A cursory glance at the match details will confirm that Ireland took another step towards another grand slam, securing their third consecutive bonus-point win, and in the process recording their 18th straight win here in Dublin. But that doesn’t tell even half the story.
It doesn’t tell you that the bonus-point try came only in the 81st minute when Tadhg Beirne galloped through a heroic Welsh defensive line that had given everything. It doesn’t tell you that during the third quarter, Wales actually managed to send a ripple of doubt through the Aviva and produce a contest worthy of the Six Nations.
True, those details show that Wales scored only one try, and a questionable one at that — some of us are still wondering exactly what Beirne did to warrant the awarding of a penalty try and a yellow card. But during his absence Ireland suddenly looked vulnerable, while a Welsh team that had been battered in the first half visibly grew in confidence.
The looser the game became, the more it seemed to favour the visitors, inspired as they were by the carrying of Aaron Wainwright and the daring of young Cameron Winnett — a real find at full back.
The turning point was the 53rd minute, at which point Ireland’s 17-7 lead still looked less than secure. Beirne returned from the bench and with him were four forwards off the bench — Ryan Baird, Oli Jager, James Ryan and Ronan Kelleher. Their impact was decisive.
Advertisement
Andy Farrell’s 6-2 bench was the most enormous ever to represent Ireland, making this surely the biggest 23 ever selected, down to Conor Murray’s inclusion as replacement scrum half. Farrell obviously believed that he could out-power Wales, as well as produce Ireland’s customary speed in attack.
As it turned out, the visitors did an excellent job of disrupting that handling game — as Warren Gatland pointed out afterwards, they had come with a plan to block Ireland’s sweeping midfield patterns, and they executed it well. Which is why the concession of that fourth try at the death will have frustrated Gatland so much.
But the key for Ireland was the change of tack that came with the arrival of the bench, to a more direct, punishing power game, close to the ruck. This was where Baird showed his value as a carrier of rare athletic ability, especially when thundering on to short inside passes. If only he had been able to connect with Jamison Gibson-Park on one breakout, we might have seen one of the all-time great tries.
Not far behind Baird was Ronan Kelleher, who has had to sit by and watch while his contemporary, Dan Sheehan, took the rugby world by storm. Sheehan was exceptional at times here, barrelling through defenders seemingly at will, but Kelleher’s contribution was pivotal — first, winning a crucial turnover to defuse a period of Welsh dominance, then carrying with real force into the Wales half, in a charge that changed the game’s momentum.
“I thought the impact of the bench was huge,” Farrell said. “You bring a bit of power on to the field when people are a little bit tired. And I think for that ten-minute period for the [Beirne] yellow card, it was freeflowing, there were people sucking it in big time. I thought they were always going to take advantage of that and it got us back on the front foot. And that’s the job. That’s what we expect of them.”
Advertisement
Interestingly, both coaches professed themselves frustrated by a first half that involved only 13 minutes’ ball-in-play time. Gatland said he had been unhappy with the referee’s interpretation at the breakdown, where Wales were penalised repeatedly — they conceded nine penalties in the first 40, doubling their count for the entire tournament.
And Farrell was disappointed to have built only a 17-point lead, given how pronounced Ireland’s dominance had been in the scrum — a fact celebrated loudly and obviously whenever possible by Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong. That dominance was one factor in Ireland’s ability to control possession and field position, and to force Wales to make twice as many tackles as they did.
Adam Beard and Tommy Reffell’s tackle count was already in double figures by the break, with Nick Tompkins not far behind. But when you’re conceding corner lineouts to these opponents, there is only so long that you can survive without conceding points.
Sheehan was the first to touch down, on 21 minutes, pouncing from the back of an utterly dominant maul. James Lowe scored next, after 20-odd phases of close-range hammering, including one big carry from Joe McCarthy, followed by a lovely scoring pass by Calvin Nash.
Wales had few attacking opportunities in that first period but the way they quelled Ireland’s late counterattack, forcing Jack Crowley to kick the ball out and run to the dressing room, was a small victory. A much bigger one came three minutes into the second half.
Advertisement
You expected the penalty try to elicit an angry response from Ireland. Instead, it energised Wales. It suited them that the ball was in play for long periods, with little structure — recall Robbie Henshaw’s block on Sam Costelow’s cross-kick, which could have gone anywhere.
Their ten minutes without Beirne was a good test of Ireland’s defence, with George North boshing purposefully and Rio Dyer slicing more delicately. But Wales needed the oxygen of points and this was denied them.
When Ireland went into direct mode, they simply muscled the game away from Wales. Within six minutes of Farrell changing half his forward pack, Bundee Aki was powering over near the posts. The try was disallowed by the TMO, who had spotted a forward pass, but some heavy punches had been landed.
Five minutes later, Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Baird were all making heavy carries into the Welsh 22, forcing the penalty which became a corner lineout. After more thumping close in by the forwards, Gibson-Park spotted Ciaran Frawley unmarked three channels away from the ruck. He hit him with a laser-like pass and Frawley had a try to decorate a fine Six Nations debut.
At 24-7, Wales could have rolled over. They didn’t. In fact Ireland had to fight hard to hold Wainwright up over the line, with three minutes remaining. That was still enough time to go downfield in search of the bonus, to finish on a positive, and to sicken Wales. The usual suspects were front and centre — Doris, who featured a few times in the build-up, and finally Beirne, who could see the red line weakening and then finished the job off.
Advertisement
Star man Ryan Baird.
Scorers: Ireland: Tries Sheehan (21min), Lowe (32), Frawley (67), Beirne (81). Cons Crowley 4. Pen Crowley (7).
Wales: Try Penalty try (43).
Ireland C Frawley; C Nash (S McCloskey 67), R Henshaw, B Aki, J Lowe; J Crowley, J Gibson-Park (C Murray 70); A Porter (C Healy 73), D Sheehan (R Kelleher 53), T Furlong (O Jager 53), J McCarthy (J Ryan 53) (Ryan yellow card 76), T Beirne (yellow card 43), P O’Mahony (capt) (R Baird 53), J van der Flier (J Conan 51), C Doris.
Wales C Winnett; J Adams, G North, N Tompkins, R Dyer; S Costelow, T Williams (K Hardy 67); G Thomas (C Domachowski 60), E Dee (R Elias 60), K Assiratti (D Lewis 51), D Jenkins (capt), A Beard (W Rowlands 55), A Mann (M Martin 55), T Reffell, A Wainwright.
Referee A Piardi (Italy).
Attendance 51,700.
