Aoife Wafer was named Player of the Match, Erin King, Brittany Hogan and Dannah O’Brien were the other nominees, although half-dozen other Ireland players were close to contention
2026 Guinness Women’s Six Nations Championship Round 5, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 17/5/2026
Ireland vs Scotland
Ireland’s Player of the Match Aoife Wafer scores a try (Image: ©INPHO/Ben Brady)
Ireland trounced Scotland 54-5, scoring eight tries, in front of a record attendance for an Ireland women’s rugby international.
Aoife Wafer was named Player of the Match, Erin King, Brittany Hogan and Dannah O’Brien were the other nominees, although half-dozen other Ireland players were close to contention.
Not one Scotland player touched the ball in the Irish 22m zone until the 77th minute, their try came in the 86th minute.
Next week, same time, same place: Fifa reigning world champions Argentina vs Home Farm’s U14s with a Kerry SFC against a Kilkenny SFC side and featuring a Katie Taylor exhibition bout against a stuffed toy as a warm up.
Winning Ireland coach Scott Bemand remains a leader of stubborn habit, he knows his side are capable of limiting England and France and of defeating Scotland, Wales and Italy.
Thus this Six Nations campaign is set up to be played by rote and lacking imagination. A dozen Ireland players started all five games, it would most likely have been one more had Sam Monaghan been fit from the start.
This is a strategy identified as risky for coaches, across all sports, with long-term ambitions. It tightens the team on matchday, familarises them through training and playing as a unit and inculcates the idea that the starters are top-class operators, adding to individuals’ confidence.
Studies have shown, however, that this method can be very effective in a short period and, indeed, Bemand’s simple answer is they are trying to close the gap to England and France, enlarge the gap to the bottom three.
But those studies also demonstrate that the group on the other side of the ball at training every day, sitting on the bench on matchday, or simply left out, lose learning opportunities. In this instance, they will have aged a year in life but not in rugby IQ for the 2027 competition.
By contrast Andy Farrell had only four ever-presents in his 2026 Six Nations campaign – Jamie Osborne, Gary Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey and Dan Sheehan.
Individuals in squads across all sports change age, intensity, motivation, fitness, injury profiled, clubs, etcetera from campaign to campaign.
Something for which future-proofing coaches have plans in place with regard to replacing, individuals and units and that they have worked on in training and in matches. That is they actively seek opportunities to improve the group.
Starting five of the backs and seven of the forwards match-on-match for the five games 2026 Six Nations games does great service to the Ireland in the league table, punching out 57-20, 33-12 and 54-5 wins over Italy, Wales and Scotland respectively.
But it is a con job in terms of bringing Ireland Womens Rugby Inc. forward as a wider group as all are not on the same learning curve.
Yesterday Ireland were 47-0 up at half-time as Cliodhna Moloney-McDonald twice, Robyn O’Connor, Aoife Wafer twice, Brittany Hogan and Stacey Flood having crossed for tries.
What should have happened next was Bemand bringing on the entire bench. There was nothing for the XV to prove, the match was unlose-able.
Which leads to another point. The Niamh Briggs-coached UL Bohs are back-to-back AIL womens champions. and they have very little representation internationally.
None of the 12 2026 Ireland regulars play for UL Bohs, none of their players started any game this campaign, and they had just one player in yesterday’s matchday squad, tighthead prop Eilis Cahill.
There is a plausible theory the UL Bohs pack (students) are too light. Extra so given Ireland have been using, on average, five forwards based in the tougher, saltier, semi-pro English womens league.
But this chucking out of the UL Bohs forwards’ credentials surely leads to the idea their backs have something extra; as a rule of thumb a good pack will win a game against good backs.
Meanwhile back at the Aviva ranch Bemand changed nothing at half-time and the suspicion has to be that he had his eye on the 73-3 record score against Scotland, posted in 2015.
What’s that they say in detective novels when the gumshoe is eying up the suspects in a murder case? Cui Bono (who benefits from this)?
Heartiest and warmest congratulations to Flood, Parsons, Dalton, O’Brien, Lane, Djougang, Tuite and skipper King who all play domestic AIL rugby along with English-based Perry, Moloney-MacDonald, Hogan and Wafer on their ever-present and quality Six Nations efforts.
The vast majority of this main body are starting to prove themselves generational talents.
The coach relented nine minutes the other side of the break and finally brought in six of the subs; the last two subs came in on the hour.
The announcer was right to thank the ‘record attendance, 31,294 for showing up and they got the best from the committed Ireland women in a game where the ball only crossed once in to the Ireland 22m zone in the first 77 minutes and, even then, it was a kick and gathered by Flood.
Given Scotland kicked off 10 times into the Irish half, the 89 percent Irish territory possession to that point speaks enough about the contest, Scotland the Brave for sure but Scotland the sacrificial lamb too.
As it Happened – 4 mins: Moloney-MacDonald try, O’Brien con, 7-0; 8: O’Connor try, O’Brien con, 14-0; 13: Hogan try, O’Brien con, 21-0; 18: King try, 26-0; 29: Wafer try, O’Brien con, 33-0; 35: Flood try, O’Brien con, 40-0; 38: Wafer try, O’Brien con, 47-0.
Half-time 47-0
60: Hogan try, O’Brien con, 54-0; 80 (+5): Sutcliffe try, 54-5.
IRELAND: Stacey Flood (Leinster); Béibhinn Parsons (Connacht). Aoife Dalton (Leinster), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Robyn O’Connor (Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Leinster), Emily Lane (Munster); Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Linda Djougang (Leinster); Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury), Fiona Tuite (Ulster); Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks), Erin King (Leinster) capt Aoife Wafer (Harlequins).
Replacements: Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury) for Moloney-MacDonald, Sadhbh McGrath (Ulster) for Perry, Eilís Cahill (Munster) for Djougang, Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs) for Monaghan, Ruth Campbell (Leinster) for Tuite, Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster) for O’Connor (all 49 mins); Niamh Gallagher (Trailfinders Women) for Parsons, Katie Whelan (Leinster) for Lane (both 60).