Doyle disappointed with 'passive' Irish defence
Head coach Philip Doyle was left to rue a poor defensive display from his Ireland side as they were well beaten by England in tonight's opening Women's Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris.
Doyle's charges leaked five tries on the way to a heartbreaking 40-7 defeat at Stade Jean Bouin, allowing the English to dictate the forward exchanges and dominate possession for the final hour of the game.
Ireland seemed to pick up where they left off in the pool stages when hooker Gillian Bourke scored an early try from a lineout maul.
But Rochelle Clark and Katherine Merchant touched down for England before the break and they added three more tries in the second half, including a late brace from impressive replacement Marlie Packer.
Doyle said afterwards: "We pride ourselves on our defence and it just didn't work today,. Our fringe defence was way too passive. England were trying to attack down our nine channel. We identified that they were trying to come down our nine channel and then take us out wide.
"Our fringe just wasn't closing down that space quick enough and we were way too passive in our line speed...also in the tackle area, it was a soak tackle and they were able to run on.
"It's something that we're really going to have to look at because the Canadians and French are massive ball carriers. It's an area we're going to have to really, really train hard on."
He added: "It was a complete lack of performance from our side. I think we could have applied ourselves an awful lot better in that game. I think we made England look good.
"Obviously, they are very good, an exceptional side, but I thought we completely played within ourselves and we're bitterly disappointed."
After letting their standards slip from last week's memorable victory over New Zealand, Ireland at least have a chance to bounce back when they meet either France or Canada in Sunday's 3rd/4th place play-off.
"The girls are fantastic athletes and they'll get back to the drawing board tomorrow, they'll pick themselves up and dust themselves off - I've no doubt about it - and we will give a performance in that play-off game."
Doyle can see England, whose power-packed performance was undoubtedly their best since defeating New Zealand in November 2012, going on to lift the trophy after losing the last three World Cup finals.
"We're going to have to go back and look at ourselves. Possibly (it being our first semi-final appearance) played a part. England obviously have been trying to win this for a number of years now.
"They have all this experience, but they deserved the win. They really turned it on and credit to them. I genuinely hope they go on and win it."
