Women's Day one: It's even...one loss, one win.

After the minor set back of not having any green jerseys for the team (bit of a manufacturing problem) and getting past the hurdle of waking up at 6.30am to get breakfast before the game (not really too hard when your as nervous as we were) we walked out against a strong German side for our first game. Tipped for big things, there was no denying that this was a well drilled and experienced team, but that there were also feeling the nerves, and the first few points got off to a slow start with a number of turnovers off both teams. However, their offence had some excellent handlers who could work it quickly up the pitch and they soon and knocked up a number of scores before we could even manage one. Finally we managed to pull some scores together from a number of long points and against a zone that they ran, but our own nerves were our worst enemy, and they finished up the win 17-5. Not the greatest of starts to our week, but we also knew that we hadn’t played to our best, so there was still a lot to play for.

With another game at 1pm, we had to eat quickly before heading to warm up. We were to play the Belgians, and after beating them at Tom’s Tourney we were confident this could be our first win. But we didn’t want to be too certain about it, and ended up going 3-1 down at the beginning! Still, we always felt like the stronger team, and it wasn’t long before we started to pull ahead, and took the half. Our defence was really making an impact, and we were managing to make them turn over a number of times. After the half I think we only ended up conceding maybe 3 points, and then settled into a comfortable, 17-9 win, a first for Irish women and a really great feeling!!

MVP of the day: Laura McGrath