Ireland brush aside depleted Six Nations champions Wales
In-form Ireland launched their Guinness Six Nations campaign in style by brushing aside depleted reigning champions Wales with a crushing 29-7 bonus-point victory in Dublin.
Roared on by a capacity crowd, the Irish convincingly stretched their winning run to nine games following Bundee Aki’s early try, a second-half brace from Andrew Conway and Garry Ringrose’s solo score.
Outclassed Wales arrived at the Aviva Stadium devoid of a host of injured star names and were dominated from start to finish on a torrid afternoon.
Only a late converted try from tournament debutant Taine Basham prevented them being nilled in the championship for the first time.
Having gone through a transitional phase under head coach Andy Farrell, 2018 Grand Slam champions Ireland are beginning to look the real deal again after an outstanding autumn, which included glory against New Zealand.
Captain Johnny Sexton added nine points with his boot to complete a one-sided scoreline on a blustery, grey afternoon.
Supporters returned for a Six Nations fixture for the first time in 699 days following the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
Ahead of kick-off, the 51,700 in attendance fell silent in memory of former Ireland and Lions captain Tom Kiernan, who died on Thursday at the age of 83.
Diminished Wales had a decent share of the crowd but had travelled across the Irish Sea with a lengthy absentee list, which included the most-recent Lions skipper Alun Wyn Jones.
The loss of almost 700 caps of experience was apparent from the outset.
Debutant Mack Hansen – the sole newcomer in a fairly-settled Ireland starting XV – made an instant impact to instigate the third-minute opener.
After accelerating clear to start the initial move, the United Rugby Championship’s leading try scorer teed up Connacht team-mate Aki to dive over unchallenged in the left corner.
Wayne Pivac’s visitors upset the odds to win a 28th championship in 2021 but struggled to gain a foothold in the game.
Only some wayward kicking from fly-half Sexton, who converted Aki’s score before missing a couple of penalties in the testing conditions, prevented them falling further behind against commanding opposition.
Wales – captained by Dan Biggar for the first time – were 10-0 behind by the time they finally gained some meaningful territory after Ireland skipper Sexton made it third time lucky.
Yet they were unable to force a penalty during an opening period of relentlessly physical rugby and would have been grateful to still be in touching distance at the break.
The one-way traffic continued after the restart as Wales’ task rapidly became more difficult.
Quick ball deep inside the visitors’ 22 culminated in Sexton spraying a pass out to winger Conway, who held off a last-ditch tackle from stand-in Wales centre Josh Adams to scramble the ball over the line.
Sexton, who nailed the tricky conversion from the right flank, received on-field treatment minutes later following a hefty collision, which resulted in a yellow card for Adams.
Ireland swiftly made the most of their numerical advantage as Conway strolled in for his second to put the result beyond doubt, with Sexton maintaining his perfect conversion record.
Wales were in damage limitation mode but powerless to resist a home side in full flow.
Ringrose stretched the lead in the 60th minute with arguably the try of the game, weaving beyond a series of red jerseys to gleefully dot down.
Wales eased their embarrassment slightly with around five minutes to go as Dragons flanker Basham pounced on a loose ball to charge under the posts, with Callum Sheedy adding the simple conversion.
But the day undoubtedly belonged to Ireland as their emphatic victory avenged defeat in Cardiff in last year’s opener.
The impressive progress of Farrell’s men will be severely tested during next weekend’s trip to pre-tournament favourites France, while the Welsh will look for a response at home to Scotland.
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In the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
Go to commentsI’d be fascinated to see what other candidates you all might have for the Lions captaincy role. Let me know, below 👍
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