PLAN WAS A REST CASE SCENARIO BECAUSE WE WERE FIT & WE KNEW IT

Doyle: Belief was key to beating Kiwis

- BY DEREK FOLEY

COACH Philip Doyle and assistant coach Greg McWilliams had a Monday meeting ahead of Ireland's RWC 2014 game against New Zealand the following weekend.

That there wasn't a player there wasn't a reflection on some sort of cosy 'male only' coaching exclusion.

Rather, it was the result of confidence in their tactical planning and in a Fiona Coghlan captained squad who, by this stage, weren't just tough, they were super-tough.

They had learned a hard lesson blowing a Six Nations in 2012, losing 7-8 to France in Pau, were Six Nations Grand Slam winners in 2013, and were now confident, incredibly self-assertive, driven.

That front-row, tower-block line out, certainty at no8, a prodigal scrumhalf, a three-year project out-half, teak-tough centres and placekicker was a great platform.

And, oh my god, that 'new' rock-solid winger, granite-built, frighteningly athletic, straight-running, high-stepping, hand-off smash Ashleigh Baxter...

It is doubtful any other Ireland World Cup team of either gender across any sport - soccer, rugby, hockey, cricket, whatever - had fought, battled, solved problems, defied such odds at such a high level of competition as these.

This squad, reasoned Doyle, could be left in bed, Starbucks or on the beach on their day off.

Tuesday training, they would bring the hatchets, the hammers, the blowtorches that would turn up the heat on the Black Ferns...whom Doyle, McWilliams and Coughlan had perceived as weak.

Says Doyle: “We actually really looked forward to playing them because they were the best in the world.

"That's who we wanted to play, we weren't scared of them at all.

"I noticed that they weren't as fit as us so that would be a big thing, one of the game plans was to keep them moving because we thought that New Zealand, especially the forwards, weren't as fit as we expected them to be.