There was pride aplenty as well as heartache within the Irish squad after losing their Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against France 18-13 in Exeter. There were also surprisingly few recriminations despite on-field accusations and clear evidence of biting by one of the French players.
Footage showed Aoife Wafer – who had a storming game on her long-awaited return to the Ireland team for her first outing since April after undergoing knee surgery – attempting a jackal after tackling Axelle Berthoumieu in the 42nd minute.
The French blindside then appeared to bite Wafer’s left forearm, even holding her by the wrist, following which the Irish backrower could be heard claiming to have been bitten three times. Ireland captain Sam Monaghan asked referee Aimee Barrett-Theron to have the TMO check the incident, to which the South African official responded: “The TMO will sweep for a bite. I didn’t see anything live.”
[ Ireland World Cup dreams dashed with quarter-final defeat to FranceOpens in new window ]
Ireland were leading 13-0 and had France – who ultimately picked up three yellow cards – been reduced to 14 players at that point it could have had a significant impact on the outcome, albeit allegations of biting tend to be proven on review of a game rather than in play, even with such compelling evidence.
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It emerged later that flanker Axelle Berthoumieu had been cited for an action contrary to Law 9.12 (biting), while second row Manae Felu was cited for an action contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackling).
Both Monaghan and Ireland head coach Scott Bemand spoke of their pride in Ireland’s performance, Monaghan remarking: “That’s what I asked from the girls at the start of the game. ‘Don’t let a moment get by you. Leave everything you can out there.’ And I truly believe we did.
“You can see it in the players’ faces, they are heartbroken, but it’s such a proud feeling. I couldn’t ask for more from them. We gave it our all, we brought them to 90 minutes, probably, in the end with the five minutes from the first half.
“I’m extremely proud of this group. It is a young group. Only one player [Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald] out of the 32 has experienced a World Cup before. If you do look back two years ago, we were competing in WXV 3, and we were very, very close to winning a World Cup quarter-final there.
“Yes, we’re gutted, we’re heartbroken. We know we could have had that game, but we’ll hold our heads high, rebuild and grow together.”
Stressing it was a tough Test match in difficult conditions and Ireland embraced the occasion better than they might have done a couple of years ago, Bemand said this young team will improve further over the next World Cup cycle.
[ Meet the 32-strong Ireland squad heading to the Rugby World CupOpens in new window ]
“France are a good team. They’re full of big athletes. They’re strong and in the conditions they managed to get a little bit of pressure on our first pass,” he said.
“We’ll go back and review it. We’ll take the learnings of how we get on top of teams and how to close out points when we get into their 22.”
The 2026 Six Nations will soon come into view, when Ireland will have the incentive of hosting their round-five game against Scotland in the first women’s stand-alone game at the Aviva Stadium.
Bemand is under contract for another year and appeared to suggest he would be keen to lead Ireland through to the next World Cup in Australia pending conversations with the IRFU.
“In terms of what we’re doing, it doesn’t feel like we’re anywhere near the end point. The story’s still being written and if it’s me to go forward, if I’m the right fit, if it works for myself and the players, then brilliant,” said Bemand.
“We keep talking about taking this next step and cracking into the World Cup contenders. It’s gutting to not do it today, that’s the reality of things, especially when we look back on it.
“There were opportunities to take today. I believe we were going to score at the end of that game today because I’ve seen the girls practising it, I’ve seen what they’ve been doing in training, the amount of pressure that we’ve been able to deal with in training.
“It’s going to happen at some point, and if it’s me, that would be brilliant.”
