Ireland notched a bonus point as they won in Cardiff in the Six Nations for the first time since 2013:
THIS WAS PERHAPS the most stressful bonus-point win Andy Farrell will ever oversee as Ireland boss, but the most important thing is that his team is up and running in their bid for a Six Nations title.
For large periods, the Irish pack were simply too powerful and clinical for the Welsh, while scrum-half Conor Murray made some excellent contributions after stepping into the starting side for the injured Jamison Gibson-Park. He knows they need to be sharper for 80 minutes next weekend at home against the French, but this was a happy first outing.Ireland had spoken all week about their focus on a fast start and they stayed true to their word, silencing the home fans in the opening two minutes. First they swept the ball wide left through Stuart McCloskey for Lowe to kick ahead and pressure Wales to hack into touch.
There was a scare soon after, though, as the match officials seemingly missed a knock-on in the tackle by Tomas Francis as Sexton passed and Welsh wing Rio Dyer nudged the ball ahead twice, only a sensational bit of cover from Keenan denying him a finish. Indeed, Ireland were actually scoring at a point a minute at this stage of the first half, Sexton popping over another three points in the 27th after Wales were again disciplined for not rolling away from the tackle.It was too good to last to the break, however, as Wales finally gained some momentum via a Doris knock-on metres from their tryline, then a scrum penalty against Andrew Porter, then a breakdown turnover penalty earned by George North and Williams.
Gatland’s men recycled and swept the ball through Hawkins and Biggar’s hands for Williams to cross for their first try.
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