Aoife Wafer ruled out of Ireland's Women's Rugby World Cup opener against Japan
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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ireland coach Denis Fogarty offers hilarious incentive to players ahead of Women's Rugby World Cup
Denis Fogarty followed in the footsteps of his older brother in more ways than one DENIS Fogarty has agreed to carry out 'forfeits' depending on how far Ireland get into the Women's Rugby World Cup. The Ireland scrum coach is a very hands-on coach and is not afraid to push both himself and the players in training. 2 The Women's Rugby World Cup kicks-off tomorrow and Fogarty's hopes are high 2 Fogarty's last forfeit lasted a lot longer than he had anticipated Fogarty likes to join in on the scrummaging in training, standing in as a hooker so he can give live feedback to his players. The former Munster hooker - along with fellow coach Larissa Muldoon - also took it upon himself to referee small-sided games in Ireland training. The intensity from the games and arguments over decisions takes a lot out of Fogarty and he has had to take a lie down after the refereeing. The 42-year-old also offers an extra incentive to his players by taking part in forfeits when the team achieve certain landmarks. Most recently Fogarty promised his team he would bleach his hair if they finished in the top three in the Six Nations last year. Having finished rock bottom of the 2023 Championship, Ireland finished in third place behind England and France in 2024. Fogarty stuck to his word and he let the players themselves bleach his hair for him. When featuring on the Indo Sport Podcast, the Tipperary native shared the hilarious story behind the bleached hair saying: "It stays on for so long, this is the problem. It took three months. "If that happens again I'll have to get it done professionally, they nearly burned the head off me the last day. Honestly, they did it inside in the team room, the table cloth was thrown over me. "Then it was Doro (Dorothy Wall) and Ruth (Campbell), got a fork and spoon and starting forking it through my hair. Everything you need to know about the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 "They added in this moisturiser which I didn't know, because I obviously don't bleach my hair. They were like 'we need to protect hair, your forehead and you eyes' and all stuff like that and I'm like 'yeah yeah yeah.' "So I let them do it and it was tinted moisturiser. Not only did they bleach my hair, when they took out the bleach they said 'we have to tone it now.' "But I am absolutely convinced the toner was about five years old, because after five minutes with it in my hair I thought my head was on fire. "So that's why I said 'you need to take it out now' because with the pain, I just couldn't stand it. "So they washed it in the ladies toilets in the hotel. That was it, then it just stayed for three months. It was great. So yeah let's do it again." GOING AGAIN The former Cork Constitution manager hasn't learned his lesson from the last time, as with a bit of peer pressure from those in the Mansion House he has set new forfeits for the upcoming World Cup. If Ireland beat New Zealand - which they achieved last September in Vancouver - in the AMEX Stadium, Fogarty has agreed to bleach his hair again. That was just the first of three forfeits the brother of John Fogarty - who is ironically the Ireland men's scum coach - agreed to do as if Scott Bemand's side reach the semi-final stage, he will shave his head. And if Ireland go all the way and record a historic World Cup win in England, Fogarty will get a tattoo as well as the other two forfeits. While piercings and live streamed full-body waxes were brought up as potential forfeits, the Rockwell College alumnus was happy to settle on these three.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Women's Rugby World Cup: Six stars to watch out for
The Women's Rugby World Cup begins in Sunderland on Friday when hosts England face the United States at the Stadium of Light. The tournament concludes with the final at the Allianz Stadium on September 27. Take a look at some of the key players to watch during this year's competition. Aoife Dalton The Ireland international is only 22 but has 24 caps to her name and was awarded player of the year last season after a strong Six Nations performance. The dynamic centre started all five games for Ireland in the Six Nations and will be hoping to carry on that record in the WRWC where she is appearing for the first time. The Offaly native is a ball carrying powerhouse with 41 carries in the W6N as well as one try to her name. Claudia Pena The Spain international enjoyed a fantastic debut season in Premiership Women's Rugby with Harlequins this season. The 20-year-old centre joined Quins from Barcelona at the start of the season and went on to score eight tries in 13 appearances. Pena will be looking to carry on from that stellar season with Spain, who are ranked 13th in the world and face a tricky group with clashes against New Zealand, Ireland and Japan. Sisilia Tuipulotu Tuipulotu has returned to the Wales team in time to compete in her second World Cup. The ball-carrying prop missed the Six Nations after undergoing hamstring surgery, but returned for Wales' warm-up series against Australia, which they drew 1-1. World Cups are a family affair for Tuipulotu after her father Sione played at the men's 1999 and 2007 editions. Braxton Sorensen-McGee Still only 18 years old, New Zealand's Sorensen-McGee has quickly become a much talked about talent. The full-back stood out in her first season of Super Rugby Aupiki, where she scored four tries during the competition and helped the Blues win the final against Matatu. She then made her Black Ferns debut against Australia on May 10 and made an instant impression, scoring two tries and subsequently earned a maiden World Cup call-up. Another young talent aiming to make her mark on the World Cup is 18-year-old Australia full-back Halse. The teenager made her Super Rugby Women's debut aged 16 and in the process became the joint-youngest NSW Waratahs player to do so. Halse became the youngest debutant for either the men's or women's Australia teams in May 2024 when she played against the United States and has so far earned 11 caps for the Wallaroos. Abby Dow With 54 caps to her name, Dow will be aiming to continue her impressive year at her second World Cup. The England winger is a crucial part of a formidable back three, which includes Ellie Kildunne and Jess Breach for Friday's opener against the United States. Dow comes into the tournament on the back of a successful Six Nations campaign, where she finished top of the try-scorers list with six tries as England were crowned victors. Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch Ireland v Japan in the Rugby World Cup on Sunday from 11.30am on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to live radio commentary on 2fm.
Extra.ie
7 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Jackman believes Wafer and McMahon will make instant impact at World Cup
The Women's Rugby World Cup finally gets underway this weekend as hosts England kick off the tournament against the USA on Friday August 22 at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. For Ireland, it's a chance to finally show off the progress they've made since missing out on the last tournament in 2021. Since that low point, Ireland have come on leaps and bounds, and now under Scott Bemand, they have a team that can really compete with the best of them. They showed glimpses of that last year at WXV 1 as they performed admirably against hosts Canada and managed to beat reigning World Champions New Zealand. Over the next month, Ireland can now show that 2021 was just a blip and this team belongs at the higher echelon of the women's game. However, they'll need their best players in peak condition. Ireland team celebrate winning against New Zealand. Pic: INPHO/World Rugby/Rich Lam That's where some worry comes in for Scott Bemand's squad. Having already been hampered by injuries to key players like Erin King and Dorothy Wall, Bemand has had to deal with players coming back after long-term lay-offs like Sam Monaghan who played her first minutes in over a year in Ireland's two warm-up matches against Scotland and Canada. Then there's the case of Edel McMahon and Aoife Wafer. The pair have had their preparation for the World Cup hampered by injuries and didn't feature in either of Ireland's warm-up games. Edel McMahon. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady It means they are both coming in cold but, while speaking at RTÉ's launch of the Women's Rugby World Cup, ex-Leinster and Ireland hooker Bernard Jackman spoke about how it's easier to bring players back from injuries into squads these days, highlighting Will Skelton's performance in the Lions series. 'I think it's a lot easier now than it would have been in times gone past. There's so much data being connected, there's so much information that Bemand and his coaches will have in terms of where they are physically. There's such depth to the return to play protocols and I think we've seen more and more athletes be able to come in cold and perform as they had in the past. 'Even Will Skeleton, use him for the men's game. I mean, he was able to come in cold without doing a lot of work in terms of contact and actually be able to have a big influence in games.' RTÉ presenters Jacqui Hurley and Clare MacNamara pictured with Ireland Head Coach Scott Bemand and players Edel McMahon, centre, and Sam Monaghan at Dunboyne Castle in Meath as RTÉ launches its Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Coverage. Pic: RTÉ Jackman then spoke about how the increased professionalism of the game in Ireland allows players to come back in better condition, and that Scott Bemand and his coaches will be more than prepared to bring them in. 'And I think that's the beauty of having contracts and more access and more specialist coaching who can bring those players to prime condition quickly. So it's not ideal. Obviously, you would like to have time on the field in games, but I think it's not anywhere near as big a negative as it would have been in the past. 'I would fully expect them to be able to be influential in games fit enough to be selected. As I said, he and his coaching staff will have a lot more information than he would have in the past and be able to make, hopefully, you know, really good decisions around when to play them and how long to play them for.' Aoife Wafer of Ireland on her way to scoring her side a try during the Women's Six Nations Rugby Championship match against Wales. Photo by Kian Abdullah/Sportsfile Ireland get their World Cup campaign underway on Sunday August 24, as they play Japan at Franklin Gardens in Northampton, kick off is at 12pm and it will be live on RTÉ2. Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 kicks off on 22nd August across RTÉ.
