Ireland produced an excellent display to beat USA 20-10 in Dublin to superbly bounce back from their World Cup qualification heartache.
In the first ever women’s international at the RDS Arena, the hosts pulled off a fantastic win against their higher-ranking opponents.
Adam Griggs team ran in three tries with Beibhinn Parsons, Leah Lyons and Lindsay Peat all scoring as the number six side in the world were beaten.
Five more points courtesy of Stacey Floods boot was enough to secure a brilliant win in-front of a raucous Friday night crowd in Dublin.
It was a scrappy start but winger Parsons ran onto the perfect kick from Floods to give the Irish the initiative.
USA never managed to gain the lead on the night, but put up a tough fight, never allowing Griggs team to pull away.
Flanker Elizabeth Cairns’ try just after half-time pulled the score back to 12-10, giving the States real hope but the Irish defended fiercely throughout the second-half.
Peat then produced the decisive score with the USA temporarily down to 14 players, with earlier try-scorer Mataitoga in the sin-bin.
A last gasp Flood penalty secured the win and brought the full-time whistle, as Ireland celebrated their best result of 2021.
The hosts are back at the RDS Arena a week tomorrow when they host Japan, and will be hoping for another autumn success and move up from 8th in the World Rugby rankings.
Ireland: Delany; Sheehan, Considine, Naoupu, Parsons; Flood, Hughes; Peat, Moloney, Lyons, Fryday, Monaghan; Griffin, McMahon, Caplice.
Replacements: Jones, O’Dwyer, Djougang, O’Connor, O’Leary, Dane, Higgins, Murphy Crowe
USA: Canett; Feury, Talei Bonte, Howard, Mataitoga; Foster, Waters; Benson, Hamdan, Rogers, Sommer, Washington; Ehrecke, Johnson, Zackary.
Replacements: Treder, Learned, James, Taufoou, Cairns, Ortiz, Hawkins, Levy.
