The health of Aoife Wafer’s knee continues to be a source of national anxiety.
The first news story from Ireland landing in England for this World Cup focused on her inability to travel with the group, arriving instead over the weekend. Sitting in the stands at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday, Wafer’s belated presence was then noted by those frequenting the press box. On Wednesday, when Ireland hold their latest media briefing, the first question will be about her fitness for round two against Spain.
Despite the absence of their powerful backrow, Ireland showed little sign of faltering against Japan. To say they didn’t miss Wafer discounts her quality, but Ireland still scored six tries and made 459 post-contact metres without their best ball carrier. How did they go about filling the gap?
Wafer’s undoubted strength is her carrying. She lead the Six Nations for carries earlier this year (70) and ranked first among forwards for metres gained (239). Top in both quantity and quality despite missing the final game through injury.
Against Japan, Ireland recreated Wafer in the aggregate. In terms of the forwards at least. Sam Monaghan beat Wafer’s volume of carries in the 2024 Six Nations by one (52 vs 51). Ireland’s co-captain missed the most recent tournament thanks to injury problems of her own. Back playing competitively again, Monaghan led the way on Sunday for Irish forward carries (14).
Close behind Monaghan was Brittany Hogan, nominally Wafer’s replacement at number eight. She made 11 carries but, crucially, was effective with them. The Co Down native led Irish forwards for metres carried with 39m.
Close behind her in the latter category was Fiona Tuite. Normally a secondrow, Tuite lined out at six. She was charged with lineout solidity – adding another backrow jumper – but also providing punch in contact. Her 37 metres off nine carries suggests a more efficient carrying display, more metres per carry than both Hogan and Monaghan. Plenty of that yardage came when Eve Higgins offered Tuite a clear run under the posts.
If Sunday was about individual effort to collectively fill Wafer’s attacking hole, game planning favourable opportunities also played a part. When you’ve got such a proficient carrier, plan A is to engineer chances for them to do their most significant damage.
Think back to the 2025 Six Nations opener, Ireland’s first try came from a dummy maul. Ireland sucked in would-be tacklers, popped the ball to Wafer charging around the corner to carry into an understaffed defence. She didn’t need a second invitation to barge over the line.
Compare that score to Ireland’s first on Sunday. For Wafer, swap in Hogan. Another dummy maul lured in Japanese defenders. Hogan wasn’t charging around the corner from the set-piece, instead coming in on a hard angle from the backline. The result was similar.
Ireland’s dummy maul sucks in the Japanese forwards. Edel McMahon’s peel draws the attention of the final Japan lineout defende (red), leaving Brittany Hogan (green) with a clear run at the opposition 10.
With space opened up in the seam between the lineout and the outside backs, Hogan found a mismatch against the opposition outhalf. With Japan scrambling to stop momentum, Ireland scored out wide just two phases later.
Enya Breen’s try in the second half saw is origins in similarly clever build-up. Another dummy maul did the trick. Edel McMahon took the ball from the false drive and found a strong runner. This time Aoife Dalton charged in from the backs.
Once again, Ireland got outside the forwards at the set-piece to target an overpowered backline. Dalton was hauled down, but Breen profited from the momentum two phases later.
Once again, Ireland’s maul convinces every Japan forward at the lineout to bite in. With no defender holding off this time, McMahon (red) has a more straightforward task to pass to Dalton (green) charging into space at speed.
With Wafer out, Ireland still gameplanned for their stronger carriers to dominate, while individuals across the park lifted their work rate. What also helped was the performance of the backline. Given their pace, power and skill trifecta, Ireland’s centres and backthree are always vital components of their attack.
Stacey Flood and Costigan both ranked inside the top 10 for metres made by all Six Nations players in the 2025 competition. Seeing these players dominate the ball is no new trend. Yet they still managed to turn up their output on Sunday.
Eve Higgins led the way with a colossal 150 metres carried against Japan, thanks largely to her break in the build up to Tuite’s score and her own coast-to-coast intercept try. Flood also brought up her hundred (103). Using matches where publicly available data was recorded, this was only the second time since 2021 that Ireland had two players cross the century mark. The other was against Wales this year where Flood and – surprise surprise – Wafer did the honours.
Ireland’s wings, Costigan and Parsons, picked up their fair share of yardage on Sunday, 76m and 74m respectively. To go with a pair of tries between them and three combined line breaks. Ireland’s backline is always a threat, but it rarely has had as strong a statistical output.
None of these attacking opportunities come without the required platform. Ireland’s lineout faltered to the tune of four throws lost. But it functioned long enough to be the launch pad for four of the six tries on the day. Whatever about her carrying work, Tuite’s selection at six was largely vindicated by the nine throws she won when calling ball on herself.
Behind the set-piece, Ireland’s ruck speed was another factor. 76 per cent of rucks lasting fewer than three seconds is a phenomenal number. It’s easier to make ground when defences don’t have time to set. The collective rucking effort deserves credit, as does scrumhalf Aoibheann Reilly’s speed of service.
In the two competitive games played since Wafer suffered her first injury, Ireland made 463 and 459 post-contact metres against Scotland and Japan respectively. That’s more than any game this year when Wafer was fit. Of course, Ireland lost to Scotland, efficiency in the 22 letting them down. They avoided such a malaise on Sunday.
This isn’t to say Ireland aren’t a better attacking team without Wafer. Her skills will undoubtedly be required against stronger opposition as the tournament progresses. What it does show is that, against certain teams at least, Ireland have made a decent fist of filling the gap left by the absence of their best ball-carrier.
AloJapan.com