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League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Aoife Wafer is the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Women’s XV’s Player of The Year.Ben Brady/INPHO Freeaoife wafter 'The World Cup was just the beginning of what's to come for women's rugby' Aoife Wafer is now a back-to-back Guinness Rugby Writers Ireland Women’s XV Player of the Year winner. 1.00am, 13 Nov 2025 Share options WHILE AOIFE WAFER is now a back-to-back Guinness Rugby Writers Ireland Women’s XV Player of the Year winner, having picked up the 2025 award at the Guinness Storehouse on Tuesday evening, the Ireland back row will look back on the past year with mixed emotions. While Wafer was outstanding during her shifts in the green jersey, those outings were more limited than she would have hoped for in what was the biggest year of her career to date. The Wexford native missed the final match of the 2025 Six Nations with a knee injury before a separate, more serious knee problem threatened to end her World Cup dreams. Wafer missed Ireland’s three pool games at the World Cup but made it back for the quarter-final defeat to France. That she was there at all is testament to her hard work rehabbing the injury, but it an experience tinged with disappointment. Wafer reflected on that roller-coaster ride as she collected her award earlier this week. “It means a lot (to win the award), especially in the year that it has been,” Wafer said. Advertisement Wafer collected her award at the Guinness Storehouse on Tuesday.Nick Elliott / INPHO Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO “I think this year is a very different feeling than last year in terms of this award. I don’t think I would have got back onto the pitch without the physios and the coaches that helped me. I think it’s literally down to them the performances that I put out in the likes of the World Cup and just all the hard work behind the scenes because it’s not a place I probably want to go back to.” The PCL injury during the Six Nations didn’t threaten her World Cup, with that only becoming a concern following an incident in training. “Literally the first session that I was allowed do full contact, was allowed to full speed, I was folding around a ruck and one of the girls did her job really well on the other team but it just meant that she had come through and herself and another girl had landed on the side of my leg. I felt the pop straight away and I was in bits. It definitely crossed my mind. “I got hurt straight away, went in for a scan that night. The doctor, Matthew Cosgrave, rang me and one of the first questions I asked him was, ‘is that the World Cup gone?’ And he was like, ‘no, not just yet’. So thankfully they had a plan in place. I woke up from the op and there was a bit more damage than what was expected.” Wafer recalls nurses and physios fearing her World Cup dream was over. She outlined an ambition to get back playing in eight to nine weeks. They shared their doubts. “But I was just convinced. I’m doing everything I can here to get back.” In the end Wafer did get on the pitch at the tournament, playing a key role in a thrilling quarter-final defeat to France. “I think over the past few weeks I’ve probably only reflected on the bad stuff. I haven’t actually sat down and been like, ‘wow, I got over this big injury, I got back for a World Cup’, and not just any World Cup. It was a groundbreaking World Cup. The effect it’s had on the world is ridiculous. “The thing is that we always speak about it in terms of our overarching goal being to inspire the next generation and inspire young boys and girls to pick up rugby balls or just to pick up sports. I really do think that we achieved that and sometimes you just have to reflect on that and see that as the bigger picture. Even going home and seeing videos and pictures from different clubs and the amount of young girls and boys that they’ve had join just because they saw us playing a World Cup is insane. I think even though we didn’t achieve our goals on pitch, we definitely did off pitch and you just got to hold on to that.” In that quarter-final, Wafer at the centre of a biting incident with France backrow Axelle Berthoumieu. The incident went unpunished at the time, with Berthoumieu later receiving a 12-match ban. “It’s tough but I think we did everything in our power to bring it to the attention (of the referee). From me saying it, from Sam [Monaghan] saying it, all that kind of crack. But at the end of the day, you just have to play the game. The officials are humans and they miss stuff. But yeah, it’s a frustrating one. But look, people can argue whether it would have affected the game, it might not have affected the game but at the end of the day, we still lost.” Wafer in action against France at the World Cup.Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO Having picked up a few knocks in that defeat, Wafer is currently working her way back to full fitness as she nears a debut for Harlequins, having joined the English side over the summer. And Ireland’s World Cup experience has generated fresh enthusiasm around the prospects for next year’s Six Nations – both on and off the pitch, with Ireland set to play their first standalone Six Nations fixture at the stadium by hosting Scotland in Dublin. “100%. It’s just such an exciting time. That World Cup I think is just really the beginning of what’s to come for women’s rugby. I know the girls are extremely excited about that Aviva game. I went to the last one in 2014 when Ireland played there. “It’s gas, there’s a photo of me kind of looking out onto the pitch. I think my Mam posted it to Facebook and I think my old club Gorey commented at the time, being like, maybe in 10 years’ time she’ll be out on the pitch too. And here we are, like 11 years later and we get to represent at the national home of Irish rugby. We’re all very excited for that one and Scotland’s always a good game as well. It’s nearly like that hurdle that always kind of catches us at the last step but they’re a brilliant team. It couldn’t be a better fixture. “Then playing the defending World Champions (England) is going to be brilliant. I know that a lot of us played in that Twickenham game that wasn’t so successful but we’ve come a long way since then. I just can’t wait to get back in green hopefully sometime next year. And then the global series is something really exciting too. We’ll get to travel the world with that, and to play home games against nations that we don’t usually play is just going to be so exciting. It’s a real kind of platform to be able to build our green wave and to just keep going to what we want to get towards in Australia ‘29 when that World Cup comes around.” Ciarán Kennedy Viewcomments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'The World Cup was just the beginning of what's to come for women's rugby'”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'The World Cup was just the beginning of what's to come for women's rugby'”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. 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