Ireland can justifiably reflect positively on last Saturday’s 49-5 loss to England, especially in the first 45 minutes or so, even if the huge defensive effort took its toll in the last half-an-hour.
To lead England 5-0 until the 34th minute and only trail by 7-5 at the interval was in stark contrast to the 88-10 loss against England a year ago, when they were already 38-3 adrift at the interval.
“It’s a first 50 we can be very proud of,” said backrow Aoife Wafer, who has become the team’s standard-bearer in many ways.
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“It’s not every day that you get to play the best in the world and that you get to welcome them to your homeland. To bring them here, rattle them for 50-odd minutes and then let them have the run of the place is something that we’re quite disappointed with. But we can also be quite proud of that first 50.”
The connection with the home crowd in Musgrave Park was palpable and Wafer has been developing quite a following, witness the Wexford flag bearing her name in the Cork crowd.
“There was a right crowd down in that corner. My cousins were down in that corner as well and they sent me videos. During the English warm-up whenever they went over to that corner they were just going: ‘Go Aoife go.’ So I’m sure the English were fed up hearing my name.
Wafer’s trademark red cap has seemingly become the most popular colour in head gear among young girls, too, and for her and her team-mates to be considered “role models” makes her proud.
“Girls are coming into rugby at younger ages now and I was lucky personally to have a lot of role models in women’s rugby. But it wasn’t there for everybody and I’m very grateful to be a part of that now.”
Critical to Ireland maintaining their upward graph is to tighten their grip on third place by beating Wales in Rodney Parade on Sunday (kick-off 3pm).
“I think we still have to respect Wales,” said Wafer. “I know the competition probably hasn’t got off to the start they wanted but Wales are very dominant if you let them be. Their set-piece, their scrum, even their maul, their pick-and-go game can be very dominant if you let them be.
![Aoife Wafer: 'To bring them [England] here, rattle them for 50-odd minutes and then let them have the run of the place is something that we’re quite disappointed with.'](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/NSI3WRGGJFE7XLNE5XV3DOKHZU.png?auth=69b3a40e5640cb317492e7ea842421d42a0d626023b2179bfa5a822b35c87184&width=800&height=506)
“We will still need to be that defensive element but I’m excited to see what the attacking plan will be this week because I reckon we could get after them in a couple of spots.”
Reflective of her huge competitive spirit, Wafer isn’t shy about setting high standards for herself as well and one day being namechecked among the likes of Lynne Cantwell, Claire Molloy and Fiona Coghlan.
“Family is massive for me. I want to do them proud. I want to represent them as best I can. Then, I suppose friends as well. It’s the same reasoning as well. I want to be the best that I can be and represent them in a way that I think is right.
“Obviously, team-mates fall into that as well. I’m going to fight every tooth and nail to try and be the best that I can be and be the best team-mate that I can be because if I can do that then hopefully I can put Ireland in a better place. Ultimately, I want to be the best in the world.
“I’ve been like that since I was young, in school, in Gaelic [football], in hurling, music and everything. I wanted to be the best in the world. I think that competitive edge is something that’s really spurred me on. Sometimes it’s the worst thing that I can do because I’m quite harsh on myself.”
To that end, Wafer doesn’t disguise her intention to play in the Premiership Women’s Rugby one day, having considered it this season before deciding to do another year of her physiotherapy studies in UCD.
“It’s something I’d be interested in and I think it would be silly of me not to look at it with so many world-class internationals in the Prem.
“You have the Red Roses there as well who are the best in the world really, aren’t they? But you have Canadians, Americans, Spanish, everyone there, and some of our Irish girls too.
“So, you’ll probably have to ask me another time and I guess we’ll see how it all unfolds.”
– Aoife Wafer was speaking in her role as an ambassador for Aer Lingus
