Six Nations: Wales 18 Ireland 27
When will some of us ever learn? This was yet another reminder that away wins usually don’t come easy in the Six Nations Amid shades of the Twickenham win in 2022 against a riled up 14-man England home team and crowd alike, opinions will vary on the merits of this Irish victory. Maybe you had to be there, but like all good sides Ireland found themselves in a jam and then found a way.
In comparison to the Twickenham game, when England lock Charlie Ewels was sent off in the third minute, here Ireland were down to 14 men and trailing 18-10 against a liberated Welsh side which produced their best performance since routing Australia in the World Cup. The roars which greeted tries by Jac Morgan and Tom Rogers either side of the interval – Championship minutes and all that – were amplified in the enclosed Principality Stadium.
Garry Ringrose had learned his fate and Irish fans were grateful his red card was only for 20 minutes – and for having the ideal replacement in Bundee Aki. They began feeding off Aki’s energy even as he was preparing to come on to the pitch in the 52nd minute, whereupon his team-mates did likewise, with all the bench making valuable contributions.
How Ireland escaped Cardiff unscathed
Sam Prendergast had already trimmed the lead with a penalty and, after a well-worked try for Jamie Osborne, the outhalf nudged Ireland six points ahead with two more, the second a mighty 50 metre-plus effort after Dan Sheehan tackled Aaron Wainwright and Aki was sharply in for the jackal penalty. His celebrations looked all the wilder, and like a scene from Platoon, due to his blood-soaked face and jersey.
Even so, the margins were tiny, not least when Ellis Mee was fractionally short of the line after good corner-flagging by Mack Hansen and Osborne.
The scrum had been an issue, with Christophe Ridley – a self-confessed admirer of Wayne Barnes – appearing a little trigger happy when penalising Andrew Porter at the game’s first scrum. Both the Irish loosehead and Thomas Clarkson were pinged twice.
That said, the Irish pack also won a couple of scrum penalties, earning a three-pointer and a key late exit after Mee’s near miss. With Josh van der Flier packing down at number eight in between Peter O’Mahony and Ryan Baird, that was a big moment for Jack Boyle and Finlay Bealham, whose importance to this team will be underlined when he wins his 50th cap against France. Keeping him back with the two greenhorns was a clever selection.
Ireland were patient and composed when they had to be, the backrow helping to engineer turnovers at key times. Perhaps no moment encapsulated this win by an amalgamation of wily campaigners and youthful energy than Van der Flier’s counter-ruck against Henry Thomas after Beirne’s tackle on Dafydd Jenkins in the 77th minute.
Gus McCarthy followed suit when he drove back Jac Morgan − assisted by Jack Boyle and Sam Prendergast – and Evan Lloyd was pinged for a side entry. Only with Prendergast’s ensuing 78th-minute penalty could Ireland afford to breath easily.
Their composure emanated in large part from their experienced core, not least O’Mahony, who led the talking in one late game huddle, albeit Beirne assumed the captaincy for the last five minutes when Sheehan was replaced.
The backrow were immense, with Jack Conan leading the Irish charge until a back issue forced him off early in the second half to be replaced effectively by Ryan Baird. Van der Flier had a huge impact and O’Mahony completed his first 80 minutes for Ireland since the World Cup quarter-final against the All Blacks. As well as some important carries, O’Mahony led the tackle count with 19, followed by Beirne on 15.
Having been led by a new captain for 75 minutes, Ireland ultimately sealed a 14th Triple Crown with four Six Nations debutants on the pitch and an outhalf who, lest we forget, was playing only his second away Test and has just turned 22.
Once again Prendergast’s display made for compelling viewing – warts and all – and was again a barometer of the team. He produced arguably the moment of the match with that wondrous, spiralled 50/22 in the lead-up to Osborne’s try.
Even then, Prendergast put one ball out on the full (briefly, for once, almost looking annoyed with himself) and his defence remains an issue, witness his eight missed tackles.
“He’s only going to get better from those experiences,” said Easterby of his young outhalf. “He can do things that a lot of players can’t do. The kick he put over Blair Murray’s head at one stage was just incredible, to get that 50/22 at that stage of the game, it takes a lot of balls to do that.
“But he’s being pushed as well. Jack [Crowley] is sort of in the shadows waiting to get his opportunity. That’s the great thing about the group, they push each other, and Sam is benefiting from that competition.”
Co-opting Johnny Sexton on to the coaching ticket has reaped palpable rewards already, for this was the third game running in which Ireland’s kicking game was superior to their opponents. Ireland kicked more, both long and short, and gained significantly more metres than Wales, and scored their two tries from the game’s only two 50/22s.
Prendergast went through his full repertoire, while Jamison Gibson-Park also varied his kicks tellingly, not least when using a penalty advantage to loft a cross kick toward his touchline-hugging buddy James Lowe, who deftly palmed the ball down for the waiting Osborne.
“That’s genuinely something that Goody [Andrew Goodman] and Johnny have been working with the lads on, that aerial work,” said Easterby afterwards.
“We had Brian [Fenton] last week and there were things in that that the players definitely picked up on. So, that’s the massive part of the game, the aerial battle, finding a way for Lowey to tap that down for Jamie, that’s not by chance. That’s something that we’ve been working on. It doesn’t always come off but he was good enough to back it up and get got the reward off it.”
SCORING SEQUENCE – 7 mins: Conan try, Prendergast con, 0-7; 21: Prendergast pen, 0-10; 23: Anscombe pen, 3-10; 35: Anscombe pen, 6-10; 40 (+3): Morgan try, Anscombe con, 13-10; (half-time 13-10); 43: Rogers try, 18-10; 49: Prendergast pen, 18-13; 56: Osborne try, 18-18; 67: Prendergast pen, 18-21; 70: Prendergast pen, 18-24; 78: Prendergast pen, 18-27.
WALES: Blair Murray (Scarlets); Tom Rogers (Scarlets), Max Llewellyn (Gloucester); Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Ellis Mee (Scarlets); Gareth Anscombe (Gloucester), Tomos Williams (Gloucester); Nicky Smith (Leicester), Elliot Dee (Dragons), WillGriff John (Sale Sharks); Will Rowlands (Racing 92), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter); Jac Morgan (Ospreys, capt), Tommy Reffell (Leicester), Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff).
Replacements: Gareth Thomas (Ospreys) for Smith (19-30 and 64 mins); Henry Thomas (Scarlets) for John, Jarrod Evans (Harlequins) for Anscombe (both 54); Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) for Reffell (47); Joe Roberts (Scarlets) for Rogers (63); Evan Lloyd (Cardiff) for Dee (74). Not used: Rhodri Williams (Dragons).
IRELAND: Jamie Osborne (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster); Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster, capt), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster); Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster).
Replacements: James Ryan (Leinster) for McCarthy (41-50 and 65 mins); Ryan Baird (Leinster) for Conan (44); Finlay Bealham (Connacht) for Clarkson (50); Bundee Aki (Connacht) for Ringrose (52); Jack Boyle (Leinster) for Porter (71); Jack Crowley (Munster) for Hansen (73), Gus McCarthy (Leinster) for Sheehan (75); Conor Murray (Munster) for Gibson-Park (78).
Sent-off: Ringrose (35 mins).
Referee: Christophe Ridley (England)
