Wafer The Dominant Figure As Ireland Bounce Back In Belfast

Aoife Wafer was Ireland’s try-scoring player-of-the-match against Wales for a third year in a row, as they bounced back with a 33-12 bonus point victory at Affidea Stadium.

2026 GUINNESS WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 4:

Saturday, May 9 –

IRELAND 33 WALES 12, Affidea Stadium
Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Aoife Wafer 2, Béibhinn Parsons, Brittany Hogan 2; Cons: Dannah O’Brien 4
Wales: Tries: Georgia Evans, Jasmine Joyce; Con: Keira Bevan
HT: Ireland 19 Wales 7

Ulster’s own Brittany Hogan scored right at the death to make it a five-try triumph for Scott Bemand’s charges, who will take plenty of momentum into next Sunday’s historic Aviva Stadium date with Scotland.

Wafer’s fourth try in three games against Wales set Ireland up for a 19-7 half-time lead. She also provided the assist for a pacy Béibhinn Parsons finish, which cancelled out a Georgia Evans score at the other end.

Hogan had the final say of a stop-start first half, reacting quickest with a clever grounding to crown a late attacking spell. That left the home side 12 points to the good, having played into a blinding Belfast sun.

Following sin-binnings for Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Jasmine Joyce, Wafer reached over in the 56th minute to match her brace from last year’s fixture. That was just before Niamh Gallagher came on to make her debut.

Despite replacement Neve Jones having a try disallowed and Joyce crossing late on for Wales, Hogan doubled her tally from arguably the best Irish multi-phase attack of the evening. The well-earned result moves them up to third in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations table.

Bottom-placed Wales got off to a positive start with ball in hand, as captain Bethan Lewis and Courtney Keight combined to good effect. The Irish defence was solid in response, and Dannah O’Brien’s left boot soon brought them downfield.

The hosts were penalised for holding on after Fiona Tuite had charged down a LLeucu George kick. Wafer hit back with a well-won penalty at the breakdown, although Ireland’s progress was halted by a couple of passes that went to ground.

The breakthrough came when Wafer took advantage of a poor drop-out from George in the 12th minute. Moloney-MacDonald’s inviting pass got Stacey Flood to within five metres out, and there was no stopping the number 8 from burrowing over a few phases later. O’Brien converted neatly.

Ireland dealt well with the first Welsh maul threat, however Sean Lynn’s well-drilled outfit were back level by the 23rd minute. Jorja Aiono made big yards with a carry off a lineout, and the subsquent pressure led to lock Evans squeezing in under the posts for Bevan to convert.

Wales gained further encouragement by disrupting another Irish maul, before Moloney-MacDonald was penalised for a double movement close to the visitors’ try-line. Nonetheless, some brilliant play from Wafer unlocked the defence for try number two.

Last year’s Player of the Championship carried hard from the base of a scrum, fending off Aiono and tying in two more defenders before flicking a slick offload out for Parsons to surge over for her fourth try of the tournament. O’Brien’s conversion bounced back off the right hand post.

A scrappy period approaching the interval saw Aoife Dalton make an important tackle to prevent a Carys Cox breakout. Eve Higgins also picked up a turnover in Irish territory, with the girls in green using a late penalty to get their maul moving into the Welsh 22.

Their decision to play on past the 40-minute mark duly paid off. Emily Lane fought hard to regain possession from a turnover-hunting Kelsey Jones, allowing Tuite to go close. A couple of close-in carries later, Hogan grounded the ball beside the posts with O’Brien converting.

Moloney-MacDonald saw yellow early on the resumption, a TMO review highlighting her reacting to Evans holding her off the ball. Wafer impressed again with a turnover penalty, though, and Dalton did likewise when bundling the speedy Joyce into touch.

The numbers were evened up soon after, as a tremendous break from Wafer saw her send the supporting Higgins up into the Welsh 22. Joyce was slow rolling away, leading to her sin-binning, but Aiono and Evans forced turnover ball to avoid leakin a score from a tap penalty.

When Moloney-MacDonald returned, Ireland swiftly made their numerical advantage count. They stretched Wales with Robyn O’Connor twice gaining ground out wide, Ellena Perry also punched some holes, and Wafer followed up on Linda Djougang’s powerful pick from a ruck to bag the bonus point score.

Now 26-7 behind, Wales suddenly had some space to exploit after some loose Irish kicking, but Parsons shut down the opportunity with a ball-dislodging tackle on Kayleigh Powell.

Five replacements were then sprung from Ireland’s bench, including the introduction of the 20-year-old Gallagher – the squad’s fourth debutant of the 2026 Championship – at full-back.

A truck and trailer penalty denied Jones what would have been a well-worked maul try, on the back of a strong Irish scrum. There was still just under a quarter of an hour left to play, and the vocal home crowd continued to will the green shirts forward.

A half-break from the lively Grace Moore was the highlight of a defence-dominated set of phases, during which Ireland struggled to get over the gainline at times.

Indeed, Wales managed to sting them with a fine try of their own in the 77th minute. Rewarding some good work from her forwards, out-half George landed a pinpoint cross-field kick out to the left where Joyce applied a crisp finish in the corner.

However, Ireland had more in the tank, pressing forward again with replacement Katie Whelan injecting some pace with her service from ruck to ruck. Dalton caused some damage out wide, and the pack responded at close range, with Sam Monaghan and Eilís Cahill helping to wear down the defence.

It was left to tireless blindside Hogan to barge over from a ruck, with O’Brien’s fourth successful conversion making it a 21-point winning margin. The Aviva Stadium awaits next weekend, with a record crowd already guaranteed as over 26,000 tickets have been sold for the final round clash.

TIME LINE: 13 minutes – Ireland try: Aoife Wafer – 5-0; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 7-0; 23 mins – Wales try: Georgia Evans – 7-5; conversion: Keira Bevan – 7-7; 30 mins – Ireland try: Béibhinn Parsons – 12-7; conversion: missed by Dannah O’Brien – 12-7; 40+4 mins – Ireland try: Brittany Hogan – 17-7; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 19-7; Half-time – Ireland 19 Wales 7; 42 mins – Ireland yellow card: Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald; 48 mins – Wales yellow card: Jasmine Joyce; 56 mins – Ireland try: Aoife Wafer – 24-7; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 26-7; 77 mins – Wales try: Jasmine Joyce – 26-12; conversion: missed by Lleucu George – 26-12; 80+1 mins – Ireland try: Brittany Hogan – 31-12; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 33-12; Full-time – Ireland 33 Wales 12

IRELAND: Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC/Leinster); Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC/Leinster), Robyn O’Connor (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC/Munster); Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Clíodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs), Fiona Tuite (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks), Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster) (capt), Aoife Wafer (Harlequins).

Replacements: Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sadhbh McGrath (Cooke RFC/Ulster), Eilís Cahill (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster), Ruth Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Grace Moore (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby), Katie Whelan (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Niamh Gallagher (Trailfinders Women/IQ Rugby).

WALES: Kayleigh Powell (Harlequins); Hannah Dallavalle (Gloucester-Hartpury), Carys Cox (Trailfinders Women), Courtney Keight (Sale Sharks/Brython Thunder), Jasmine Joyce (Bristol Bears/Brython Thunder); Lleucu George (Gloucester-Hartpury), Keira Bevan (Bristol Bears); Gwenllian Pyrs (Sale Sharks), Kelsey Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury), Sisilia Tuipulotu (Gloucester-Hartpury/Brython Thunder), Branwen Metcalfe (Brython Thunder), Georgia Evans (Saracens), Jorja Aiono (Brython Thunder), Bethan Lewis (Gloucester-Hartpury/Gwalia Lightning) (capt), Bryonie King (Gwalia Lightning).

Replacements: Molly Reardon (Gwalia Lightning), Maisie Davies (Gwalia Lightning/Bristol Bears), Donna Rose (Saracens), Natalia John (Brython Thunder), Alisha Joyce (Brython Thunder/Bristol Bears), Seren Lockwood (Brython Thunder), Freya Bell (Gwalia Lightning), Nikita Prothero (Gwalia Lightning/Sale Sharks).

Referee: Aurélie Groizeleau (FFR)