Fine margins in the opposition 22, combined with a couple of softly conceded tries, saw Ireland suffer a 22-9 defeat to Wales in tonight’s opening match of the RBS 6 Nations’ penultimate round.
England and Scotland are poised to battle it out for the Championship title after Ireland were beaten by a fired-up Wales team under the Principality Stadium’s closed roof. They were held try-less for only the third time in 19 RBS 6 Nations matches stretching back to 2014.
The hosts’ classy opening try from George North was added to by second half efforts from North again and replacement Jamie Roberts. With scrum half Rhys Webb in man-of-the-match form, the Welsh took their chances whereas Ireland left a number of points behind them in the red zone – most notably when a Rory Best maul try was ruled out for an offside infringement by the incoming Robbie Henshaw.
Had the captain scored in the 69th minute, a successful conversion from Jonathan Sexton would have edged Ireland in front at 16-15. Instead it was another missed opportunity off set piece ball, an all-too-regular feature of the Irish play in both halves.
Joe Schmidt’s men had looked the better team in the first quarter, however a sixth minute penalty from Sexton was all they had to show after their best start of the tournament. Pressure from the out-half was forcing his opposite number Dan Biggar to throw intercept passes, while winger North’s defence under the high ball was tested out too.
Henshaw and CJ Stander, who had one bulldozing run up the left touchline, both carried strongly and got over the gain-line with regularity, Rob Kearney stood out for a couple of high-quality kick chases and aerial catches and Keith Earls’ quick feet and eye for space were central to some of Ireland’s better moves.
Nonetheless, an Alun Wyn Jones steal undid Ireland’s hard work in setting up a five-metre lineout and it was Wales who conjured up one of the tries of the Championship in the 20th minute. It arrived while Sexton was off for a head injury assessment.
They transferred lineout ball into midfield where centre Scott Williams punched a significant hole in the defence. He linked with Webb whose long, inviting pass found Leigh Halfpenny and he sent North cutting in past Earls and over in the corner despite Simon Zebo’s cover tackle.
Paddy Jackson and Halfpenny, who was wayward with the conversion, swapped penalties as Wales went off at half-time armed with an 8-6 lead and also a numerical advantage as the returning Sexton saw yellow for failing to roll away after Jonathan Davies had gone close to scoring wide on the left.
Crucially, Ireland conceded 10 points during Sexton’s sin-bin period. A poor Sean O’Brien pass led to a huge loss of yards and the concession of a close-in lineout just four minutes after the restart. Webb then peeled away to the right of the maul to feed North for a simple but well-executed try. Halfpenny converted brilliantly from the right and the sight of Conor Murray going off with a shoulder injury was a further dent to Irish hopes.
Sexton’s second successful penalty came after Ireland had turned defence into attack, vital tackles from Tadhg Furlong and Kieran Marmion being followed up by an inspiring break by Donnacha Ryan, one of the team’s standout performers, up to the Welsh 22.
Although Marmion provided a timely injection of energy and pace from scrum half, Ireland were guilty of coughing up possession cheaply at times in the sticky conditions. They were turned over in their own half and then Henshaw’s loose kick almost led to a drop goal from Biggar who watched his well-struck effort come back off the left hand post.
This round 4 fixture had a real edge-of-the-seat feel to it and continued to ebb and flow entering the final quarter. Both benches had a say as Luke Charteris immediately stole a lineout and then Iain Henderson returned the favour with a muscular rip in the tackle – something which Jack McGrath had achieved in Ireland’s bright opening spell.
The men in green got on the front foot again, half-blocking Biggar’s attempted clearance only for Liam Williams to force a handling error from Furlong when a try looked on the cards in the right corner. Garry Ringrose’s well-weighted dink in behind forced Halfpenny into a difficult situation and he was tackled over the try-line by the onrushing Zebo.
Referee Wayne Barnes awarded Ireland a lineout when it should have been a scrum, and despite a strong maul off the Henderson-won set piece, Henshaw’s decision to join the maul ahead of the ball led to a technical penalty and Best missed out on a hard-earned try.
Ireland kept pressing for openings as the clock ticked down, Peter O’Mahony being sprung from the bench to join Sean O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip, who was making his 100th Test appearance, in the back row. However, the Welsh loose forwards had more of an influence on proceedings, particularly 2013 Lions skipper Sam Warburton who was excellent in defence in with 18 tackles.
In-form hooker Ken Owens and 50-cap flanker Justin Tipuric impressed too, combining to very good effect in the lineout and also the gruelling exchanges up front where too often Ireland struggled for penetration from their carries.
Wales’ well-organised defence held firm despite Zebo collecting a Sexton cross-field kick and aggressive tackling from Furlong and Ryan forcing a five-metre scrum. Once more Ireland lacked a clinical edge from set piece possession, a back-line move ending with Ringrose’s attempted inside pass to Earls going to ground in front of the posts.
Just three minutes later, Wales were celebrating a clinching third try. As Ireland frantically tried to exit their own 22 and build a penetrating attack, a kick by Sexton was blocked down by Taulupe Faletau and fellow replacement Roberts gobbled it up to crash over by the posts. Halfpenny converted and although the final scoreline was flattering, Rob Howley’s resilient side deserved their win on the night.
Giving his reaction afterwards, Ireland head coach Schmidt said: “I think both teams were so willing and the endeavour was such that it was very difficult to say really what was going to happen next. It went from 100 miles an hour to just plain attritional at times.
“As soon as you got a bit of speed into the game and you got close it all tended to slow down. We got stung for that and conceded 10 points in 10 minutes in the sin-bin period. I really admired the way the team clawed their way back.
“Conceding the last try to Jamie Roberts, we were trying to do a whole lot off slow ball going backwards and in the end we set ourselves up to be scored against.
“We made some pretty good line breaks; we made some good opportunities. In each half we got the maul going and then undid ourselves effectively. A couple of other things we just didn’t quite finish off.”
Captain Best added: “We’re bitterly disappointed. I think when we take a look back at it, we’ll only have ourselves to blame. Wales are a quality side, but we made a lot of errors, made a lot of mistakes (when trying) to get in front.
“And bar the 6-5 (lead in the first half), we never really got in front. We never dominated the way we’d like. We had a few chances in their 22 that we didn’t convert.”
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