Ireland target top 6

The pain of defeat was etched into the faces of all of the Irish team and staff as they came off at Twickenham last weekend...

Published by John Birch, February 24, 2014

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Ireland target top 6

"We are very disappointed, as you should be," he told us in the tunnel after the game.

"But in another way I'm very positive. We showed a fantastic defensive?˜resolve and?˜it was pure grit to hold that English team. The way they attacked us, physically, mentally, it was admirable the way we held them. Even when we were down to 14 and then 13 you wouldn??t know it."

"But that??s only one part of the game and I??m bitterly disappointed about our platform. We weren??t able to get any really go-forward ball. England were very abrasive at the breakdown. We did target that in our game plan, and they??d certainly cleaned it up ?? fair play to them."

"But we??re going to have to go back and address some things and get back on the front foot because we are not going to win any games if we just defend all day. We need that go-forward ball, and if we haven??t got that we aren??t going to win. That??s paramount."

Luck was not on the Irish side as well, with some crucial injuries at just the wrong time in the match to key players.

"Niamh Briggs and Jenny Murphy both went off at the same time with shoulder concerns, which is a bit of a worry obviously for them, but when you take our two pinnacle players out like that then that??s a lot of ammunition gone. But I have to mention my bench because I know my bench were absolutely amazing, admirable. They kept at it all day long, and when they came on they did so well that it was a huge credit to them."

Despite the result and the chance to defend a Grand Slam slipping away, Doyle was still able to look with back?˜pride on how far his team have come on.

"It a huge advance on the last game here in 2004 when we lost?˜51-10 ?? I was the coach! We have done really well in the past 18 months, we??ve really put ourselves up there. Now we can play with England like that, lose by?˜seven points, here,?˜in the year of a World Cup, and for now - yeah - I??ll take that."

"We always had the confidence and?˜self-belief, but now we are technically better in all aspects. We are fitter stronger and faster than we were.?˜

But the next game is Italy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin where the Irish women will make their debut.

"It's going to be a massive occasion - a s

"Maybe tonight has taken little bit of gloss off it, but we can still win the title. This is a fantastic Six Nations, it's wide open, any team can win it. It??s a huge advertisement for women??s rugby in the northern hemisphere."

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