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23rd February 2024
01:35pm GMT
Ciaran Frawley - 8 His best moment was a line break followed by a smart chip-and-chase. Wales promised to put him under pressure but he had an easy ride for long stretches. Was one of the best Irish attackers as the game wore on. Calvin Nash - 7 Did great to get the ball away to Lowe for his try. Did well to take some fizzed passes in his stride and keep driving forward. Robbie Henshaw - 7 Missed a tackle on North, in the second half, but made up for it, soon after, by barrelling into Tompkins to shut down an attacking parry. Got a hand to a Costelow cross-field kick. Bundee Aki - 8.5 Won an early breakdown turnover for his side. Loose with an offload attempt inside the Welsh 22 but he was playing to a penalty advantage. Had a try ruled out after a TMO check (no fault of his own). James Lowe - 7.5 Smart, strong carries. Rewarded with a fine try after 31 minutes. His strength got him out of trouble when Rio Dyer caught him on a kick-chase. Made 84 metres off 13 carries. Three missed tackles in defence, from three attempted. Jack Crowley - 7 Put all the kicking talk to one side when lapping over the opening penalty from over 40 metres out. Popped a nice conversion from a more acute angle. Had one loose kick from play when he hurried it as Wainwright cantered towards him. One beaut of a kick up the touchline. Jamison Gibson-Park - 8 Called for a knock-on but he was under pressure as the ball skittles after a wonky lineout. Made a great break, two put-ins later, as Ireland got the pill to play with. Lovely pass for Frawley’s try. Andrew Porter - 8.5 In like Flynn for an early breakdown poach, and didn’t he love it! Big part of a dominant Irish scrum, and maul. 70-minute shift on a day he really stood out. Dan Sheehan - 8 Lineout that missed O’Mahony looked like an over-throw. Another lineout blip, soon after his well-taken try. Scrum was a huge success and was key there. Won a big turnover inside his 22, on 36 minutes. Tadhg Furlong - 8 His best game in green for about a year. Was pumped for this one and went after the Welsh at scrum-time. Stuck five tackles and had five carries, too. Joe McCarthy - 8 His ability to blockbuster through tackles and draw in extra bodies is so impressive. Made a big carry that punched a hole before Lowe’s try. Beat three defenders on carries. Tadhg Beirne - 8 Was tipping along nicely - some decent carries and hefty hits - until he was deemed guilty of bringing down the Welsh maul. Resulted in a penalty try and Beirne being sin-binned. Returned from the bin to deny a Wales try with a great turnover. Sealed the bonus point with a late, late try. Peter O’Mahony - 7 Lineout was having some issues in the first half. Was constantly chatting and advising out there, especially around the scrum. Captaincy was positive as Ireland’s scrum and maul held sway, and he knew it. Josh van der Flier - 7 Many of his carries were only for gains of two or three metres, but it got his side over the mainline and fractured the Welsh lines. Went off for a Head Injury Assessment and did nor return. Caelan Doris - 8 One thumping tackle almost cut Costelow in two. Has such a good engine on him - improved and had a greater match impact as it progressed.REPLACEMENTS Jack Conan (for van der Flier ’46) - 6 Started off as a HIA replacement but stayed on. Oli Jager (for Furlong ’54) - 6 James Ryan (for McCarthy ’54) - 6 Yellow-carded, late on. Rónan Kelleher (for Sheehan ’54) - 7 Had a big turnover, soon after coming on. Ryan Baird (for O’Mahony ’54) - 6 Had one superb break that got everyone out of their seats. Spilled the ball, a minute later. Stuart McCloskey (for Nash ’67) - 7 Won a late turnover. Conor Murray (for Gibson-Park ’69) - 6 Cian Healy (for Porter ’72) - 5
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