Ruthless first-half performance sets tone for memorable day at the Aviva

Aoife Wafer scores Ireland’s fourth try during the Women’s Six Nations Championship match against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

Aoife Wafer scores Ireland’s fourth try during the Women’s Six Nations Championship match against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium. Photo: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

This was the day when the home of Irish rugby really did become the home of Irish rugby. The cheer that greeted the end of Amhrán na bhFiann for Ireland’s first standalone Women’s Six Nations game at the Aviva Stadium came with the tune of a record-breaking crowd of 31,294.

The noise was also a drumroll to signal how far women’s rugby has come, how a gap has been bridged. This ground has belonged to Irish men’s teams for a few centuries. Now the national women’s team have their own keys to this home.