Ireland 54 Wales 10
Eddie O’Sullivan’s reign as Ireland coach got off to a dream start this afternoon as the Ireland side he inherited in November hammered a Wales team in disarray.
With a record 54 point tally, six tries and a performance oozing confidence and class Ireland have hit the ground running under O’Sullivan and on this evidence will be contesting the Six Nations title come April.
Two tries from Geordan Murphy and one apiece from Paul O'Connell, Denis Hickie, Keith Gleeson and Ronan O'Gara punished the Welsh defence and David Humphreys contributed 22 points from the boot with an assured display in testing conditions.
It took Ireland side just five minutes to open the scoring after man-of-the-match Humphreys combined with David Wallace to carve open a static line of defence. It was not to be the last time on a day to forget for Graham Henry and the Welsh.
Wallace drew the Welsh cover before delaying his pass superbly to send over Leicester wing Murphy for his first try of the day and Humphreys made no mistake with the conversion to put his side seven points to the good.
Wales then lost Jamie Robinson and Chris Wyatt through injury and Humphreys increased the pressure on the visitors, adding two penalties to give Ireland an early 13-0 lead.
With Wales struggling to keep possession, let alone make it out of their own half, Ireland stepped up the pressure and were rewarded with their second try after 25 minutes.
Another penalty allowed Humphreys to kick to the corner and from the resulting line-out, Munster debutant Paul O'Connell, aided by the rest of the pack, was able to force his way over the line for Ireland's second try.
A further Humphreys penalty, this time from 40 metres put O'Sullivan's side 21-0 ahead before the Ulster fly-half added another to take his tally to 14 points.
Stephen Jones, arguably Europe's most in-form kicker, finally got Wales off the mark with a 40th minute penalty with the last kick of the half.
Trailing heavily at the break, Wales needed a quick start to the second half to get back into the game, but despite enjoying a rare spell of possession, they could not reduce the deficit.
And just a minute later the game was put beyond them as Ireland scored their third try of the afternoon.
Wales spilled the ball in midfield, prop John Hayes broke free of the cover and Kevin Maggs surged towards the line before releasing Murphy from the tackle for the winger's second try.
Wales scored a consolation try after 63 minutes as Jones squeezed over in the corner after good work from Scott Quinnell and Budgett but there was to be no sting in the tail for Ireland.
Instead, the home-side responded with a fourth try, Humphreys releasing Denis Hickie to race over the line. Further tries from replacements Keith Gleeson and Ronan O'Gara completed a miserable day for Wales and a remarkable one for Ireland.
Ireland: Girvan Dempsey (Leinster); Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster), Kevin Maggs (Bath), Denis Hickie (Leinster); David Humphreys (Ulster), Peter Stringer (Munster); Anthony Foley (Munster), David Wallace (Munster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli); Paul O'Connell (Munster), Mick Galwey (Munster, capt); John Hayes (Munster), Frank Sheahan (Munster), Peter Clohessy (Munster)
Replacements used:Shane Byrne (Leinster), Paul Wallace (Leinster), Gary Longwell (Ulster), Keith Gleeson (Leinster), Guy Easterby (Llanelli), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Rob Henderson (Munster)
Wales: Kevin Morgan (Swansea); Dafydd James (Bridgend), Jamie Robinson (Cardiff), Iestyn Harris (Cardiff), Craig Morgan (Cardiff); Stephen Jones (Llanelli), Robert Howley (Cardiff); Scott Quinnell (Llanelli, capt), Martyn Williams (Cardiff), Nathan Budgett (Bridgend); Chris Wyatt (Llanelli), Craig Quinnell (Cardiff); Chris Anthony (Newport), Robin McBryde (Llanelli), Spencer John (Cardiff)
Replacements used:Barry Williams (Neath), Duncan Jones (Neath), Ian Gough (Newport), Dwayne Peel (Llanelli), Andy Marinos (Newport)
Replacements not used:Brett Sinkinson (Neath), Rhys Williams (Cardiff)
Referee:Pablo Deluca (Arg)
Attendance:48,898