Wales 19 Ireland 13:In a gut-wrenching finale, Ireland suffered their second defeat of this season's Six Nations campaign at a euphoric Millennium Stadium this evening. Immense Welsh defence, with Jamie Roberts the hero, coupled with some worrying Irish errors sorted out an affair that will ultimately be remembered for Mike Phillips controversially awarded try on 50 minutes.
A dream start saw Brian O’Driscoll equal Ian Smith’s 78 year championship record of 24 tries thanks to Tommy Bowe’s incursion into the line. It certainly settled Ireland after Eoin Reddan was forced off in the opening seconds when the scrumhalf took the full force of a Lee Byrne clearing punt to his face. Peter Stringer used all his experience to settle into the contest so quickly.
Wales also suffered in the early collisions and lost tighthead prop Craig Mitchell to an arm injury that forced Paul James to move across the scrum – another welcome development considering the damage James inflicted in the first scrum.
The rest of the first-half was, yet again, notable for the concession of penalties at the breakdown within range of the Irish posts. James Hook profited twice, while Leigh Halfpenny’s long range strike cancelled out a Ronan O’Gara penalty to leave just a point between the sides approaching the interval.
Ireland rallied, however, with Luke Fitzgerald shaking off two early blows to link well with Keith Earls for a raid down the left wing that eventually yielded a penalty when Phillips disrupted clean attacking ball.
O’Gara duly made it 13-9 at the interval.
And yet, coach Declan Kidney reacted to some intense Welsh pressure 10 minutes into the second-half by replacing O’Gara. The tactical decision immediately backfired as Jonathan Sexton’s first input was to kick the ball out on the full.
Despite the ball going into the crowd, Matthew Rees threw a quick lineout to Phillips who made it to the corner. The law clearly states a quick lineout is not allowed with a new ball. Despite strenuous objections from Paul O’Connell and O’Driscoll, referee Jonathan Kaplan awarded the try after consulting Scottish touch judge Peter Allan. Hook added the conversion.
The Irish response was immediate with the excellent Earls breaking the gainline before a sustained attacking wave saw O’Callaghan put Fitzgerald over the try line. Kaplan blew for a forward pass but brought play back for an Irish penalty.
Sexton missed the kick leaving it 16-13 to Wales.
Still, the battle was now being fought in or near the Welsh 22. That is until Sean O’Brien was isolated in contact, allowing Hook push play into Irish territory. O’Brien, who along with David Wallace got through a mountain of work, was again penalised at the ensuing lineout. Hook slotted his third penalty to push the margin out to six points.
Ireland came strong to the bitter end which came when a ferocious tackle by Roberts dislodged the ball from Cian Healy’s grasp.
Scoring sequence– 2 min:B O'Driscoll try, 0-5; R O'Gara conv, 0-7; 19 mins:J Hook pen, 3-7; 27 mins:J Hook pen, 6-7; 32 mins:R O'Gara pen, 6-10; 37 mins:L Halfpenny pen, 9-10; 40 mins:R O'Gara pen, 9-13. Half-time. 50 mins:M Phillips try, 14-13; J Hook conv, 16-13; 69 mins:J Hook pen, 19-13.
Wales:L Byrne; L Halfpenny, J Roberts, J Davies, S Williams; J Hook, M Phillips; P James, M Rees, C Mitchell; B Davies, A Wyn Jones; D Lydiate, S Warburton, R Jones. Replacements:J Yapp for C Mitchell (12 mins, inj), J Thomas for R Jones (60 mins), R hibbard for M Rees (72 mins).
Ireland:L Fitzgerald; T Bowe, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, K Earls; R O'Gara, E Reddan; C Healy, R Best, M Ross; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell; S O'Brien, D Wallace, J Heaslip. Replacements:P Stringer for E Reddan (1 min, inj), J Sexton for R O'Gara (49 mins), D Leamy for J Heaslip, T Court for M Ross (both 69 mins), P Wallace for L Fitzgerald (72 mins), L Cullen for D O'Callaghan, S Cronin for R Best (both 76 mins).
Referee:J Kaplan (South Africa).
