pool C campaign against France four days later.

Tickets for all of Ireland's Pool matches at the UCD Bowl have sold out, but eir sport is showing all the Women's Rugby World Cup 2017 matches live.

Image Inpho/ Dan Sheridan

eir sport channels are available across the eir Vision, Sky and Vodafone TV platforms as well as on the eir Sport app. All 7 channels in the eir Sport pack are available for free if you are a residential eir broadband customer.