 The Irish women's team entered the international arena well before their male counterparts, playing their first ODIs in a three match series against Australia in 1987, a full 19 years before the men's team would make their ODI debut.They lost all three games by more than 100 runs, but were still invited to take part in the World Cup the following year in Australia.In that World Cup, they finished fourth, losing to New Zealand in the third place play-off game.