15 Will Addison
Looked lively in possession, some lovely touches, nice balanced running, good under the high ball and one try saving tackle; the odd mistake but he adds value in attack. Rating: 7
14 Andrew Conway
The challenge for him prior to the game was to produce his best and he certainly rose to it wonderfully. He gave Ireland a cutting edge and suggested that he can't be left at home when the squad heads for Japan. Rating: 8
13 Chris Farrell
He worked very hard in defence and put in some thumping tackles but will be disappointed in spilling ball close to the Welsh line. Rating: 6
12 Bundee Aki
A wonderful performance and arguably Ireland's best player on the day; he made metres when he had no right, his footwork, change of angles and offloading gave his team a platform while in defence his discipline and aggression in the tackle was superb. Rating: 8
11 Jacob Stockdale
Scored two tries, threw in some razzle-dazzle footwork and also won a penalty turnover at a ruck before being replaced at half-time; excellent performance. Rating: 8
10 Jack Carty
The official match of the match, some of his work in attack was exceptional and he varied the game cleverly but at times his kicking and passing weren't as accurate as he would have liked but overall and in the circumstances a fine effort. Rating: 7
9 Kieran Marmion
Sharp at the hub of Ireland's attack and typically tenacious in defence, he also won a penalty turnover at a ruck; good outing. Rating: 7
1 Dave Kilcoyne
A brilliant performance on both sides of the ball, making line breaks in possession and then making intelligent decisions on whether to offload or not and aggressive and powerful in defence. Rating: 8
2 Niall Scannell
Ireland only lost one lineout in the 55 minutes that he was on the pitch. He carried and tackled with typical diligence. Rating: 6
3 John Ryan
Ireland won four penalties at scrum time and he played his part while also working hard in the pillar defence; solid display. Rating: 6
4 Iain Henderson
A very impressive, hard working performance from the Ulster secondrow, his workrate dwarfed some of his colleagues and he kept going to the finish. Rating: 8
5 James Ryan
Typically industrious, maybe not carrying as much as he normally would but he led the line in defence, and excelled at the breakdown and in being Ireland's primary ball winner out of touch; remarkable for his first outing. Rating: 7
6 Tadhg Beirne
Did a lot of strong work in the first half but ran out of energy as Wales came storming back in the second half and appeared to pick up an ankle knock. Rating: 6
7 Peter O’Mahony
Took a bang to the shoulder in the first half that may have limited his effectiveness, conceded a penalty and then won one; a little bit on the periphery compared to his best. Rating: 6
8 Jack Conan
The game didn't materialise in the way he would have liked in terms of getting the ball in a bit of space but he delivered in terms of the spade work; conceded a penalty but positive overall. Rating: 6
Replacements: Andrew Porter really laid down a marker when he came on, Luke McGrath saved a certain try when knocking the ball from Elliot Dee's grasp, Tadgh Furlong and Rory Best made some important interventions late-on but in general terms the replacements didn't inject enough impetus and energy that Ireland required at that point. Rating: 6
Coach: Joe Schmidt will have been largely pleased with the performance in the first half and Ireland certainly looked sharper and less leggy in that period, but the energy levels depleted rather quickly from 60 minutes onwards as Ireland's game became frayed at the edges. He's got some interesting decisions to make in terms of the squad but for 60 minutes got tranches of the performance he wanted. Rating: 7
