However Sam Warburton and his troops came back from the dead in the second half and turned the match on its head. Alex Cuthbert, Leigh Halfpenny and replacement prop Craig Mitchell scored tries to bring Wales right back into contention but Ireland were able to stem the flow at the death to get their championship off to a winning start.
Ireland, who began the match ranked three players lower than Wales in the IRB world rankings took the game to Wales from the outset.
Man of the match Brian O'Driscoll showed he still has what it takes to play at this level with an exquisite pass to Simon Zebo, having already taken out Jonathan Davies and Leigh Halfpenny in the tackle. His sumptuous pass left Alex Cuthbert in no-man's land as Zebo strolled over untouched. With Sexton's conversion Ireland had secured an early 0-7 lead.
Ireland continued to remain on the front foot and kept Wales pegged back. The men in green hammered away with winger Craig Gilroy brought down inches short of the line. Conor Murray was next to have a crack but he was repelled by the Welsh defence as well. Eventually new cap Andrew Coombs was penalised at a ruck which gave Sexton a straight forward penalty to give the visitors a 0-10 lead.
Dan Biggar had a clearance kick charged down by hooker Rory Best who clung on the viciously spinning ball. He kept a cool head and passed to Jamie Heaslip who then off loaded to Zebo. The Irish winger then showed deft football skills George Best would have been proud of to hook the ball from behind with his left foot. He regathered to take the ball within five metres of the line. The ball was recycled where upon prop Cian Healy plopped over to score. With Sexton's conversion, Ireland had shot out to a 0-17 lead. Sexton added a penalty in the 29th minute to put his side 20 points clear.
Halfpenny stopped the rot with a penalty in the 34th minute which seemed to finally awake Wales from their stupor. Warburton, George North and Alex Cuthbert all challenged the Irish defence but it came to nothing as Best locked onto Gethin Jenkins at a ruck and the big prop was penalised for not releasing.
Wales left the pitch at halftime knowing they had a huge mountain to climb with Sexton stretching the lead to 3-23 with the last kick of the half after another Welsh infringement.
There was no early respite in the second half for Warburton's men as Ireland attacked with intent from the re-start. Rob Kearney took Ireland to within sniffing distance of the try-line before O'Driscoll caught the Welsh defence napping to score his 46th Test try. Sexton's conversion from wide out put Ireland into an imperious 3-30 lead.
Wales chipped away at the deficit with Cuthbert slicing through in the 49th minute after Biggar's pass put him clear. Halfpenny's conversion brought the score to 10-30.
Wales were now forced to go for broke with replacement flanker Justin Tipuric adding some much need zip to the attack. Best, who was having a stormer in defence, received a yellow card for coming in at the side of a ruck.
While he was in the sin bin Wales clicked through the gears to put Halfpenny over in the corner despite Heaslip and Zebo's best efforts in defence. Slowly but surely Wales were inching their way back into the game.
Toby Faletau looked odds on to score as he surged towards the padding of the posts but he was dragged down just millimetres short. The pressure told however when Murray became the second Irish player to see a yellow card.
Wales threw the kitchen sink at Ireland and camped inside the Irish 22m line. Eventually replacement prop Craig Mitchell pounced to score from close range and with Halfpenny's conversion the defending champions had eaten into Ireland's lead even further and reduced the arrears to eight points with three minutes remaining.
But Ireland successfully negotiated the dying minutes to keep Wales at bay to beat Wales for the first time in four attempts while Wales were left to rue a first half where they failed to hit their straps which left them with too much to do against a fired-up Irish side.
No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | Leigh Halfpenny |
1T |
2C |
1P |
|
|
14 | Alex Cuthbert |
1T |
|
|||
13 | Jonathan Davies |
|
||||
12 | Jamie Roberts |
|
||||
11 | George North |
|
||||
10 | Dan Biggar |
|
||||
9 | Mike Phillips |
|
||||
1 | Gethin Jenkins |
|
||||
2 | Matthew Rees |
|
||||
3 | Adam Jones |
|
||||
4 | Andrew Coombs |
|
||||
5 | Ian Evans |
|
||||
6 | Aaron Shingler |
|
||||
7 | Sam Warburton |
|
||||
8 | Taulupe Faletau |
|
||||
16 | Ken Owens |
|
||||
17 | Paul James |
|
||||
18 | Craig Mitchell |
1T |
|
|||
19 | Olly Kohn |
|
||||
20 | Justin Tipuric |
|
||||
21 | Lloyd Williams |
|
||||
22 | James Hook |
|
||||
23 | Scott Williams |
|
No. | Name | T | C | D | P | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | Rob Kearney |
|
||||
14 | Craig Gilroy |
|
||||
13 | Brian O'Driscoll |
1T |
|
|||
12 | Gordon D'Arcy |
|
||||
11 | Simon Zebo |
1T |
|
|||
10 | Johnny Sexton |
3C |
3P |
|
||
9 | Conor Murray |
![]() |
||||
1 | Cian Healy |
1T |
|
|||
2 | Rory Best |
![]() |
||||
3 | Mike Ross |
|
||||
4 | Mike McCarthy |
|
||||
5 | Donnacha Ryan |
|
||||
6 | Peter O'Mahony |
|
||||
7 | Sean O'Brien |
|
||||
8 | Jamie Heaslip |
|
||||
16 | Sean Cronin |
|
||||
17 | Dave Kilcoyne |
|
||||
18 | Declan Fitzpatrick |
|
||||
19 | Donncha O'Callaghan |
|
||||
20 | Chris Henry |
|
||||
21 | Eoin Reddan |
|
||||
22 | Ronan O'Gara |
|
||||
23 | Keith Earls |
|
![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Aus Teams Wales v Australia Opposition Australia (H) Opposition Aus (H) 21-29
HT 13-22
Opposition Australia Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Aus Form W W L L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Georgia Teams Wales v Georgia Opposition Georgia (H) Opposition Georgia (H) 13-6
HT 10-3
Opposition Georgia Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:30 Referee Mathieu Raynal Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Georgia Form L L W L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v NZ Teams Wales v New Zealand Opposition New Zealand (H) Opposition NZ (H) 18-33
HT 11-12
Opposition New Zealand Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:15 Referee Wayne Barnes Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W NZ Form W W L D W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v South Africa Teams Wales v South Africa Opposition South Africa (H) Opposition South Africa (H) 24-22
HT 21-10
Opposition South Africa Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:30 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W South Africa Form W L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Sco Teams Wales v Scotland Opposition Scotland (H) Opposition Sco (H) 34-7
HT 14-0
Opposition Scotland Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:15 Referee Pascal Gauzere Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Sco Form L W W L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Eng v Wal Teams England v Wales Opposition England (A) Opposition Eng (A) 12-6
HT 12-3
Opposition England Venue Twickenham Stadium Time KO 16:45 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Eng Form W W L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Ire v Wal Teams Ireland v Wales Opposition Ireland (A) Opposition Ire (A) 37-27
HT 15-13
Opposition Ireland Venue Aviva Stadium Time KO 14:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ire Form W W W W W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Ita Teams Wales v Italy Opposition Italy (H) Opposition Ita (H) 38-14
HT 17-7
Opposition Italy Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 15:00 Referee Jerome Garces Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ita Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Fra Teams Wales v France Opposition France (H) Opposition Fra (H) 14-13
HT 14-10
Opposition France Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 17:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Fra Form L L W W L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams South Africa v Wal Teams South Africa v Wales Opposition South Africa (N) Opposition South Africa (N) 02/06/18, 17:00
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Opposition South Africa Venue RFK Stadium Time KO 17:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W South Africa Form W L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Argentina v Wal Teams Argentina v Wales Opposition Argentina (A) Opposition Argentina (A) 09/06/18, TBC
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Opposition Argentina Venue Estadio del Bicentenario Time KO TBC Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Argentina Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Argentina v Wal Teams Argentina v Wales Opposition Argentina (A) Opposition Argentina (A) 16/06/18, TBC
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Opposition Argentina Venue Estadio Brigadier Lopez Time KO TBC Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Argentina Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Fra v Wal Teams France v Wales Opposition France (A) Opposition Fra (A) 01/02/19, 21:00
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Opposition France Venue Stade de France Time KO 21:00 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Fra Form L L W W L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Ita v Wal Teams Italy v Wales Opposition Italy (A) Opposition Ita (A) 09/02/19, 17:45
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Opposition Italy Venue Stadio Olimpico Time KO 17:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ita Form L L L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Eng Teams Wales v England Opposition England (H) Opposition Eng (H) 23/02/19, 16:45
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Opposition England Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 16:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Eng Form W W L L L ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Sco v Wal Teams Scotland v Wales Opposition Scotland (A) Opposition Sco (A) 09/03/19, 14:15
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Opposition Scotland Venue BT Murrayfield Time KO 14:15 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Sco Form L W W L W ![]() ![]() ![]() Teams Wal v Ire Teams Wales v Ireland Opposition Ireland (H) Opposition Ire (H) 16/03/19, 14:45
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Opposition Ireland Venue Principality Stadium Time KO 14:45 Referee Previous Meeting Wal Form W L L W W Ire Form W W W W W |
Welsh Rugby Union | ||
Principality Stadium, Westgate Street, Cardiff CF10 1NS | ||
Telephone: 08442 491 999 | Fax: 029 2082 2474 | Email: info@wru.co.uk |