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Despite losing their previous eight Six Nations matches, Wales came into the game full of confidence after scoring a record four tries against world champions England in their last outing.
They started the stronger in Belfast, but Wafer put Ireland ahead when the back row’s tenacity paid off and he forced his way over the line before Dana O’Brien added a challenging extra two.
Wales responded quickly with a huge tackle from Parsons to deny Hannah Dalvalle after Carys Cox took advantage of a mix-up and fed the ball through.
The visitors continued with their first try when Georgia Evans dived over from close range and Keira Bevan leveled the match.
A double move denied Cleodhana Moloney-McDonald as she crossed her path as the home side, buoyed by a vocal crowd, began to settle.
Wafer then turned provider, setting off a series of white shirts before a superb offload to Parsons, who came down the right wing to restore Ireland’s lead.
They then hit the hammer just before the break, as the decision was made to play with a red-coloured clock, Ireland were rewarded for their perseverance as they added their third try when Hogan made cross after cross.
After the restart, a television match official (TMO) check confirmed that Moloney-McDonald’s kick out on Evans warranted a yellow card.
Wales were unable to take advantage of having an extra player and were soon down to 14-men for a period as Jasmine Joyce was shown a yellow card for putting her hands on the ground when bringing down Eve Higgins.
As the hour mark approached, Aoife Dalton and Linda Djougang connected and fed the ball to Wafer to secure the bonus point.
Baymond then turned to his bench and made a flurry of changes that added energy to their game.
Substitute Jones thought he had added Ireland’s fifth soon after his introduction, only to have his effort ruled out following a TMO review.
Joyce added Wales’ second try in the last five minutes when he intercepted Parsons and stretched the ball to the ground.
Ireland landed a fifth try in the final seconds as Hogan managed to convert O’Brien’s fourth from close range.
