Women’s Six Nations: Ireland 33 Wales 12
The trend of this fixture being uncompetitive – on the scoreboard at least – has continued. Last year, Ireland beat Wales by 26 points, 31 the year before. In 2023, Wales finished 26 to the good.
This time around the gap was tighter, Ireland finishing 21 points better than their visitors. Tries from Aoife Wafer (two), Béibhinn Parsons and Brittany Hogan (also two) earned a bonus-point win in Belfast.
Dominant on the scoreboard perhaps, but Ireland were forced to grind Wales out of the contest before pulling away in the second half. If option A in the game plan was to overpower the Welsh pack in the tight exchanges, it took a while to come to fruition. Scrappy at the breakdown and effective in holding Irish carriers off the ground, Wales earned parity for much of this contest. It was a pity the effort couldn’t be sustained.
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Ireland also survived a few hairy moments discipline wise. A potential head-on-head tackle from Erin King was adjudged to have avoided dangerous contact, while Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald saw yellow for a kick that, on another day with a less understanding referee, could well have been red.
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To be fair to Ireland’s hooker, she was being deliberately held away from the ruck by Georgia Evans. It wasn’t a heavy kick, more of a soft nudge. French referee Aurélie Groizeleau applied discretion when choosing yellow.
Still, Ireland ensured they did what was required to turn a 19-7 first half lead into a more comfortable margin, keeping Wales from adding to their tally until Jasmine Joyce’s late consolation.
Ireland started the scoring after 11 minutes, Wafer adding the first of her two close-range finishes. She started the move with a thunderous carry, a poor goal line drop from Lleucu George allowing Ireland’s number eight to build a head of steam.
There was some variety in the attack too, Moloney-MacDonald adding to the momentum with a deft inside ball to Stacey Flood. This was a sleight of hand not seen in the French defeat a fortnight ago. Wafer benefited as Wales scrambled.
The visitors did level thanks to a thundering forward carry of their own. Backrow Jorja Aiono ran over the top of Wafer, of all people, inside the 22. Eventually, Georgia Evans barrelled over from close range.
If Wafer’s braun dominated Ireland’s first try, her delicate handling created the second. Three defenders drawn in when carrying off a scrum, a superb offload took advantage of the space created to send Parsons over.
In the meantime, Wales still did enough to frustrate the hosts despite their narrow lead. Cwenllian Pyrs and Sisilia Tuipulotu pilfered the Irish ruck, while a handful of scrum shoves were going Wales’ way.
Ireland, though, ended the half in a more positive fashion. Dannah O’Brien could have kicked a penalty dead with the clock in the red, but the aggressive option was taken. Ireland hammered away at the line, Hogan eventually dotting down with the clock well past the 43-minute mark.
The second half looked to be bringing even more of a contest when Moloney-MacDonald saw yellow only a few minutes in. But Ireland managed being down to 14 with a ruthless edge, Wafer securing a breakdown poach on Wales’ only attack of note during that period.
Moments later, Wafer made a bust from her own 22, offloading to Eve Higgins to bring play into the Welsh half. Jasmine Joyce was guilty of killing the ball and all of a sudden, Wales’ numerical advantage was gone as she joined Moloney-MacDonald in the bin.
From there, Ireland refused to remove the foot from the throat. Wafer scored another close-range try after Djougang’s carry brought play close to the line. Neve Jones thought she had added a fifth Irish try, only for the TMO to spot obstruction from Djougang in the maul.
Wales did add a consolation that brought the scoreline down to a number that better reflected their first half efforts. Joyce was the beneficiary of a pinpoint cross-kick from George. There was time for Ireland to respond, Hogan ending the game with her second score from close range.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 11 MINS: Wafer try, O’Brien con 7-0; 22: Evans try, Bevan con 7-7; 29: Parsons try 12-7; 40: Hogan try, O’Brien con 19-7; Half-time 19-7; 56: Wafer try, O’Brien con 26-7; 78: Joyce try 26-12; 80: Hogan try, O’Brien con 33-12
IRELAND: S Floord; B Parsons, A Dalton, E Higgins, R O’Connor; D O’Brien, E Lane; E Perry, C Moloney-MacDonald, L Djougang; D Wall, F Tuite; B Hogan, E King (capt), A Wafer. Replacements: N Jones for O’Connor (43-53 mins), N Gallagher for Flood, R Campbell for Wall, E Cahill for Djougang, S McGrath for Perry, Jones for Moloney-MacDonald (all 60), G Moore for King, K Whelan for Lane (both 66).
Yellow card: Moloney Mac-Donald (42 mins).
WALES: K Powell; H Dallavalle, C Cox, C Keight, J Joyce; L George, K Bevan; G Pyrs, K Jones, S Tuipulotu; B Metcalfe, G Evans; J Aiono, B Lewis (capt), B King. Replacements: S Lockwood for Bevan, A Joyce for Aiono, N John for Metcalfe (all 55 mins), D Rose for Tuipulotu, M Reardon for Jones (both 60), M Davies for Pyrs (64), N Prothero for Dallavale (69).
Yellow card: Joyce (48 mins).
Referee: Aurélie Groizeleau (FFR).
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