A tough opponent, a tougher task, Wales unable to answer the Irish call

Ireland 24-14 Wales

A dominating Irish performance ended Wales’ honeymoon period.

The hosts suppressed the Reds chances of a back-to-back Grand Slam with a deserved victory consisting of 4 tries.

Ireland started as the stronger team, eager to redeem themselves after their unimpressive performance against the Scots. With Andy Farrell’s team upping the attacking threat, the pressure was mounting on Alun Wyn Jones who led by example as a colossus at the heart of the Welsh defence.

It was in the 19th minute when the Red barricade subsided – Jordan Lamour scored the first try of the game. It derived from a scrappy piece of Welsh defending as Ireland switched the ball to the right, where Lamour was able to glide right through the grappling arms of Tompkins and Wainright to touch down.

Sexton missed the conversion, sending it horribly wide of the post.

25 minutes in, Ireland had 71% territory showing a better balanced attack after struggling against a wasteful Scotland last week.

There was also worry for Wales as in-form winger Josh Adams limped off the pitch with a hip problem to be replaced by last week’s debutant Johnny McNicholl.

Eight minutes after conceding points, Wales were able to capitalise on a skilful pass from Alun Wyn Jones to Biggar who precisely offloaded to Tomos Williams allowing him to level under the posts.

Unbelievably, following Biggar’s conversion, Wales took the lead 7-5 despite having little of the ball.

However, a standard catch dropped by Williams on his own five metre line was gifted to the Irish forwards who swiftly exploited the mistake. Furlong charged through the Welsh defence to score and retake the lead.

Sexton wasn’t going to miss the second conversion. 12-7 to Ireland.

As the half-time whistle blew, it was clear that Wayne Pivac’s team needed to step up their handling game and put more pressure on their opponents after the interval.

They did just that. For the first time in the match, Wales settled in their opponents half. After excellent handling from the Welsh back line, Hadleigh Parks drove through the Irish line to put the ball down, only for TMO to rule it out as a knock-on. This was a pivotal moment in the match.

Even though the visitors persisted, Wales were penalised for collapsing a scrum after an intense 10 minutes in the hosts 22. A sigh of relief washed over the Aviva Stadium as Ireland were able to step up and clear their lines. Just like the performance against Scotland last week, the Irish defence proved solid, most of the win being due to their strong structure unwavering under pressure.

A scrum in the Welsh 22 let Ireland move the ball out to the right, enabling Conway to hurl himself onto the line to get the 4th try and collect the bonus point.

CJ Stander’s yellow card reduced the hosts to 14 men. Unable to salvage a win, Wales gathered for one last effort resulting in a Tipuric try with the last touch of the game.

With a much stronger Irish team on show, surely it can only be onwards and upwards for Andy Farrell’s side or will their World Cup horror show come back to haunt them?

• Next fixture – England v Ireland

Can Wayne Pivac’s men recover from this defeat in time for the travelling French on the 22nd or have Ireland exploited too many Welsh weaknesses?

• Next fixture- Wales v France