The World Cup is still three weeks away, plenty of time for bumps and bruises to heal themselves, but there were some worrying moments for Warren Gatland in the Aviva Stadium this afternoon, despite his side hanging on for a narrow victory.
For all his success with Wales in recent years, Gatland is not blessed with the depth of resources of many leading rugby nations and he might have been watching through his fingers as Jamie Roberts and Alun Wyn Jones both left the pitch walking uneasily during the second half. They are the sort of players Wales cannot afford to lose as they build up towards a daunting World Cup pool that includes England and Australia and the medical bulletins will be eagerly awaited in the next few days.
Turning the tables after losing to Ireland in Cardiff three weeks ago, Wales prevailed through a driven try from Justin Tipuric, outstanding as he deputised at open-side flanker for Sam Warburton, and three penalty goals from Leigh Halfpenny. Warburton is likely to be back in action next week, for Wales’ final warm-up game at home to Italy. It remains to be seen whether Roberts and Jones will also be involved.
“I think they’re just bumps and bruises at the moment, Jamie took a knock in the ribs, with Alun Wyn [his withdrawal] was precautionary,” Gatland, the head coach, said. “Hopefully we’re relatively unscathed, but we don’t find out about those sort of things until tomorrow morning.”
Ireland, meanwhile, travel to Twickenham next week to face England and they, too, have an injury concern after Keith Earls was driven from the field on a cart during the second half. The home side finished the game stronger and Sean Cronin almost burrowed his way under the posts with the final play of the match, but Wales’s defence held firm.
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George North, mercifully, came through unscathed on his return to action after a five-month absence, the result of the sickening concussion he suffered playing for Northampton Saints against Wasps. In winning his 50th international cap, at 23 the youngest player to reach the landmark, North’s first duties were defensive, scrambling back in defence to fall on a kick through from Luke Fitzgerald after Wales’ midfield passing had come unstuck around the halfway line. Wales survived that threat and, gradually gaining fluency, managed to take the lead through Halfpenny as Ireland were penalised at the ruck.
At this late stage in their deliberations over World Cup squad places, these are the games that coaches feel they must endure. There is so little riding on the results, yet so much to lose in terms of potential injuries to key players. Against international opponents, they can scarcely hold back and Dan Biggar, for one, is not disposed to do so. Early in the game, he rose in pursuit of a hanging kick from Halfpenny and thudded into Rob Kearney in mid-air, landing heavily as he hit the turf. A similar incident early in the second half left Roberts clutching his side and the centre left the field after an hour, although it was unclear initially whether this initial injury was the cause of his departure.
One player Wales are already resigned to coping without at the World Cup is Jonathan Davies, the outside centre, who has formed such a potent partnership with Roberts in recent seasons. Scott Williams will be the man to take Davies’s place and he linked sweetly with Roberts, the swift hands of Biggar involved too, as Wales surged deep into the Ireland half, prompting desperate defence from the home side.
A series of lineout drives followed and finally, with backs as well as forwards thrown into the fray, Ireland’s line was breached, Tipuric touching down beneath a mass of bodies. Halfpenny added the conversion to give Wales a 10-0 lead.
Jonathan Sexton scored Ireland’s first points with a penalty goal in the 29th minute, then the home side levelled the scores on the stroke of half-time. Inching their way steadily forward, Iain Henderson, the lock, ran a powerful, straight line, barging through the tackle of Biggar and, descpite a despairing challenge from Ken Owens, Henderson was able to stretch out to ground the ball for the try, Sexton adding the conversion from in front of the posts.
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In his first game for Wales, Tomas Francis, the Exeter Chiefs tight-head prop, was part of a Wales scrum that looked solid for the first half an hour, but began to tire towards the end of the half and he was replaced in the 54th minute.
The casualties and, no doubt, the coaches’ concerns, continued to mount as the game wore on. Ireland lost Earls in the 64th minute, taken off on cart after clashing with North, while Wyn Jones hurt his knee in a collision with Cronin and left shortly afterwards.
The raft of substitutions from both teams disrupted the flow of the game, but two more penalty goals from Halfpenny edged Wales ahead. There were roars around the stadium at the death when Cronin plunged over the line, but television replays showed that Aaron Jarvis and Halfpenny had turned the replacement hooker onto his back.
So a mini-series of two games between these sides finished level, but the injury toll will be of greater concern to the coaches than the scoreboard.