Ireland have made it two wins from two in the Six Nations with a commanding 24-14 bonus-point victory over Wales at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon.
Tries from Jordan Larmour, Tadhg Furlong, Josh van der Flier and Andrew Conway saw Ireland power past their opposition and to an impressive win.
Ireland had the better of the early exchanges and had several opportunities to get the first try of the game in the opening 15 minutes, but they were turned-over each time, although it was an encouraging start by the home side.
However, in the 20th minute they got their reward when after some phases in the Welsh 22 Conor Murray sent the ball to the right-hand side where Larmour took the ball forward, jinking between a couple of defenders before powering over the line despite having defenders holding onto him. Johnny Sexton failed to connect well with the ball on the conversion leaving it at 5-0.
Wales made Ireland pay for their lack of precision in key areas as they took the lead seven minutes later, showing some great handling skills, with Alun Wyn Jones and Dan Biggar combining before spreading the ball to Tomos Williams who raced over the line. Biggar provided the extras to make it 7-5.
Williams turned into the villain moments later as he knocked-on the ball five-metres out from his own line, leading to an Irish scrum from which the hosts took the ball through a couple of phases until Furlong powered over from close-range. Sexton made no mistake with the kick this time around to make it a five-point game once again.
It was scrappy for the remainder of the half as it finished 12-7 in favour of the boys in green come the whistle.
Ireland came flying out of the blocks again and unlike in the first-half they took full advantage of their good start as they drove over from a line-out maul through van der Flier. Sexton knocked the conversion from the left-hand side right between the posts to stretch the lead out to 19-7 after 47 minutes.
Wales came roaring back following that try and thought they had a score of their own just before the hour mark as Hadleigh Parkes barrelled over beside the posts, only to have the try chalked off due to a knock-on.
They continued to put the pressure on but failed to cut into the Irish lead as the hosts held on strong in defence before eventually winning a penalty and clearing their lines.
It was Ireland’s turn to dominate territory and possession and secured the bonus-point with five minutes left on the clock as they spread the ball out to the right inside the opposition 22, finding Conway who dived to touch down in the corner. Ross Byrne couldn’t add the extras but it was 24-7.
Man of the match CJ Stander was sent to the sin bin with a minute left and Wales made their man advantage count scoring the final try of the game through Justin Tipuric with the clock in red. Leigh Halfpenny slotted over the conversion to leave the final score at 24-14.
Next up for the Irish is a trip to Twickenham to face England in two weeks’ time, while Wales will look to get back to winning ways with a game against France.
Player Ratings
Ireland Starting XV:
Jordan Larmour (8), Andrew Conway (8), Robbie Henshaw (7), Bundee Aki (7), Jacob Stockdale (6), Johnny Sexton (8), Conor Murray (8); Cian Healy (5), Rob Herring (7), Tadhg Furlong (8), Iain Henderson (7), James Ryan (7), Peter O’Mahony (8), Josh van der Flier (8), CJ Stander (8)
Replacements (7)
Wales Starting XV:
Leigh Halfpenny (6), George North (4), Nick Tompkins (5), Hadleigh Parkes (7), Josh Adams (5), Dan Biggar (7), Tomos Williams (6); Wyn Jones (6), Ken Owens (6), Dillon Lewis (6), Jake Ball (7), Alun Wyn Jones (7), Aaron Wainwright (6), Justin Tipuric (7), Taulupe Faletau (7)
Replacements (6)
