Image source, InphoImage caption, Aoife Wafer (left) was Ireland's leading ball-carrier against Italy with 14
Ireland believe they can deliver a historic Women's Six Nations win over France in Clermont after Saturday's impressive demolition of Italy in Galway, says Aoife Wafer.
Wafer scored one of Ireland's nine tries as Scott Bemand's side bounced back from an opening-weekend loss to England with a 57-20 victory over the Italians at Dexcom Stadium.
Ireland have never won a Women's Six Nations game in France, but Wafer believes the current group are capable of creating history.
"I think this group has always had belief and it'll be no different in France," the 23-year-old Harlequins flanker told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast.
"I think we owe them one. The key factors will be that physicality fight again. That first half against England, we lost that battle, got a bit of a telling off at half-time and came out and were a lot more physical than England.
"Doing that for the full 80 minutes will be crucial. The maul tries and forward tries will be really big as well because France have a big pack as well."
Wafer, who scored in Ireland's 38-17 loss to France in Le Mans in 2024, says silencing the noisy home support at Stade Marcel-Michelin will be crucial.
"They've got brass bands in all the corners and our job is to make sure they go as quiet as possible," she added.
"You put a challenge up to them and all of a sudden the trumpets stop and the crowd stops and we start to impose ourselves on the game and just be absolutely dominant in it."
Wafer also said the squad will be fuelled by the pain of last year's World Cup quarter-final defeat.
Ireland led 13-0 at Exeter's Sandy Park but ultimately succumbed to a French comeback to lose 18-13.
"Like everyone, we'll probably have a little bit of that quarter-final hurt in them," said Wafer, who added France back row Axelle Berthoumieu's bite on her during the World Cup game "is in the past".
"It's probably something that'll stay with us for a little while. I know personally I probably think about it a lot still. We get another week to rip into them."