Ireland's Welsh trip still has its points

RUGBY/Six Nations Championship: Fear? What fear? Utterly uninhibited by the prospect of the ultimate prize when they host Ireland in Cardiff next Saturday, Wales duly took the penultimate step towards the promised land of their first Grand Slam since the halcyon era of Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett, eh, Max Boyce and co in 1978 with a 46-22 win over Scotland in Murrayfield yesterday. Gerry Thornley reports.

Ireland themselves will still have back-to-back Triple Crowns to aim for in the Millennium Stadium while a first championship in 20 years is not as unlikely as it looked at one point yesterday.

When Rhys Williams ran in his second and Wales's sixth try early in the second period it took their lead to 43-3 - equal to Scotland's worst in the history of the RBS Six Nations, against England four years ago - and had the scoreline stayed like that Ireland would have had to beat Wales by 21 points to finish above them on points difference.

However, a spirited comeback by the Scots, inspired by a flurry of impact replacements and a willingness to ape Wales's own brilliant high-tempo, offloading and rampant running game, was rewarded with three tries.

In the context of Ireland winning the championship, this means that instead the target next Saturday will be to beat Wales by 13 points. Improbable admittedly, but at least it's not, repeat not, 25.

The threshold might have been even lower had the Murrayfield TMO, Eric Darriere of France, not overruled what looked a perfectly legitimate try by Nathan Hines in the 78th minute. With the likely conversion to follow, that would have reduced Ireland's target to nine points.

Also in the hunt for the 2005 title are the reigning champions, France, albeit only on the premise that Ireland beat Wales subsequently.

Although France's points difference is relatively poor at +9, compared to Wales's +62 and Ireland's +37, they play bottom-placed Italy in the first game of the so-called Super Saturday.

Thus, for example, were they to win by more than 41, then for every additional point beyond that Ireland's own target would go up accordingly. But at least Ireland will have the advantage of knowing the result in Paris beforehand.

"Obviously Ireland are going to be hurting after their loss and they're going to be fired up," commented Mike Ruddock. "It's going to be an amazing atmosphere in Cardiff. We've got a short week now, just a six-day turnaround, so we need to check up on our injuries and see where we are in terms of our recovery and hopefully there's one more big match left in us. The team spirit is high but Ireland are going to be a very dangerous team."

Asked how good was this Welsh team, the Scotland captain Gordon Bulloch responded: "Yeah, they're a good side but I don't think Ireland will let them play as much as we let them play in the first half. And we showed in the second half that if we actually put a few phases together we can actually come up with a few tries ourselves."

Ireland will have plenty of regrets over a hauntingly underperforming display well beyond today's video analysis. Their pack play lacked intensity in the opening half as they seemed almost taken aback by the effrontery of France's rolling maul (more a racing maul really) right from the kick-off and thereafter for much of the first half.

"We should have pulled the bloody thing down straight away," ventured a frustrated Shane Byrne, and ditto the way France attacked the Irish lineout. "We didn't react well to the way they crowded the space and climbed over our jumpers," said a crestfallen Malcolm O'Kelly, echoing Byrne's sentiments on the lineout difficulties.

Nevertheless, despite many below-par individual performances and the many mistakes that blighted their ambitions on Saturday, a first defeat in seven tests this season is hardly likely to prompt changes. Bearing in mind Shane Williams (brilliantly elusive in attack once more) was again exposed in defence by a debut try from Rory Lamont yesterday, the credentials of Tommy Bowe as a more offensive winger than Girvan Dempsey might be looked at, as might the inclusion of Eric Miller's ball-carrying from the start or finding room for the aggression of Alan Quinlan.

It would be no surprise to see an unchanged team though, and otherwise O'Sullivan's options are limited by the unavailability of Gordon D'Arcy, who was ruled out after a fitness test on his troublesome hamstring yesterday, and Shane Horgan. Oh, to see him running at Williams.

There were, apparently, no injuries to report from those who took part in Saturday's game, while the French are still apprehensively waiting to see whether their centre Benoit Baby will today be cited for his apparent head butt on Brian O'Driscoll.

Presumably the match commissioner, Bill Dunlop of Scotland, will have reviewed the incident and, given the video shows Baby lowering his forehead into the back of O'Driscoll's neck, it will be surprising if the 22-year-old Toulouse player is not cited.