AOIFE WAFER WON’T be able to indulge in a full-on birthday bash today but the Ireland backrower did everything she could over the weekend to earn her slice of cake.
The visitors knew what to expect. On the back of an exceptional 2024 Wafer is now a marked woman on the Test stage and the French made a notable attempt to try stifle her in Belfast, audible singling her out. For a young player operating at the peak of her powers, it just comes with the territory.
“If they want to put two, three, four people on me to try tackle me, I’ve no problem putting a teammate through a hole and letting them go over because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who goes over, it doesn’t matter who makes the metres, as long as it’s a good thing for the team,” Wafer says.
If the girls want me to run into three Frenchies I’ve no problem to put my head down and try to burst through a wall.
“I couldn’t really hear them (French players) but to be honest I think you’re so focussed in a game that it’s funny because you can only hear what your teammates are saying. It’s nearly like you’re just programmed to listen to whatever the girls say. Those unfamiliar voices didn’t enter my head. To be honest I can’t even hear my mother when I’m playing down in Blackrock so I’d be doing well to hear some people who I haven’t met very often calling out my name.”
Wafer’s display was one of many positives on a mixed day for Ireland. They were left to rue sloppy handling errors and some poor kicking both out of hand and off the tee, but can be pleased with how they responded to falling 14-0 down in the opening quarter.
Much of their best work came up front. Ireland’s pack held their own against the French while they won 18 lineouts and lost just one – a return of 95%, significantly up on last year’s 61% average.
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Wafer in action against France. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The impact of forwards coach Alex Codling has been telling. The Englishman, who has also been working with Munster on an interim basis this season, joined the Ireland set-up last summer and his influence was evident during the successful WXV1 campaign.
“I don’t think I can speak highly enough of him,” Wafer says of Codling.
“He came into our group and the lineout wasn’t very reliable, it was quite dodgy, and like, we could do stuff with it, but it’s probably something that could have potentially influenced decision making on pitch as well because if you don’t have a functional setpiece then it will influence that factor too.
But Codders came in and he obviously was quite technical in his stuff, whether that be how you lift someone or how you land as a jumper or how you create a maul, even stuff from foot patterning to foot positioning and where you put your hands, all this craic, and it’s something the group didn’t necessarily have in the past.
“We worked very hard on that with his guidance, and he installed that belief in us and he backed us in anything we did.
“We speak about it all the time with our setpiece in terms of what we want to achieve with it, and we want to have a world-class setpiece, we want to be clinical, we want to be revolutionary, and I think we saw that at the weekend with Codders’ guidance, because all three tries came from setpiece and the first one was obviously a move that we had planned, we’d practiced it and it was quite technical and he guided us through it. I think that belief and confidence he instills within us with that piece is unmatched.”
To no great surprise at all, Codling is encouraging the group to utilise Wafer’s power and ball-carrying strengths. The backrower supplied two of Ireland’s tries on Saturday, both off setpiece. For her first, Wafer peeled away from a lineout and bounced a couple of French tacklers to score.
She then added another in the second half as Ireland chipped away at France’s lead, muscling over for a maul try. As well as crediting Codling with honing Ireland’s setpiece skills, she also points to his honesty as a key part of how he’s helping to bring the group forward.
“It’s probably something he’s brought across from the men’s game that not all male coaches have,” she explains.
“Sometimes, not always, but sometimes a male coach will come into a women’s environment and they won’t necessarily be completely honest, because they’re afraid the woman might be upset with what they say or that they might not like it or that kind of thing. But Codders has come in and he’s just been like, ‘this is what we’re doing, this is why we’re doing it’, and we’re like, ‘Ok, let’s try it.’
“He’s not afraid to say ‘Ok Aoife, your strength is this, you’re not as good as somebody else at this, so this is what we’re going to do.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, ok, it’s best for the team, let’s do it.’ It’s that mindset that it doesn’t really matter what we do, because if it’s best for the team then that’s all that matters.
“He’s very honest in those conversations and he has no problem with saying to somebody, ‘You’re better at this, so let that person do the job.’ That’s probably what I’ve taken from him.”
Forwards coach Alex Codling. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
With those standards being driven Ireland feel they are on the right track. Previously used to heavy beatings against the French, they left the pitch on Saturday frustrated to lose by 12 points. Beating Italy away from home on Sunday would be the ideal way to shake off that feeling.
“It’s funny because the group itself is quite disappointed. We wanted to beat France but outside noise is still relatively positive. It’s something the group probably hasn’t had in a while in terms of you lose a game and in the past we’d probably get slated over something and it would be, ‘They should have done this or they should have done that’, whereas nowadays it’s still positive. Everybody can see what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to grow.
“We can see that the Irish public and the Irish media is jumping on that Green Wave. Even though we’re disappointed, we still know that we have a job to do this week and we still have the rest of the tournament to fix it.”
Aoife Wafer has been unveiled as Energia’s newest brand ambassador, further enhancing their commitment to powering the future of Irish rugby.
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'We want to be clinical, we want to be revolutionary' - Aoife Wafer on Ireland's forward focus
AOIFE WAFER WON’T be able to indulge in a full-on birthday bash today but the Ireland backrower did everything she could over the weekend to earn her slice of cake.
Wafer, who turns 22 today, was outstanding as Ireland opened their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a battling 27-15 loss to France in Belfast. The Wexford woman crossed for two tries across a typically industrious performance, leading the weekend’s stats for most carries (17) and metres-in-contact (47) while winning the joint-most turnovers (3).
The visitors knew what to expect. On the back of an exceptional 2024 Wafer is now a marked woman on the Test stage and the French made a notable attempt to try stifle her in Belfast, audible singling her out. For a young player operating at the peak of her powers, it just comes with the territory.
“If they want to put two, three, four people on me to try tackle me, I’ve no problem putting a teammate through a hole and letting them go over because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who goes over, it doesn’t matter who makes the metres, as long as it’s a good thing for the team,” Wafer says.
“I couldn’t really hear them (French players) but to be honest I think you’re so focussed in a game that it’s funny because you can only hear what your teammates are saying. It’s nearly like you’re just programmed to listen to whatever the girls say. Those unfamiliar voices didn’t enter my head. To be honest I can’t even hear my mother when I’m playing down in Blackrock so I’d be doing well to hear some people who I haven’t met very often calling out my name.”
Wafer’s display was one of many positives on a mixed day for Ireland. They were left to rue sloppy handling errors and some poor kicking both out of hand and off the tee, but can be pleased with how they responded to falling 14-0 down in the opening quarter.
Much of their best work came up front. Ireland’s pack held their own against the French while they won 18 lineouts and lost just one – a return of 95%, significantly up on last year’s 61% average.
The impact of forwards coach Alex Codling has been telling. The Englishman, who has also been working with Munster on an interim basis this season, joined the Ireland set-up last summer and his influence was evident during the successful WXV1 campaign.
“I don’t think I can speak highly enough of him,” Wafer says of Codling.
“He came into our group and the lineout wasn’t very reliable, it was quite dodgy, and like, we could do stuff with it, but it’s probably something that could have potentially influenced decision making on pitch as well because if you don’t have a functional setpiece then it will influence that factor too.
“We worked very hard on that with his guidance, and he installed that belief in us and he backed us in anything we did.
“We speak about it all the time with our setpiece in terms of what we want to achieve with it, and we want to have a world-class setpiece, we want to be clinical, we want to be revolutionary, and I think we saw that at the weekend with Codders’ guidance, because all three tries came from setpiece and the first one was obviously a move that we had planned, we’d practiced it and it was quite technical and he guided us through it. I think that belief and confidence he instills within us with that piece is unmatched.”
To no great surprise at all, Codling is encouraging the group to utilise Wafer’s power and ball-carrying strengths. The backrower supplied two of Ireland’s tries on Saturday, both off setpiece. For her first, Wafer peeled away from a lineout and bounced a couple of French tacklers to score.
She then added another in the second half as Ireland chipped away at France’s lead, muscling over for a maul try. As well as crediting Codling with honing Ireland’s setpiece skills, she also points to his honesty as a key part of how he’s helping to bring the group forward.
“It’s probably something he’s brought across from the men’s game that not all male coaches have,” she explains.
“Sometimes, not always, but sometimes a male coach will come into a women’s environment and they won’t necessarily be completely honest, because they’re afraid the woman might be upset with what they say or that they might not like it or that kind of thing. But Codders has come in and he’s just been like, ‘this is what we’re doing, this is why we’re doing it’, and we’re like, ‘Ok, let’s try it.’
“He’s not afraid to say ‘Ok Aoife, your strength is this, you’re not as good as somebody else at this, so this is what we’re going to do.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, ok, it’s best for the team, let’s do it.’ It’s that mindset that it doesn’t really matter what we do, because if it’s best for the team then that’s all that matters.
“He’s very honest in those conversations and he has no problem with saying to somebody, ‘You’re better at this, so let that person do the job.’ That’s probably what I’ve taken from him.”
With those standards being driven Ireland feel they are on the right track. Previously used to heavy beatings against the French, they left the pitch on Saturday frustrated to lose by 12 points. Beating Italy away from home on Sunday would be the ideal way to shake off that feeling.
“It’s funny because the group itself is quite disappointed. We wanted to beat France but outside noise is still relatively positive. It’s something the group probably hasn’t had in a while in terms of you lose a game and in the past we’d probably get slated over something and it would be, ‘They should have done this or they should have done that’, whereas nowadays it’s still positive. Everybody can see what we’re trying to do and what we’re trying to grow.
“We can see that the Irish public and the Irish media is jumping on that Green Wave. Even though we’re disappointed, we still know that we have a job to do this week and we still have the rest of the tournament to fix it.”
Aoife Wafer has been unveiled as Energia’s newest brand ambassador, further enhancing their commitment to powering the future of Irish rugby.
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