Peter Burke
Round 3 of the 6 Nations and this game was fuelled by some idiotic media comments about Wales which were referenced by Beirne in his post match interview and rightly so. In the past years Wales have always been a challenge for Ireland as they always turned up for the ocassion, and this was no different. If we glance back to the last 9 meetings the positive for Ireland was the last loss involved a first half red card for Peter O’Mahony, now Ireland were reduced to 14 men after Ringrose was too high in his collision and a subsequent 20 red card followed that lasted until about the 50th minute when Aki entered the stage, anyway the game itself.
The millenium stadium was a buzz, the roof closed and a choir ready to sing proudly the Welsh national anthem and it was a special moment for the home support, and bloody damn impressive from an Irish point of view. There was a nervousness about this from an Irish standpoint. One thing that irks me are numerous social media posts (primarily by folks who havent a clue about rugby and its workings) – ‘We got this is in the bag’ – ‘Ireland by a minimum of 20 points’ – ‘Wales have no hope they are just turning up’ – absolute rubbish the lot of it, and I’m sure of those who posted this diatribe would think Hertz Van Rental was a German race car driver.
Ireland were forced into a late change as Cian Predergast was ruled out due to illness so Baird came in to replace him on the bench.
The Wales stand in coach Matt Sherratt made a raft of changes for his first starting line up and it wasnt looking too bad at the kick off whistle but Ireland struck first. Joe McCarthy picked and went, set the platform, and Jack Conan showed his strength to cross the whitewash one handed for the try. Prendergast made no mistake with the extras and Ireland led 0-7.
Then a scrum penalty was awarded to Ireland and Prendergast added to Irelands tally making it 0-10. However it wasnt long before Wales started to find some gaps and they were awarded a penalty wihich Anscombe duly slotted to reduce the margin to 7.
Welsh winger Jack Mee was proving a handful on the wing and Wales could’ve opened their try account but for Williams to spill the ball forward in a well worked move. It was starting to click for Wales and another move midfiled looked good but Ringrose went high on Ben Thomas, a clash of heads and Ringrose was yellow carded which was upgraded to red after a the customary review but this action only signalled the inevitable, here comes Aki. The score now was 6-10 after the resulting penalty.
Ireland didnt look happy and after some sustained pressure after a penalty awarded the hosts a 5 metre lineout resulting in Jac Morgan crashing over from close distance to put the hosts ahead 13-10 at half time and a deserved lead at that.
The second half began much like the first finished with Wales opening up in attack and causing Ireland problems, but with all the attack and probing Ireland dealt with it, until a superb Welsh break by Blair Murray who exposed a few flat footed defenders to put Tom Rogers into the corner after scoring a perfect 10 for his acrobatic prowess into the corner, the score was 18-10.
Could this be Wales’ day? Well thats where Ireland come into their own. An insurgent into the Welsh 22 saw a penalty awarded and Sam reduced the gap to 5 points.
James Lowe seemed annoyed that his acrobatic skillset hadnt been awarded yet but he didnt wait long as after a superbly accurate cross field kick by Park, Lowe jumped above Adams to palm the ball into Osborne who scored his first try. It was now 18-18. Time was running out and another penalty awarded to Ireland, Sam stepped up adding another 3, after some superb work by Aki at the breakdown, Sams steps up and takes the points making it 18-24.
It was squeaking bum for Ireland as Mee thought he had touched down in the corner but it was judged he lost control and knocked the ball on and in fairness the TMO was bang on.
Another misstep by Wales in the closing minutes saw the winning margin up to 9 points, final score in the Millenium Wales 18 – Ireland 27.
Ireland win the Triple Crown but Wales far from disgraced after that effort.
Excellent piece Peter,
I forgot to mention on last night’s show that the amount of drivel I heard since the match about Sam P being shite from people who are band wagon merchants who haven’t a clue was stomach churning.!!
I thought he had a great game and deserved to stay on for the full 80 .
Superb having Wales back in true dragon form. The Six Nations need six nations which can truly combat each other for the silverware. It was a great match for Ireland in preparation for the next crucial game in Lansdowne Road, the oldest Rugby stadium in the world – and, alas, the quietest. The raucous voices of true Irish rugby supporters have been priced out of attendance at International games. Roy Keane once summed it up perfectly when he talked about “The prawn sandwich brigade”. I don’t blame the IRFU so much as the 50Rugby clubs spread across the country who, it is said, prefer to sell their allocation of tickets to non-club member agents to enhance the coffers of the clubs. How to prevent this, I cannot say. But it should be disallowed. Finally, the “no drink allowed” in the seated and terraced areas of Croke Park should be adopted in Lansdowne Road. And finally, finally, the questions raised about Prendergast’s defensive abilities will be thoroughly examined, I have no doubt, by Fabien Galthié’s warriors.