ONCE AGAIN, AOIFE Wafer was at the heart of so much of what was good about Ireland’s performance on a sunny evening in Belfast.
Scott Bemand’s side got back to winning ways with a bonus-point victory over Wales, bouncing back from the disappointment of losing away to France two weekends ago.
They found it tricky to truly shake off a determined Welsh side, who made it a brawl at times but have now lost nine Six Nations games in a row. In the end, this second win of the championship for Ireland showed the gap in class between these two sides.
While France and England will face off in a Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux, Ireland will bring momentum into their last game of this campaign in front of a record-smashing crowd as Scotland visit the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.
Bemand and co. will have some frustrations about elements of their performance here in Belfast but ultimately, they were too good for their visitors in front of a crowd of 4,979 people.
Outstanding number eight Wafer bagged two tries, sublimely assisted another, and won collision after collision. Brilliant blindside flanker Brittany Hogan also scored two tries, wing Béibhinn Parsons dotted down, and out-half Dannah O’Brien was on target with four conversions.
Erin King leads Ireland out in Belfast. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Ireland initially struggled for attacking flow as breakdown and pass accuracy issues held them back, but they got rolling in the 12th minute as Wafer started and finished a powerful try.
Wales hit a poor goal line drop-out for Ireland’s number eight to carry straight back into their 22, a slick Irish set play took them closer, then Wafer battered over from close range, with O’Brien converting.
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Wales hit back as the game moved into the second quarter, with blindside flanker Jorja Aiono giving them momentum by running over Wafer, then second row Georgia Evans surged over from a metre out for a converted score.
Ireland responded well, but initially missed their next chance in the red zone as hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald was pinged for crawling on the ground after being tackled. But Wales botched their exit play, knocking on, and laid the platform for some Wafer magic.
Ireland’s totem carried into the shortside off the ensuing scrum, drawing in four defenders before flicking a beautiful one-handed offload away to allow right wing Parsons to scorch clear and score a 30th-minute try.
And Ireland finished the half on top as centre Eve Higgins stripped the ball from Aiono in Irish territory. Despite the clock ticking into the red, Ireland kept the ball on the pitch as they kicked clear and chased up for captain Erin King to win a breakdown penalty.
Ireland’s Linda Djougang is tackled by Sisilia Tuipulotu of Wales. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Into the Welsh 22 they went and it was Hogan who barreled over at the end of an imposing, relentless passage of carries. O’Brien’s conversion was on target and Ireland led 19-7 at the break.
Ireland’s hopes of picking up where they left off were quashed by a yellow card for Moloney-MacDonald two minutes into the second half. The hooker was sin-binned for a kick on Wales’ Evans after she held Moloney-MacDonald’s other foot well after a tackle attempt. Annoying from Evans, no doubt, but even a light kick is a kick.
Wales sensed a chance to close the gap, but Wafer delivered another big moment with a breakdown poach on Ireland’s 22-metre line soon after Moloney-MacDonald saw yellow.
Barely a minute later, Wafer was scything through the Welsh defence from inside her own half, bursting deep into their half before finding Higgins in support. Wales were in panic mode and wing Jasmine Joyce was sin-binned for illegally killing the ball at the breakdown.
So it was soon Ireland restored to 15 against Wales’ 14, and they made it count.
A series of truly savage carries from the likes of Hogan, Fiona Tuite, Aoife Dalton, and Linda Djougang teed Wafer up to pick and bash over for her second try and Ireland’s bonus-point score, again converted by O’Brien.
Ireland celebrate one of their scores. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Replacement hooker Neve Jones thought she had dotted down Ireland’s fifth at the back of a dominant maul, which came swiftly after a dominant Irish scrum, but the TMO review ruled that one out.
Instead, it was Wales who scored next as they engineered a chance that wing Joyce took wide on the left.
But Ireland finished with a flourish as they swept irresistibly downfield in the closing minute before the relentless Hogan put the finishing touch on a pleasing win.
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Ireland bag five tries as Wafer has big influence in win over Wales
Ireland 33
Wales 12
ONCE AGAIN, AOIFE Wafer was at the heart of so much of what was good about Ireland’s performance on a sunny evening in Belfast.
Scott Bemand’s side got back to winning ways with a bonus-point victory over Wales, bouncing back from the disappointment of losing away to France two weekends ago.
They found it tricky to truly shake off a determined Welsh side, who made it a brawl at times but have now lost nine Six Nations games in a row. In the end, this second win of the championship for Ireland showed the gap in class between these two sides.
While France and England will face off in a Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux, Ireland will bring momentum into their last game of this campaign in front of a record-smashing crowd as Scotland visit the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.
Bemand and co. will have some frustrations about elements of their performance here in Belfast but ultimately, they were too good for their visitors in front of a crowd of 4,979 people.
Outstanding number eight Wafer bagged two tries, sublimely assisted another, and won collision after collision. Brilliant blindside flanker Brittany Hogan also scored two tries, wing Béibhinn Parsons dotted down, and out-half Dannah O’Brien was on target with four conversions.
Ireland initially struggled for attacking flow as breakdown and pass accuracy issues held them back, but they got rolling in the 12th minute as Wafer started and finished a powerful try.
Wales hit a poor goal line drop-out for Ireland’s number eight to carry straight back into their 22, a slick Irish set play took them closer, then Wafer battered over from close range, with O’Brien converting.
Wales hit back as the game moved into the second quarter, with blindside flanker Jorja Aiono giving them momentum by running over Wafer, then second row Georgia Evans surged over from a metre out for a converted score.
Ireland responded well, but initially missed their next chance in the red zone as hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald was pinged for crawling on the ground after being tackled. But Wales botched their exit play, knocking on, and laid the platform for some Wafer magic.
Ireland’s totem carried into the shortside off the ensuing scrum, drawing in four defenders before flicking a beautiful one-handed offload away to allow right wing Parsons to scorch clear and score a 30th-minute try.
And Ireland finished the half on top as centre Eve Higgins stripped the ball from Aiono in Irish territory. Despite the clock ticking into the red, Ireland kept the ball on the pitch as they kicked clear and chased up for captain Erin King to win a breakdown penalty.
Into the Welsh 22 they went and it was Hogan who barreled over at the end of an imposing, relentless passage of carries. O’Brien’s conversion was on target and Ireland led 19-7 at the break.
Ireland’s hopes of picking up where they left off were quashed by a yellow card for Moloney-MacDonald two minutes into the second half. The hooker was sin-binned for a kick on Wales’ Evans after she held Moloney-MacDonald’s other foot well after a tackle attempt. Annoying from Evans, no doubt, but even a light kick is a kick.
Wales sensed a chance to close the gap, but Wafer delivered another big moment with a breakdown poach on Ireland’s 22-metre line soon after Moloney-MacDonald saw yellow.
Barely a minute later, Wafer was scything through the Welsh defence from inside her own half, bursting deep into their half before finding Higgins in support. Wales were in panic mode and wing Jasmine Joyce was sin-binned for illegally killing the ball at the breakdown.
So it was soon Ireland restored to 15 against Wales’ 14, and they made it count.
A series of truly savage carries from the likes of Hogan, Fiona Tuite, Aoife Dalton, and Linda Djougang teed Wafer up to pick and bash over for her second try and Ireland’s bonus-point score, again converted by O’Brien.
Replacement hooker Neve Jones thought she had dotted down Ireland’s fifth at the back of a dominant maul, which came swiftly after a dominant Irish scrum, but the TMO review ruled that one out.
Instead, it was Wales who scored next as they engineered a chance that wing Joyce took wide on the left.
But Ireland finished with a flourish as they swept irresistibly downfield in the closing minute before the relentless Hogan put the finishing touch on a pleasing win.
Ireland scorers:
Tries: Aoife Wafer [2], Béibhinn Parsons, Brittany Hogan [2]
Conversions: Dannah O’Brien [4 from 5]
Wales scorers:
Tries: Georgia Evans, Jasmine Joyce
Conversions: Keira Bevan [1 from 1], Lleucu George [0 from 1]
IRELAND: Stacey Flood (Niamh Gallagher ’61); Béibhinn Parsons, Aoife Dalton, Eve Higgins, Robyn O’Connor (Neve Jones ’44 to ’53); Dannah O’Brien, Emily Lane (Katie Whelan ’66); Ellena Perry (Sadhbh McGrath ’61), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (yellow card ’42) (Neve Jones ’61), Linda Djougang (Eilís Cahill ’78); Dorothy Wall (Ruth Campbell ’61), Fiona Tuite (Sam Monaghan ’61); Brittany Hogan, Erin King (captain) (Grace Moore ’65), Aoife Wafer.
WALES: Kayleigh Powell; Hannah Dallavalle (Nikita Prothero ’70), Carys Cox, Courtney Keight (Freya Bell ’66), Jasmine Joyce (yellow card ’48); Lleucu George, Keira Bevan (Seren Lockwood ’55); Gwenllian Pyrs (Maisie Davies ’65), Kelsey Jones (Molly Reardon ’61), Sisilia Tuipulotu (Donna Rose ’61); Branwen Metcalfe (Natalia John ’55), Georgia Evans; Jorja Aiono (Alisha Joyce ’55), Bethan Lewis (captain), Bryonie King.
Referee: Aurélie Groizeleau [FFR].
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