Ireland’s men and women were both convincing winners in senior internationals against Netherlands, played at RC The Bassetts in Sassenheim. Ireland’s women, preparing for the IRL Women’s World Series in Canada, scored eight tries in a 42-6 triumph, their men equally dominant, winning 30-0.

Kick off was slightly delayed due to a late incoming flight with several of the Irish players on board, and the games were played in blustery and heavy rain conditions due to Storm Amy. Molly Young opened Ireland’s account after strong runs from Iona McCusker and Stacy Hanley, Storm Cobain adding the extras.

McCusker burrowed her way over from dummy half as Ireland camped out on the Dutch line, and Cliodhna O’Sullivan just managed to ground the ball in goal on the left to push Ireland further ahead.

Netherlands got off the mark when Kaylee Geerlings barged her way through the middle, Tessa Van Zanten adding the extras, but Ireland were back on the board with the second of McCusker’s tries. Stephanie Carroll posted touchdowns two minutes before and then after half time, and Ireland finished strongly with Cobain adding a try to go with her five goals and Hanley crowning a strong performance with a deserved score.

Ireland women’s head coach, Matt Kennerson, commented: “I’m really happy, we’ve spent some time together recently and trained really hard and we looked like a team. The return of Stephanie Carroll settled us and Iona McCusker impressed but there were a number of great performances, it was a really good team effort. We set a tone early and this is a huge part of our preparation for the World Series. They’ll be a lot of video analysis before we face Nigeria and it’ll be an exciting two weeks, the girls can’t wait.”

Opposite number, Matt Rigby, said: “Credit to our girls today who battled hard in a physical game against a strong Ireland side. Playing against a much more experienced opposition was telling, but our girls didn’t step back. It was really good to see five debutants in a full-domestic squad who represented us well. Next up for us is Greece in Rotterdam in December, and we’ll need to be at our best to compete with them.”