Ireland Go Two For Two With Impressive Bonus Point Win

Ireland handed Wales their first Guinness Six Nations defeat in two years as Andrew Conway’s 74th-minute bonus point try put the seal on an astute team performance.

Andy Farrell’s men sit top of the table with France following back-to-back home victories, giving themselves a shot at Triple Crown success away to England in two weeks’ time.

Jordan Larmour jinked over to open the scoring in the 18th minute, and cancelling out a Tomos Williams effort, Tadhg Furlong was well supported as he thundered over for his fourth try in eighth Tests, on the half hour mark.

Turning around with a 12-7 lead, captain Jonathan Sexton landed his second conversion after Josh van der Flier had scrambled over from a lineout maul. Wales were a whisker away from responding through bustling centre Hadleigh Parkes who knocked on.

With CJ Stander in man-of-the-match form again, the hosts got back on the front foot and a neat line of passes set up Conway for the clinching try. Justin Tipuric’s last-minute consolation score reduced the winning margin to 10 points in the end.

Pleased with the improvements in Ireland’s play just a week on from a hard-fought win over Scotland, head coach Farrell said: “I think we’re in a great place. We had a great week’s preparation and good, honest feedback from the boys in the aftermath to last week’s display against the Scots. And we saw an improved performance today.

“But we all know, the coaches and the players, there is still plenty more in us. That’s what we will be looking forward to address over these next three days. Still, look, it was an improved performance – the start was the complete reverse to last week.

“Whereas last Saturday, we were a little bit passive at the start of the game, today we got an early foothold into it. From our point of view, we wanted to be nice and physical right through (the game).

“We had some big moments last week, especially when we had to dig deep to hold on and win the game but we got that (level of intensity) 100% across the 80 minutes today. I thought we were excellent. We were on the front foot in defence and attack right throughout.”

The 130th Test meeting of these teams was nip and tuck right from the off, Ireland showing improved width to force Dan Biggar to concede a five-metre scrum – van der Flier followed up Jacob Stockdale’s chip through – before Wales responded with a penalty in the set piece.

A well-won Wyn Jones penalty at the breakdown foiled another Irish surge, although the hosts were making good headway with a greater share of possession. Robbie Henshaw and Stockdale were both prominent with the attack showing more zip and cohesion than last week.

Bundee Aki and Biggar swapped turnovers as play swung swiftly between both 22s, the latter’s poach coming after Conor Murray’s peach of a pass had released Stockdale up into the 22. Henshaw also starred in the build-up with a couple of well-directed offloads.

Having leaked a breakdown penalty to a well-positioned Stander, Wales held out again thanks to Taulupe Faletau’s canny defending of a maul. Ireland kept pressing though, their reward finally coming when Larmour stepped inside and wriggled free of both Nick Tompkins and scrum half Williams and crashed over the line past two more defenders.

The young full-back’s well-finished try – his seventh at this level – went unconverted as Sexton’s kick went well wide. Launched forward by another Stander-snaffled penalty, Ireland were thwarted by Jake Ball pinching a lineout ball from James Ryan’s grasp at the second attempt.

Despite losing Josh Adams to injury, Wales unlocked the home defence for a slick 26th-minute try. Captain Alun Wyn Jones’ flat offload out of a tackle sent Biggar, the attack’s instigator, breaking through into the 22 and he had Williams up in support to finish smartly to the right of the posts.

Biggar’s conversion was the difference between the sides for only a short while, Conway’s chip and chase – coupled with a Williams fumble – quickly getting Ireland back into try-scoring range. Playing advantage from a scrum penalty, Aki carried hard before Furlong muscled his way over, with Rob Herring and Peter O’Mahony on the latch.

Sexton was successful with the conversion this time, and the Welsh handling let them down in their attempts to respond, this time tighthead Dillon Lewis’ knock-on allowed Conway to curl away a great touchfinder following the scrum.

Into the second half, Stander claimed another turnover penalty and Aki enjoyed more running metres, albeit that his centre partner Henshaw’s game was ended prematurely. Keith Earls came on for his first appearance of the 2020 tournament, while Wales also lost Biggar to a head injury.

The home side had the bit between their teeth, O’Mahony stealing a lineout and space soon opened up for Herring to charge up to just a few metres out. A close-in penalty was kicked to the corner, and Herring’s quick ball to Ryan at the front allowed the forwards to swarm through, driving van der Flier over. Sexton converted superbly following a TMO consultation.

That well-worked score gave Ireland some breathing space at 19-7, and they needed it as Wales came hurtling right back at them. They enjoyed a purple patch in the hosts’ 22 and Parkes, coming on a trademark hard line, was so close to stretching over for a close range 55th-minute try.

A turnover-searching Stander was whistled up twice as he attempted to break up the Welsh momentum. They remained right on the cusp of a score until a crucial series of five-metre scrums. After a couple of resets, replacement Dave Kilcoyne got the better of Lewis, who was guilty of collapsing, and Sexton was able to kick clear.

One of Ireland’s best attacking passages followed, the maul snaking up to halfway before Earls’ quick hands in midfield led to Stockdale kicking and chasing back int the Welsh 22. On the opposite wing, Conway was impressively efficient again under the high ball and then floored Jarrod Evans with a first-up tackle.

Time was not on the visitors’ side, and with Conway tapping back a searching kick from Murray, Ireland gained some good metres thanks to robust carrying from Kilcoyne and the newly-introduced Ronan Kelleher and Andrew Porter, on the 70-minute mark.

Murray was swallowed up on a burst off a scrum in front of the Welsh posts, with debutant Max Deegan now packing down on the blindside flank. As Wales tried to break from deep, a George North knock-on handed possession back to Ireland and they needed no second invitation.

Aki took it up off a scrum in the 22, a few phases later it was van der Flier on an incisive line in midfield, and then whipped passes out to the right from John Cooney, Ross Byrne and Larmour freed up Conway to finish in the right corner past Johnny McNicholl’s last-ditch tackle.

The wind prevented Byrne’s conversion from curling in from the right touchline, and Ireland ended the game down to 14 men as a sin-binned Stander paid the price for repeated breakdown offences. Wales used another penalty to drive through from a lineout, Tipuric grounding the ball for Leigh Halfpenny to convert with the final kick.