IRELAND HAVE REPORTED a clean bill of health with all 32 members of the squad in contention for selection ahead of Sunday’s Women’s Rugby World Cup pool decidee against New Zealand.
Aoife Wafer, who missed the first two wins over Japan and Spain as she continues to recover from knee surgery, took part in an “install” day on Wednesday when Ireland ran through their game plan for the weekend.
“She’s bursting to go, if the game was today she’d want to play it!” said Ireland scrum Denis Fogarty. “There’s a bit of controlling her and holding her back a bit. She’ll be ready and we have no doubts that when she gets onto the field she’ll be bulling to go. In her mind she’s ready to go, it’s exciting for her.”
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On Thursday, Ireland will have a more intense contact session. Having taken limited part in training last week, Wafer is expected to join her teammates this time around.
“She’s been doing it [contact] previously, last week she was doing it in a controlled area,” explained Fogarty. “Tomorrow will be a push on from that, inside in a team environment. That will be the next step.
“We’re hopeful of everything going well for her and she’ll be in contention for the weekend.”
Sam Monaghan, who was subbed off after 25 minutes against Spain after picking up a hip injury in a tackle, also appears to be available for Sunday.
Denis Fogarty speaking at today's press conference. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s nothing major at all, she’s moving freely,” said Fogarty. “Today she went through the install, it was nothing to her. We’re not worried about it.”
Between Wafer, Monaghan and co-captain Edel McMahon who was rested on Sunday after her own return from injury, Ireland have a number of players nursing knocks or returning to action. Fogarty was asked if there was any temptation to give players an extra week, given Ireland will be in a quarter-final no matter the result on Sunday.
“First and foremost for us is making sure, if people are fit and ready to play, we want to get them on the park,” said Fogarty. “Ultimately we’re going out to perform and actually win the game, that’s been the goal for us the whole time.
“I understand that there’s a quarter-final but the way we’ve been building and how we train, we’re fully focused on this game and making sure we’ve a performance in place to give us momentum going into a quarter-final. If everyone is available to play, we want to get them on the pitch.”
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Wafer 'bursting to go' as Ireland report clean bill of health for New Zealand showdown
IRELAND HAVE REPORTED a clean bill of health with all 32 members of the squad in contention for selection ahead of Sunday’s Women’s Rugby World Cup pool decidee against New Zealand.
Aoife Wafer, who missed the first two wins over Japan and Spain as she continues to recover from knee surgery, took part in an “install” day on Wednesday when Ireland ran through their game plan for the weekend.
“She’s bursting to go, if the game was today she’d want to play it!” said Ireland scrum Denis Fogarty. “There’s a bit of controlling her and holding her back a bit. She’ll be ready and we have no doubts that when she gets onto the field she’ll be bulling to go. In her mind she’s ready to go, it’s exciting for her.”
On Thursday, Ireland will have a more intense contact session. Having taken limited part in training last week, Wafer is expected to join her teammates this time around.
“She’s been doing it [contact] previously, last week she was doing it in a controlled area,” explained Fogarty. “Tomorrow will be a push on from that, inside in a team environment. That will be the next step.
“We’re hopeful of everything going well for her and she’ll be in contention for the weekend.”
Sam Monaghan, who was subbed off after 25 minutes against Spain after picking up a hip injury in a tackle, also appears to be available for Sunday.
“It’s nothing major at all, she’s moving freely,” said Fogarty. “Today she went through the install, it was nothing to her. We’re not worried about it.”
Between Wafer, Monaghan and co-captain Edel McMahon who was rested on Sunday after her own return from injury, Ireland have a number of players nursing knocks or returning to action. Fogarty was asked if there was any temptation to give players an extra week, given Ireland will be in a quarter-final no matter the result on Sunday.
“First and foremost for us is making sure, if people are fit and ready to play, we want to get them on the park,” said Fogarty. “Ultimately we’re going out to perform and actually win the game, that’s been the goal for us the whole time.
“I understand that there’s a quarter-final but the way we’ve been building and how we train, we’re fully focused on this game and making sure we’ve a performance in place to give us momentum going into a quarter-final. If everyone is available to play, we want to get them on the pitch.”
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