Wales Women were thumped 36-5 by Ireland as the possibility of another Welsh Six Nations disaster now looms large.

Ioan Cunningham's side headed to Cork hoping for a repeat of last year's showdown with Ireland, when they ended a 12-year losing streak in the fixture with an emphatic 31-5 victory in Cardiff. With experienced heads like Alisha Butchers and Keira Bevan back in the starting XV, there was hope that Wales could bounce back from their earlier tournament defeats to Scotland and England.

However, it wasn't to be as they were outplayed by the hosts, who scored five tries in a highly clinical performance which saw them wrap up the bonus point moments into the second-half. The impressive Aoife Wafer, Eve Higgins, and Neve Jones all crossed for Ireland as they dominated proceedings and went into the break 21-0 up.

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Katie Corrigan got her side's fourth try two minutes after the restart as she charged down Lleucu George's kick, with a further try from Béibhinn Parsons and a Dannah O'Brien penalty giving them an unassailable 36-0 lead after an hour played.

Ireland were simply no match for Wales on the day as they played with intent and confidence, while Cunningham's side were outmuscled and again missed their own opportunities to get on the scoresheet.

That moment finally came after 66 minutes, as Gwennan Hopkins - making her Wales debut off the bench - showed some neat footwork before driving over the line to score. It was a proud moment for the teenager and sparked a bit of a revival among her teammates in the final 10 minutes - but it was all too little too late.

With Wales bottom of the table with a solitary point to their name, questions need to be asked as they are now at serious risk of mirroring the men's Wooden Spoon campaign. Attention now turns to France next weekend, but Cunningham and his side know it will require an almighty performance against Les Bleus if they are to avoid heading to the Principality Stadium to face Italy later this month battling to avoid a last-place finish.