Ireland coach finds silver lining after narrow England loss
Ireland head coach Lloyd Tennant has urged his side to hold their standard after a spirited display against England at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026.
Ireland head coach Lloyd Tennant has struck a measured but optimistic tone following his side's four-wicket defeat to England at the Hampshire Bowl, insisting that the performance against one of the tournament's heavyweights has given his team plenty to build on.
Ireland are making their fifth appearance at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, competing in Group 2 alongside hosts England, Sri Lanka, Scotland, West Indies and defending champions New Zealand. It has been a difficult start to the campaign with the team suffering back-to-back defeats to Scotland and England that have extended Ireland's winless run at ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournaments to 19 matches.
England get the job done the hard way | Match Highlights | Women's T20WC 2026
England keep the momentum rolling as they register the second win of their ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 campaign by defeating Ireland by 4 wickets.
The opening defeat to Scotland stung, but the coach was frank about the weight of expectation that came with it.
"You would say that Scotland was a game that it's a 50-50 chance for us, you know, they'd expect to beat us, I would think we'd expect to beat them. You get off to a loss in the World Cup, it's a bit annoying and you're going to be a little bit down," Tennant said.
What followed, however, appears to have recalibrated the group's mindset. Facing an England side widely considered among the world's best, Tennant believes his side showed they are capable of competing at the highest level.
Ireland reduced England to 35 for 3 inside the powerplay before Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight steadied the chase, with England eventually scraping home with 15 balls to spare.
"You come to play England, they're one of the best sides in the world. And I think we've shown that we can compete," he said.
"So like I said, if you can enjoy a loss, we've probably enjoyed that as much as we can. And we take some positives from that and try and if we can build on it, that'd be brilliant."
Lloyd Tennant | ICC WT20WC26 | Ireland pre-match press conference | 18 June '26
Lloyd Tennant
With an average squad age of just 23, Ireland are one of the youngest sides in the tournament, and Tennant, who took charge in June 2025 appears determined to use every fixture as a development opportunity.
With three group games still to come, Tennant's message to his players was clear.
"If we can maintain that standard in our next three games, I think we're moving forwards," he said.