Bemand expressed satisfaction that his side remained composed and focused on their gameplan despite going behind early in the match.

“They came out pretty fast and there was a bit of hanging on style but as the girls start to adapt to the pace of it we started to really believe in what we’d been doing behind the scenes and that transmits to the pitch.

“We managed to put them into their half and we defended for our lives for each other inside our own half.

“It’s been a bit of heart, soul and effort that kept us in the game.”

The Ireland coach says his team began to fully realise that a potentially historic victory was within their grasp around the hour mark as the game ebbed and flowed.

“We always talk about keeping the momentum going, we want to be first and foremost a really hard team to play against. At 60 minutes when we were in it we started to believe more and more,” he said.

“We wanted more from our set-piece against a strong New Zealand team. It wasn’t all perfect but we were able to hold them, drive them and hold our own in the scrum. We put them in the positions that we wanted to and built out pressure moments on our terms.

“We’re building minutes, we’re building important moments within games, which feeds the evidence really, which feeds the confidence bank. We’re getting there, it’s the next step.”