After that shock victory over the world champions to start their stint in Canada, Scott Bemand’s side came into the game as notional favourites and certainly looked set to justify that tag in the early stages.

Dominating territory and possession through the opening minutes, the only source of frustration for Ireland will have been their failure to make that advantage count.

Predictably, they were made to pay for their profligacy when, after what was her side’s first real period of pressure, USA prop Rogers marked her 50th cap with a try from close range.

Player of the match Erin King responded to level matters but, with the last play of the half, Rogers’ memorable day got even better with her second score.

If there was one note for caution for the Eagles as they celebrated into half-time, it was their eight penalties conceded in the opening 40 minutes.

Ultimately, it was their ill-discipline that would prove their undoing with Tahlia Brody, Rachel Ehrecke and Rachel Johnson all sent to the sin-bin in the space of 12 second-half minutes.

Brody was the first to go with her transgression, catching the ball in an offside position, also bringing about the penalty try that levelled the game just after the hour mark.

Replacement Ehrecke followed soon after and it was against 13 players that Ireland hooker Moloney was able to maul her way across the whitewash to give her side the lead.

In the final minutes, Johnson was shown a yellow for a high tackle to again reduce the Americans to 13 and Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe made Ireland’s numerical advantage count when rounding off the day’s scoring with a try in the corner.

Magomed Ankalaev had some harsh words for Anthony Smith.

Later this month, Ankalaev takes on Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 308 in a bout that many believe is a title eliminator for the next shot at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira; however, not everyone agrees.

Earlier this week, Smith, a past opponent of Ankalaev’s, suggested there are other fighters in line for a crack at Pereira, saying that Ankalaev’s unexciting style has made the UFC less interested in him.

“I wouldn’t count on it because there’s a good chance that Volkan Oezdemir and Carlos Ulberg can have a conversation, or at least have some sort of case to make to get that fight,” Smith told MMA Junkie. “Especially if Ankalaev does what he tends to do sometimes, and that’s lay an egg and still win. He’s already been punished for that. He’s already done it once before in the Jan Blachowicz fight and Dana was absolutely furious.

“Pereira just fought. What would have stopped him from fighting in Abu Dhabi and fighting Ankalaev there?”

“They’re not rushing Ankalaev into a title fight for a reason,” Smith continued. “I think if that fight lays an egg and Volkan Oezdemir goes in there and finishes Carlos Ulberg, I think Volkan Oezdemir has a great case to make for a title shot. So I wouldn’t just count on that.”

As you might expect, Ankalaev did not seem to take too kindly to this.

On Friday, Ankalaev responded to Smith’s recent comments, ripping his former opponent on social media and calling Smith his “easiest fight ever.”

“Just to be clear, Rakic is my toughest fight in the division.”

“Anthony Smith said I sometimes sting the show, hey do you remember what I did to you [and] Johnny Walker? You are an analyst and supposed to stay neutral.”

“Chael Sonnen, you are right my friend, my toughest fight in the division is Rakic, my easiest fight ever was Anthony Smith. I hit him with a combination from a video game I used to play when I was 12.”

Ankalaev and Smith faced off back at UFC 277, where Ankalaev won by second-round TKO. That fight earned Ankalaev a shot at the vacant light heavyweight title against Jan Blachowicz in a fight that ended in a split draw. Following that, Ankalaev had a no-contest with Johnny Walker due to an illegal eye poke, but then won their rematch this January, stopping Walker in the second round and earning a Performance of the Night bonus. Ankalaev also holds wins over Oezdemir and No. 7-ranked Nikita Krylov.

UFC 308 takes place Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Kayla Harrison and a large portion of the MMA community seem to believe it’s an inevitability that she will defeat Julianna Pena to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight title.

Not so fast.

Peña (11-5 MMA, 8-3 UFC) recaptured the championship this month at UFC 307 with a split decision over Raquel Pennington in Salt Lake City. Earlier that night, two-time Olympic gold medalist Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) likely punched her ticket to a crack at gold with a victory over Ketlen Vieira.

Although Peña largely ignored Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in the aftermath of the event and said she was “not impressed” by the performance while subsequently calling for Amanda Nunes to come out of retirement for a trilogy, all signs point to the showdown with Harrison being next.

Peña’s coach, Mike Valle from VFS Academy in Chicago, said his athlete will be ready if it is indeed Harrison. He doesn’t share the same negative slant of the two-time PFL season winner as Peña, but he does think Harrison is in for a rude awakening if she thinks it will be easy to snatch the belt.

“I can’t say that we weren’t impressed,” Valle told MMA Junkie on Friday. “She’s a great fighter. She’s very good in certain areas. It’s nothing that the world hasn’t seen. It’s not nothing we can’t come on top of. She’s good. But Julianna is good, too. When you get her in front of you, you realize how good she is. That’s what makes it very interesting. Whenever Harrison sees Julianna in front of her, she’s going to be like, ‘Oh my God. This girl is way better than what I think.’ And she’s going to be in tons of trouble. That’s what it is. That’s what makes the fight so interesting. All respect to her and her team. I’ve never disrespected her or her team. But I just can’t wait. If they sign a contact, we’ll go to work.”

Valle has heard it all before when it comes to Peña. She’s not skilled enough. Not athletic enough. Not powerful enough. Not dangerous enough. The criticisms can be endless in this industry, but Valle knows better than anyone what he has with “The Venezuelan Vixen” and is happy to let anyone continue to underestimate her.

“When you get that feeling, and you have someone across from you that’s not just going to fight with skills – we’re going to fight with a lot of will,” Valle said. “An unbreakable will. That says something to a person. I think that’s what it is. … You may see the skills and go, ‘OK, she lacks here and here.’ That’s fine. When you have her in front of you, you’re going to see how good she is. Then, on top of that, her will to push, will to go forward and to push. To have her on top of you or in your face all night, it says a lot about an athlete.”

Ultimately, Valle said he knows Peña’s biggest fights and toughest tests are on the horizon. Whether it’s the matchup with Harrison, a trilogy with Nunes or both in successive fashion, Valle is excited to dive into the challenge of game planning and finding a way for Peña to come out on top.

“Both of those fights represent something very interesting in their own way. I think a fight with Amanda would be great, but if it’s Harrison, cracking her is going to be – people think she’s invincible and just going out there and Julianna putting her stamp on it, I think it would be a great statement. From there, Amanda hopefully comes out of retirement. All three girls are amazing and it’s very interesting for MMA fans. Whichever one happens is going to be a great fight.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Victory in Helsinki will help ease some of the early pressure on Hallgrimsson following last month’s defeats by England and Greece.

The Irish players were booed by sections of their home fans at the Aviva Stadium following the loss to Greece while the travelling supporters voiced their frustration in Helsinki after Nathan Collins’ woefully underhit backpass gifted Finland the opening goal.

However, Azaz insists he and his team-mates are blocking out the noise as they bid to secure back-to-back competitive wins on the road for the first time since November 2021.

“I am going out there to do my job, that’s what I am trained to do, so I try to ignore the outside noise, we all try to do that. That’s how you have to be,” said the Westminster-born 24-year-old, who qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his Cork-born grandparents.

“We do hear criticism but that’s part of the job. You need a strong mentality to ignore the noise and hopefully this win will help us gain even more confidence. We have a lot of belief.”

Azaz, who was replaced by Jamie McGrath for the final 20 minutes against Finland, added: “I didn’t hear any boos at half-time. It was a tough game and a tough first half, but you need to show respect to the opposition.

“We are a good team. I felt we could push on at half-time and that’s what we tried to do in the second half.

“With Nathan, mistakes happen and we are ready for that. We didn’t need to say anything to him, he’s an experienced player. We just focused on the positives and had that positive energy for the second half.”