Ireland lost at home for the first time since November 2013 as Wales deservedly prevailed in a gripping GUINNESS Summer Series encounter, with full-back Leigh Halfpenny nailing two closing penalties for the visitors.
SKY SPORTS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: IRELAND 10 WALES 16
The 16-10 win was just reward for Wales’ more accomplished display as man-of-the-match Justin Tipuric led from the front, crashing through on the end of a maul for a 25th minute try which Leigh Halfpenny converted.
The ever-accurate full-back had kicked an earlier penalty and it was not until the half hour mark that Ireland, who were quite disjointed and error prone up to that point, began to build some momentum.
Jonathan Sexton, one of the returning frontliners, opened Ireland’s account with a 29th minute penalty before young lock Iain Henderson, who pushed Tipuric close for the man-of-the-match award, muscled over under the posts for a try on the stroke of half-time. Sexton’s simple conversion brought Ireland level at 10-all.
A free-flowing third quarter really tested out the conditioning work done by both sides in recent weeks, and Ireland went closest to breaking the deadlock when replacement Sean O’Brien was held up by Tipuric in the right corner.
An apparent neck injury to Keith Earls, who had to be stretchered off, preceded Halfpenny’s second successful penalty – struck from the 10-metre line – and ultimately Wales’ persistence was rewarded with Ireland giving away some key penalties at the breakdown.
A 71st minute effort from Halfpenny stretched the margin to six points and although Ireland came with a late rally in the now rain-soaked conditions, the committed Welsh defence managed to hold up Sean Cronin under the posts in the final act of this Celtic duel.
Speaking after his last ever home international for Ireland, captain Paul O’Connell said it was ‘very disappointing’ to lose to their Six Nations rivals in front of the 47,430-strong Aviva Stadium crowd, but there are obvious lessons to be learned ahead of next week’s trip to Twickenham and the Rugby World Cup proper.
The bruising nature of the match saw Jordi Murphy end up in the centre in the closing stages as ‘tightness in his glute muscle’ forced Luke Fitzgerald off and only lock Donnacha Ryan was left to come on. Richardt Strauss (ankle) and Peter O’Mahony (arm) also required treatment having been replaced in the second half.
Speaking about the injuries picked up, head coach Joe Schmidt, who is just days away from formally naming Ireland’s World Cup squad, said: “Keith Earls take a knock to the head. He just got caught with his head on the wrong side of the tackle. He’s fine, he was totally lucid in the changing room and he remembered his involvements in the game. The neck brace was precautionary, he’ll follow the concussion protocols.
“He’s disappointed that he didn’t see the end of the game but he’s pretty resilient so he’s bounced back pretty well. Luke has a glute injury, he got a dint in the upper part of his glute I think. Again, just talking to him, he’s uncomfortable but that will be bruising and it will be very uncomfortable when it’s close to the bone. He may be two or three days, or he might be five or six days, recovering from that.
“Both players will be monitored over the next 24 hours. If it’s deemed necessary, they’ll be scanned and we’ll make sure that they’re going to be okay in the next week, or short-term anyway. I think Richardt rolled his ankle. He said it’s feeling okay, so we’re hopeful that he’ll be okay as well. Again, we’ll see how he pulls up over the next day or two.”
He added: “We’re going to review review different parts of the game tomorrow and review what we have to do for the World Cup and get better as a collective and also look at collective efforts and individual performances.
“It was a little bit of déjà vu (from this year’s Six Nations), we conceded a lot of penalties at the Millennium Stadium. 6-0 down on penalties when we went 10-0 down and it’s just allowing a team like Wales that much opportunity.
“We didn’t cope well enough, you can’t give Leigh Halfpenny opportunities and you can’t give a team as good as Wales that many opportunities.”
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