WALES 22-9 IRELAND
Ireland’s Six Nations dreams imploded in Cardiff and it was no surprise that their loss came on bad nights for star half-backs Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton.
Wales took advantage of Ireland’s mistakes but the visitors could not do likewise whenever the hosts slipped up. George North got two barrelling scores and Jamie Roberts ended the contest when he charge down an attempted chip through from Sexton.
All that Ireland have left to play for is pride as England prepare for a trip to Dublin next week.
Here’s how we rated Joe Schmidt’s men in green…
Rob Kearney – 7
Top defence and tracking early on as he shut down North on the right wing and Liam Williams on the left, less than 60 seconds later. Was the most confident under the high ball and nipped in to shut down some dangerous Welsh attacks.
Keith Earls – 6.5
Under instructions to kick behind the lines in early possessions to keep the Welsh back. Couldn’t stop North for his try. Big chase and tackle on Biggar in the 65th minute. Lovely high take late on gave Ireland one last chance. No cutting edge with ball-in-hand though.
Garry Ringrose – 5
Was drawn in and exposed by an early, searing Biggar pass. Made up for it a few phases later with a big hit as a knock-on was forced. Forced a turnover on a double-team tackle on the charging Jones. Wales were reading the loop pass and that didn’t help. One nice kick into the Welsh 22 had Halfpenny under the pump. Couldn’t find Earls when pressed hard by Roberts, in the closing stages.
Robbie Henshaw – 6
Put in three monster tackles in the space of 90 seconds, the biggest of which was a bone-rattler on loose-head prop Rob Evans. Peach of a grubber kick, on 68, gave Ireland a great attacking platform. Ruined it moments later with a barging maul obstruction that cost Ireland a potential try.
Simon Zebo – 7
Kicks in behind and line breaks marked him out as Ireland’s best attacking outlet of the first half. Desperate dive not enough to stop North’s try. Great tackle on Halfpenny to set up an attacking lineout.
Johnny Sexton – 6
Read Biggar’s mind as he sprung up to intercept two passes and win Ireland the pill. Lovely loop pass, penalty and strong tackles to start. Went off for a Head Injury Assessment on 18 minutes. Was off again before half-time after getting a yellow for killing the ball, according to Wayne Barnes. Kick was charged down for Roberts try but Ireland had to try something to get out of his 22.
Conor Murray – 6
Murray vs North was the first half theme as the Irish scrum-half put his body on the line to try halt charging George as best he could. Couldn’t pass off his left for the last 10 minutes of the first half. Hard to fault him for his slow passing after the break [he was ****ed] but it cost Ireland dearly.
Jack McGrath – 6
Combined with Ringrose for an early strip on Alun Wyn Jones. 12 tackles and nine carries but not one of his better games.
Rory Best – 4
Another lineout lost in the opposition 22. Crap habit to be starting as Best had a big throw picked off by Alun Wyn Jones. Indecisive throwing all night and was successfully targeted in attack. Three missed tackles and each of them had Ireland back-pedalling. One of his poorest performances in a while.
Tadhg Furlong – 6
Strong carries early doors. Missed a great chance to score when he could not hold onto the ball and bowl Liam Williams over. Hardly any scrums to get his teeth into.
Donnacha Ryan – 8
We needed men like Ryan out there today. Serious war and he was up for it. Once Ireland had to respond, 15-6 down, he came up with a lovely line break that set us up for an eventual penalty. Keep going to the end.
Donnacha Ryan line break #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/ZWZNTyMhdX
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 10, 2017
Devin Toner – 6
Restricted to tackling his hole off for a brutal, attritional first half. 6 carries for marginal return but landed 13 tackles. Lucky that Tipuric did not score when he could not snatch an odd 22 drop-out.
CJ Stander – 6
Had his Jonah Lomu moment as he thundered into the Welsh 22 and laid waste. That big break and carry was his highlight. Slow ball did not help and he could not punch any more holes.
Sean O’Brien – 5
Hefty tackle on Biggar, early on, as he shot out of the line. Defensive contributions were his highlights as he struggled to get much quick ball. Handling error in the lead-up to North’s second try. Three metres gained off 11 carries says it all. Shut down completely.
Jamie Heaslip – 7
Strong, burrowing carries in the Welsh 22 and lovely, clean presentation. One of the few Irish players to keep trucking out there. 12 tackles [none missed] and 15 carries.
REPLACEMENTS
Paddy Jackson [for Sexton] – 4
Horribly exposed by Scott Williams for the first Welsh try [picture below] when he was caught cold off the bench as a concussion sub. Popped over a quick penalty before Sexton returned.
Kieran Marmion (for Murray ’44) – 7
Schmidt took too long to get him on but his first contribution was massive.
Marmion!!!!
Wrestles big Ross Moriarty out of play. One-on-one with the tryline in sight
First Pocock, now Moriarty
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) March 10, 2017
Added much-needed zip in attack and keep the Welsh honest with some snipes from the base.
Cian Healy (for McGrath ’55) – 5
Much needed forward impetus.
Iain Henderson (for Toner ’62) – 7
Charge-down on Biggar clearance could have led to a try on another day.
Peter O’Mahony (for Stander ’62) – 7
Showed he could well have been better in from the start. Massive impact off the bench.
Tommy Bowe (for Kearney ’78) – N/A
Is this how it ends? Carted off after less than 60 seconds on the pitch.
