Wales too strong for Ireland
Wales too strong for Ireland
Wales won the Triple Crown and continued their march towards the Grand Slam with a narrow victory over Ireland at Croke Park.
Wales also strengthened their grip on the RBS 6 Nations title and they now face a showdown with France next Saturday at the Millennium Stadium.
Wales had not won in Dublin for eight years and spent 20 minutes down to 14 men after Mike Phillips and then Martyn Williams were sin-binned.
Ronan O’Gara scored all of Ireland’s points - but sparkling winger Shane Williams scored the decisive try to equal Gareth Thomas’ Welsh record of 40.
Wales were forced into a late change after hooker Huw Bennett was struck down by flu. Matthew Rees came in as replacement.
The Irish opted for the route one approach early on, keeping the ball tight and hammering away through the forwards.
The pressure eventually told on Wales, who conceded a penalty under their own posts and O’Gara slotted the simple kick.
Wales missed a chance to level when Stephen Jones skewed his kick wide. It was the first shot at goal Wales had missed this Six Nations.
O’Gara then pushed Ireland further ahead with a second penalty after referee Wayne Barnes spotted Jonathan Thomas deliberately falling onto the wrong side.
The visitors had scrum-half Mike Phillips to thank for a huge try-saving tackle on Shane Horgan after the powerful Irish winger had charged through Shane Byrne.
Television match official Dudley Phillips confirmed Horgan had grounded the ball a fraction short of the line.
From that let-off, Williams tried to spark a counter-attack and the Welsh moved down field to earn a penalty at the lineout which Jones slotted to get Wales on the board.
Almost immediately Jones had the chance to draw Wales level after Eoin Reddan was penalised for offside at the base of a scrum but the Wales fly-half shanked another effort wide.
Wales laid siege to Ireland’s line before the break and were prepared to cut their losses with a simple shot at goal - but the penalty was reversed when Phillips was sin-binned for dropping a knee into Marcus Horan’s ribs.
With Williams filling in at scrum-half, Wales adopted the same tactics as Ireland after the restart by keeping play tight and the ball away from the Irish.
Horan was penalised for offside and Wales did not waste their chance to draw level, as Jones slotted his second penalty.
Wales survived their stint with 14 men and took the lead when Williams raced onto Jones’ pass, fended off Andrew Trimble’s attempted tackle and raced past three Irish defenders to score in the corner.
Jones then defied the wind by threading a magnificent touchline conversion to open Wales a seven-point advantage.
Ireland needed to up the tempo. Apart from the first 20 minutes they had offered little - and they responded to the challenge.
Martyn Williams tripped Reddan off the ball and became the second Welshman to spend 10 minutes in the sin-bin.
This time Wales could not control the game as well when a man short and O’Gara converted two quick penalties to bring Ireland back within a point.
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll limped off with 10 minutes remaining and the decisive moment came six minutes from time when replacement Irish hooker Bernard Jackman was penalised for taking out Ryan Jones.
Substitute James Hook landed the penalty to give Wales victory.
