Irish World Cup hopes crushed by Nigeria
TOM LAW Terry Fox Stadium, Brampton, Tuesday
IRELAND 0
NIGERIA 10
NIGERIA had never faced opposition from outside of Africa, so before their World Series clash, it was something of an unknown as to how they would fare.
On the artificial turf in the western Greater Toronto Area, with Canadian football posts acting as stand-in rugby posts, the answer came with a perhaps unexpected, but by no means undeserved, victory over Ireland.
It ended Irish hopes of reaching a first World Cup, with this the opening game of a four-team tournament to determine the final qualifier for next year’s event.
Nigeria began the game strongly, with most of the action in the first quarter taking place in Ireland’s half.
In the tackles, it was Nigeria that managed to muster more players, pushing advancing Irish players back and ensuring that they gained more metres going forward.
They made this pressure pay in the 20th minute, when, after much pressing and probing by Nigeria, prop Fedelia Omoghan powered over the Irish defence.