Ireland scored a last gasp try to ensure they finished the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations on a high, after a dramatic 15-14 victory over Scotland.

Enya Breen dotted down with time already up, which coupled with her cool conversion, saw the hosts fight back to take the points, having trailed for much of the second half at the Kingspan Stadium.

Scotland were only seconds from a first win of the Championship, with Helen Nelson’s boot making a big difference after the break.

She scored a trio of penalties to turn the match on its’ head, after Ireland had a narrow 8-5 lead at the break.

The scoreline was always tight throughout with neither side wanting to end the Championship with a defeat, but in the end Breen’s intervention decided the outcome, with her match-winning conversion greeted with an incredible noise from a raucous home crowd.

The win means Ireland finish the Championship in fourth place, edging above Italy who beat Wales earlier on Super Saturday.

Scotland started better and led early on through Evie Gallagher’s try, their opponents then getting on the scoreboard through Hannah O’Connor’s 15th minute penalty.

Despite the soaking Belfast rain refusing to relent, both sides adapted well to the adverse conditions and served up an entertaining affair.

Scotland defended well throughout and just when Ireland looked out of ideas, Neve Jones barrelled over of the back of a powerful rolling maul, only a few minutes before the break.

However, the lead was short lived with three points from Nelson levelling the match, before Scotland retook the lead, again when the 27-year-old made no mistake from a penalty in the 58th minute.

And an offside just three minutes later gave Nelson a chance to strike her third in the row from the tee.

The in-form centre did so with a wonderfully precise kick from distance to extend the Scotland lead to six points.


Throughout the second half, Greg McWilliams’ team matched the visitors for effort and energy but it looked like they would be let down by poor discipline.

They nearly scored when Jones made a wonderful chargedown on Nelson, but she didn’t quite have the pace to get to the whitewash.

Thankfully for Ireland they still had time for one more chance and a period of sustained pressure beyond the 80 minutes finally ended with Breen’s converted try, giving the hosts a one-point win.