WALES 14 IRELAND 40
BY RICHARD BULLICK
PHENOMENAL Player of the Match Aoife Wafer and rampaging fellow forwards Dorothy Wall and Linda Djougang all bagged braces as magnificent Ireland hit Wales with six tries on their own Newport pitch in what became a Sunday stroll.
It turned into a procession at Rodney Parade as Ireland marched to a second emphatic away win of this Guinness Six Nations campaign after ending a four-year barren run on the road with last month’s record 54-12 rout of Italy in Parma.
Scott Bemand’s fantastic team could have broken the half-century barrier here too but for a plethora of handling errors, the only notable blot on an otherwise hugely satisfying afternoon for this ambitious Irish side as they won by 26 points.
It was an incredibly dominant display by the visiting team after finding themselves seven points down inside the first seven minutes, and tough taskmaster Bemand bemoaned the fact Ireland didn’t cash in even more on their superiority in front of a hostile crowd.
“We’ve won a second on the bounce away from home but there are bits of the performance we feel flat about, and we’ve left a lot of points out there. We could perhaps have kicked on to 50-60 and laid down a real statement victory,” reflected the head coach.
“It’s still a young group, there was an occasion to handle and Wales didn’t make the breakdown easy but bits of that were on us. We were asking the right questions early on but not quite converting into points. But it’s still pleasing to come away with the win.”
Visitors Ireland delivered in stunning style despite the physical toll taken by their herculean efforts against the world’s top team England the previous Saturday and the emotional turmoil of seeing Erin King ruled out of this summer’s World Cup by a serious knee injury.
Playing in their new white jerseys in a Six Nations match for the first time out of consideration for colour-blind fans who struggle to distinguish between their traditional green and the Welsh red, Ireland got back to winning ways with a bang.
Their impressive points difference after four rounds means Ireland are all but guaranteed to emulate last season’s third place finish ahead of this Saturday’s final fixture against Scotland in Edinburgh, but they will be determined to end on a winning note.
It is a tight six-day turnaround but Bemand had the luxury of making a batch of six substitutions just before the hour mark in Newport with Ireland already all but home and hosed against their shell-shocked hosts.
Late call-up Hannah Bluck had just scored Wales’ second try with her first touch since coming off the bench when Ireland made those multiple changes, but by then the visitors had plundered 33 points in response to going behind early on.
Two of those tries, both scored by Wall either side of the break, came when Ireland were at a numerical disadvantage, having lost outhalf Dannah O’Brien to the sinbin for making head contact in a rather passive but upright tackle attempt towards the end of the first half.
Clovers skipper Enya Breen, who was given another run at stand-off for the last quarter, had a frustrating first start of this Six Nations in terms of fumbling balls and putting a kick out on the full, but she did land two excellent conversions from wide out.
In the first instance, Breen added the extras to Wall’s try which came with the clock red at the end of the opening period and, having gone in with a 21-7 interval lead, the visitors secured their bonus point within four minutes of the resumption.
It was Wall who touched down again and, although Breen couldn’t convert on this occasion, the sight of O’Brien returning to the field before play restarted would have hammered home to the Welsh that they had an almost impossible mountain to climb.
Coming into this showdown, Wales would have been bursting for a revenge victory after their 36-5 hammering in Cork last April and keen to put their best foot forward in what was a final competitive match on home soil ahead of the World Cup.
Although they had lost their first three matches in this Six Nations, two of those defeats came against England and France following a narrow loss away to Scotland in their highly-regarded new head coach Sean Lynn’s first game at the helm after very little lead-in time.
There have been real fluctuating fortunes in fixtures between these countries in recent years, with Ireland producing an astonishing 45-0 away win in 2021 before being beaten in Dublin the following season.
On Ireland’s last visit two years ago, Wales had the bonus point in the bag before half-time on their way to a 31-5 victory in Cardiff but Ireland turned the tables last April with that even more comprehensive victory in Cork.
So Wales were considered dangerous opponents, particularly if there was any Irish hangover from the England game or the visitors struggled to adjust to being without the almost freakish King, compounded by the loss of Niamh O’Dowd’s workrate.
Loosehead Siobhan McCarthy got her first Test start in injured O’Dowd’s absence while the loss of King meant skipper Edel McMahon could slot straight back into her natural openside position having missed the England game due to injury.
Ruth Campbell replaced Ulster’s Fiona Tuite in another second row rotation, experienced campaigner Molly Scuffil-McCabe became O’Brien’s third starting halfback partner in as many matches and a fit-again Breen came in at inside centre for Eve Higgins.
Along with outside backs Stacey Flood and Amee-Leigh Murphy-Crowe, Breen’s midfield partner Aoife Dalton has played every minute of this Six Nations so far and the compact centre complemented Ireland’s powerful forwards with her own ferocious physicality.
Majestic, elegant fullback Flood roamed extensively in Newport and, despite butchering a try chance near the end when she knocked on with the line at her mercy, must have been a Player of the Match contender having made 145 metres from 17 carries.
It was fitting though that, on an afternoon when the pack scored all six tries, the individual award went to Ireland’s taliswoman Wafer, who made an astonishing 24 carries, almost matched Flood for ground gained and touched down twice.
Remarkably, Wafer made more metres than the entire Welsh pack put together in a game where Ireland dominated territory (62 percent) and possession (59 percent) and most stats as well as the scoreboard.
Ireland made 723 metres from 116 carries to a mere 332 from 49 by Wales, had 10 clean breaks compared to four by their hosts and conceded significantly fewer penalties, 11 to 18, which perhaps suggests the opposition were lucky to avoid any yellow cards.
With Ireland having to make just 92 tackles compared to 161 by Wales, Ulster’s Brittany Hogan – who again led the way as against England – was the only visiting player whose count reached double figures, for Dalton’s nine was the second highest.
Like her boss Bemand, Wafer wasn’t fully satisfied afterwards with aspects of Ireland’s performance, further evidence of how far this team has come since that transformative victory over Wales last April when she also won Player of the Match.
The awesome Wall is also due special praise for another thunderous display which saw her make 18 carries, assume responsibility as primary lineout jumper in King’s absence with 10 takes, score two tries and threaten to complete her hat-trick with a big burst late on.
Ireland’s third double try-scorer, Djougang, had the unusual stat for a prop of being credited with beating six defenders during the game even though she gave way to young Ulsterwoman Sadhbh McGrath before the end of the third quarter.
McGrath had endured a baptism of fire as an 18-year-old debutant winning her first cap on Ireland’s last visit to Wales, so no doubt it was satisfying for her and fellow replacement prop Christy Haney when the side’s scrummaging ascendancy was maintained under their watch.
Despite having to adjust to the absence of King, the visitors won 18 out of 21 lineouts on their own throw, with main target Wall being supplemented by Campbell and Hogan, while McMahon wasn’t used on Ireland’s ball but did steal one Welsh throw.
Ireland’s excellent captain typically put herself about in making a dozen forceful carries, augmented by a couple of good offloads, while Ulsterwoman Neve Jones characteristically had no missed tackles albeit having to make fewer than usual given her side’s dominance.
It was a proud afternoon for Fermanagh flanker Claire Boles, who won her first cap since 2019 when replacing McMahon a quarter of an hour into the second half, and she made half a dozen tackles along with three carries.
Ireland’s elegant fullback Stacey Flood during her dazzling display
The captaincy was taken over by Murphy-Crowe who, like fellow winger Anna McGann, always looked threatening in a potent back three with Flood but was at fault for the unfortunate first Welsh try just six minutes into the game.
After early pressure by the team in white went unrewarded, Lleucu George, a late inclusion at flyhalf for Wales, rolled a kick through to the Irish line which Murphy-Crowe gathered but the ball was dislodged when she was hit by Jasmine Joyce and Carys Cox pounced for a try.
Scrumhalf Keira Bevan converted and it took Ireland until midway through the half to draw level, when Wales missed touch with a penalty, the gliding Flood freed Wafer down the left and Djougang got the touchdown with O’Brien adding the equalising extras.
It was breathless stuff for the most part with two enterprising teams enjoying the perfect conditions but Ireland edged in front on the half hour mark after McMahon secured a ball dropped backwards by Breen, Dalton withstood a huge hit and Wafer forced her way over.
Again the conversion by O’Brien was successful and, although the 21-year-old found herself sinbinned –ironically when knocked backwards by rampaging Wales No 8 Alex Callender carrying from the base of a scrum – Ireland’s dominance continued.
Dalton did superbly to make a tackle and win a penalty at the breakdown after being beaten initially trying to cover the extra space in O’Brien’s absence and Ireland had the perfect finish to the half in the shape of their third converted try, scored with the clock red.
Having been held up over the line with the referee playing advantage, Ireland decided to tap the penalty through Hogan and, after Wafer had a go, it was second row Wall who got the ball down with Breen’s successful kick the last act of a frenetic half.
The captains were informed before the second half kicked off that O’Brien’s yellow card rightly wasn’t being upgraded to red as a result of the bunker review, and Ireland extended their lead to 19 points when the pack mauled over from a lineout with Wall touching down.
Soon afterwards Dalton made a brilliant, vital tackle on Cox out wide, Wafer and Hogan made a shuddering double hit, Neve Jones scooped up the loose ball, Wales gave away a penalty and the television camera panned to a deflated-looking Lynn in the stand.
A high tackle on Dalton led to a siege on the Welsh line and, although Ireland were held up again on one occasion, the white waves kept coming and Djougang scored under the posts to give O’Brien a straightforward task of adding two more points to make it 33-7.
Bemand made his six substitutions on the hour and, by the time Tuite replaced Hogan four minutes later with Wall switching to flanker, Wafer had exploited a big blindside from the base of a scrum to score her second try of the afternoon, Breen converting from wide out.
Ireland missed touch with penalties several times in this game by being greedy going for added distance, including when Wales infringed at a scrum on 70 minutes against the revamped visiting front row – but this was a temporary reprieve.
Replacement scrumhalf Emily Lane sniped from a lineout, Breen offloaded nicely to Boles and Wall rampaged deep into the Welsh 22 but Flood spilled the scoring pass from Dalton an agonising two metres short of the tryline – Ireland’s 12th handling error of the day.
Wales will head to Italy this weekend hoping to avoid a whitewash, Ireland are at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh to play Scotland (2.30pm) before Super Saturday culminates in a Twickenham clash between the two unbeaten teams, England and France.
The French had to survive a considerable scare before winning their penultimate match against Italy 34-21 whereas England, despite resting many of the frontliners who had faced Ireland, comfortably beat Scotland 59-7 on Saturday having led 42-0 at the interval.
Ulster’s Claire Boles (centre) sings Ireland’s Call ahead of the match
Ireland forwards Dorothy Wall (left) and Aoife Wafer had huge games
Player of the Match Aoife Wafer made great ground with her carries
