THE RAIN CAME, but it was late and Ireland already had the hay made, wrapped and stored.
However, there was nothing agricultural about this convincing win over the champions of the past two years.
This was a clinical display, a perfectly enacted plan with the tries coming from Chris Henry and Paddy Jackson at the tail end of each half.
It was not the classic some expected, instead and early cagey exchange of kicks led to Irish dominance.
They had to work hard for it, make no mistake. An early set of phases brought welsh disruption and Sam Wrburton’s tackle rocked Gordon D’Arcy back on his heels.
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The performances of Jamie Heaslip, Chris Henry and Peter O’Mahony though – a back row working in near perfect harmony – made this highly anticipated contest between into a a predictable outcome.
After spending a week speaking about discipline, Joe Schmidt’s side were as good as their word and it was the 55th minute before Leigh Halfpenny was given the opportunity to kick Wales’ first penalty with the hosts already 16 – 0 to the good.
Once again, the John Plumtree coached maul looked to be Ireland’s most potent weapon, and this week it was Chris Henry who profited from its clinical efforts with the touchdown for his first international try on 33 minutes.
By that stage, Jonathan Sexton had already settled into a kicking rhythm off the tee – though his efforts out of hand left some room for improvement – to put Ireland 6 – 0 up courtesy of breakdown penalties.
Racing Metro’s absent out-half nailed a beautiful conversion to make Henry’s score a maximum one, but his last effort of the half brought his only miss. Along-range penalty attempt on the stroke of half time dropped well short and the hosts took a 13 – 0 advantage into half-time.
The second 40 turned into a procession for Schmidt’s grand plan. His team continued to display exemplary footwork, changing the point of attack to keep the larger Welsh defenders off balance.
A disrupted maul five minutes after the resumption allowed Sexton extend the lead to 16 and he did so again on the hour mark. By that stage, Schmidt already had the luxury of calling Paul O’Connell ashore and unleashing the replacements.
And it was one of that back-up group who put the finishing touch on this victory, cantering to the posts after another maul pulverised the champions.
For Wales, their first away defeat in the Six Nations, for Ireland the next step brings them to Twickenham where a Triple Crown could be sealed.
Nothing like getting the job done early.
Scorers
Ireland:
Tries: Henry. Jackson
Conv: Sexton, Jackson.
Penalties: Sexton (4)
Wales:
Penalty: Halpenny.
Ireland: R Kearney; A Trimble, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, D Kearney; J Sexton, C Murray; C Healy, R Best, M Ross, D Toner, P O’Connell (capt.); P O’Mahony, C Henry, J Heaslip.
Replacements: S Cronin, J McGrath, M Moore, D Tuohy, T O’Donnell, I Boss, P Jackson, F McFadden.
Wales: L Halfpenny; A Cuthbert, S Williams, J Roberts, G North; R Priestland, M Phillips: G Jenkins, R Hibbard, A Jones; A Coombs, AW Jones; D Lydiate, S Warburton (capt.), T Faletau.
Replacements: K Owens, P James, R Jones, J Ball, J Tipuric, R Webb, J Hook, L Williams.
So true, his improvement this season has been immense and we are at a point that I couldnt imagine the second row without his dominance.
Great performance by the whole team. Smothered and outplayed every opposite Welsh man. D Kearney and Trimble would be my 3 choice wing pairing but they were both brilliant today and its hard to see how any of the returning guys would shift them.
2 from 2 and England up next. A repeat of the accuracy drive and commitment from us and they will be beaten too
Wow. Awesome performance by Eire who were dominant in every aspect of play and made Wales look poor. The lineout and maul was exceptional, what a weapon its become. North, Cuthbert and co were eaten up by a rabid and aggressive defence.
How wonderful was it to see that a$$wipe Phillips being smashed and humiliated all game? Beautiful. Nasty stuff from the welsh sub after the final try, he should be cited.
Schmidts tactics reminded me heavily of the All Blacks with the insistence in kicking whenever in or near their own 22, eliminating the danger and backing their defence to repell an attack.
Totally showed up Gatland for the overrated coach he truly is.
Stunning stuff but we have won nothing so lets hope they keep that intensity up.
Not wanting to be pedantic, but in fairness this is an All-Ireland team: Henry, Jackson, Best, Trimble, Henderson & more from Ulster, some of the best players today. ‘Eire’ refers only to the 26 counties – the Republic of Ireland.
Not wanting to be Pedantic. But “Éire is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.” Alan’s use of the word could be seen as inflammatory and/or un-needed, but indeed, I agree, this is an Irish team, playing for the whole of Ireland, with the whole Island behind them.
I was avoiding the result of the Liverpool match, because I’ll catch it on MOTD. Your comment forced me to take a look see. WOW! Wonderful score. The Beamish will go down nicely tonight.
My God those lineout stats are amazing. No fluke about it. I know everyone will say Toner o mahony o connell and best but including the lifters they were robotic in the sequence. I know it’s still way too early because we have Paris and London to go to, but should we lose one of those we are on huge + points to be in for a championship at least. Even the French flare and individual talent won’t break that defence we saw today. Could we ask for more from 2 games?
Yep, delighted O’ Mahony got MOTM, although I thought he should have gotten it last week, and I don’t like that Phillips fella, I think he’s a bit of a gurrier.
Steady.he did and they won the series.sport moves on to next game .no need to get petty.the stars here were an irish pack and a superbly together back row.well done schmidt and mr plumtree
Great win for Ireland and credit must go to Schmidt, Plumtree and Kiss for doing a great job in getting the best out of a talented bunch! That ‘galloping plumtree maul’, great set pieces, no try leaked and great discipline in defense. One dimensional Wales dismantled…no plan B in Gatt ball.
Great complete performance from Ireland,POM some class act robbing ball,the lad can play all over back row,6,7,8,on the wing for Munster & now 4 or 5,great win,bring on the English, hope the papers & public don’t get carried away,have won nothing yet,Eire Abu!!!
@Cian O Donoghue
Ridiculously biased comment from you. I’ve no idea how anyone can say was Heaslip poor in this win over Wales. Tackles, rucks, mauls, support play, work off the ball and all round execution of everything required by Joe Schmidt. All the Irish forwards, out played, out thought, out-muscled the Welsh all day.
Have to correct you Liam – they are Ulster players that you are referring to, which consists of Nine Counties – including – Monaghan , Cavan , Donegal , Armagh , Fermanagh , Derry ,
Antrim , Down & Armagh .
The Team , as a whole is , of course , Ireland .
I think you’ll find that Rory Best, Andrew Trimble, Chris Henry and Paddy Jackson are from the six counties of Ulster that make up Northern Ireland – so saying they are from Northern Ireland is correct. To be honest I couldn’t give a toss what part of the Island any of these Ireland players come from. They all wore the jersey with pride and honour today.
@Joe Conway – 100% spot on sir. This a game (I know its more than that) but whatever our politics and aspirations are they stay off the field and out of the green jersey
Is there anyone more irritating in international rugby than Mike Philips, George Hook apart of course. Highlight of game for me was Rob Kearney laughing in his face just after Jackson’s try.
Mike Philips showed why he gets into so much trouble. Rob Kearney was livid with that cheap shot on Paddy and reacted straight away. Philips needs one almighty slap.
How good was that, thought the early kicking to Halfpenny was a bad way to go but it proved to be devastating. O’Mahoney was immense he will be POC’s replacement. Flights booked of to twickers I go!
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Excellent performance from all 20+ players. Just wanna say fair play to Toner, never rated him but he was great today.
So true, his improvement this season has been immense and we are at a point that I couldnt imagine the second row without his dominance.
Great performance by the whole team. Smothered and outplayed every opposite Welsh man. D Kearney and Trimble would be my 3 choice wing pairing but they were both brilliant today and its hard to see how any of the returning guys would shift them.
2 from 2 and England up next. A repeat of the accuracy drive and commitment from us and they will be beaten too
I can remember him when he first appeared for Leinster.
At no stage would you have ever thought he would ever play Test Rugby.
He has worked so hard and deserves his Irish success.
Great to see
There’s something I need to get off my chest……. Shove that one right up your h*le Mr. Gatland….
Enough said.
Wow. Awesome performance by Eire who were dominant in every aspect of play and made Wales look poor. The lineout and maul was exceptional, what a weapon its become. North, Cuthbert and co were eaten up by a rabid and aggressive defence.
How wonderful was it to see that a$$wipe Phillips being smashed and humiliated all game? Beautiful. Nasty stuff from the welsh sub after the final try, he should be cited.
Schmidts tactics reminded me heavily of the All Blacks with the insistence in kicking whenever in or near their own 22, eliminating the danger and backing their defence to repell an attack.
Totally showed up Gatland for the overrated coach he truly is.
Stunning stuff but we have won nothing so lets hope they keep that intensity up.
Not wanting to be pedantic, but in fairness this is an All-Ireland team: Henry, Jackson, Best, Trimble, Henderson & more from Ulster, some of the best players today. ‘Eire’ refers only to the 26 counties – the Republic of Ireland.
Ireland is the only accurate term.
Not wanting to be Pedantic. But “Éire is the Irish name for the island of Ireland and the sovereign state of the same name.” Alan’s use of the word could be seen as inflammatory and/or un-needed, but indeed, I agree, this is an Irish team, playing for the whole of Ireland, with the whole Island behind them.
Get a hobby
Fantastic performance , couldn’t take my eyes off it from start to finish.
Bad day to be a Welsh Arsenal fan!
Anyway, amazing performance from Ireland, well done boys, you’ve done the island proud :)
I was avoiding the result of the Liverpool match, because I’ll catch it on MOTD. Your comment forced me to take a look see. WOW! Wonderful score. The Beamish will go down nicely tonight.
Great day to be an Irish Liverpool supporter.
My God those lineout stats are amazing. No fluke about it. I know everyone will say Toner o mahony o connell and best but including the lifters they were robotic in the sequence. I know it’s still way too early because we have Paris and London to go to, but should we lose one of those we are on huge + points to be in for a championship at least. Even the French flare and individual talent won’t break that defence we saw today. Could we ask for more from 2 games?
Great performance , what a game, Peter o mahony definitely deserves man of the match
Yep, delighted O’ Mahony got MOTM, although I thought he should have gotten it last week, and I don’t like that Phillips fella, I think he’s a bit of a gurrier.
Gatland – pick a Lions 15 please!
Steady.he did and they won the series.sport moves on to next game .no need to get petty.the stars here were an irish pack and a superbly together back row.well done schmidt and mr plumtree
An average team anhialates a very bad team!
Wouldn’t expect anymore from you! Dope! Lol
No prizes for guessing who the only thumbs down came from. Idiot.
Dear Warren,
I own you.
Best Regards,
Joe
P.S. Warburton over Tipuric? Lolz.
Savage Stuff! Bring on England!!
Great win for Ireland and credit must go to Schmidt, Plumtree and Kiss for doing a great job in getting the best out of a talented bunch! That ‘galloping plumtree maul’, great set pieces, no try leaked and great discipline in defense. One dimensional Wales dismantled…no plan B in Gatt ball.
Was talking to some Welsh fans after the game and they said of Gatland… If Plan A doesn’t work he changes to Plan A!
Great complete performance from Ireland,POM some class act robbing ball,the lad can play all over back row,6,7,8,on the wing for Munster & now 4 or 5,great win,bring on the English, hope the papers & public don’t get carried away,have won nothing yet,Eire Abu!!!
8? Heaslip was poor.
Eire???
Munster trolling or don’t watch much rugby ??
@Cian O Donoghue
Ridiculously biased comment from you. I’ve no idea how anyone can say was Heaslip poor in this win over Wales. Tackles, rucks, mauls, support play, work off the ball and all round execution of everything required by Joe Schmidt. All the Irish forwards, out played, out thought, out-muscled the Welsh all day.
Maybe have a look at this by Murray Kinsella because it describes everything present in every game by Heaslip. http://www.thescore.ie/jamie-heaslip-ireland-1193036-Nov2013/
Surprised cian, you normally give balanced and informed opinions.Not sure how you could call heaslip poor today…
Poor.. What’s ur issue with Heaslip? Clearly not based on rugby or his performance, as 99.99% of people wud say he had a great game
Dominant performance. Sexton mixed it up brilliantly with the kicks.. O’mahony with a masterclass while O’Connell at his best while he was on. COYBIG
Hey Alan Segg
It wasn’t Eire.The rugby team is a united team of the island of Ireland.
Apologies, ive always said eire when talking about ireland, habit i suppose!
Great win by all the lads, hard to pick a standout as so many delivered
Don’t know why people are red thumbing you butter. You are correct. Eire is only 26 counties. A lot of Irish players are from Northern Ireland.
Have to correct you Liam – they are Ulster players that you are referring to, which consists of Nine Counties – including – Monaghan , Cavan , Donegal , Armagh , Fermanagh , Derry ,
Antrim , Down & Armagh .
The Team , as a whole is , of course , Ireland .
I think you’ll find that Rory Best, Andrew Trimble, Chris Henry and Paddy Jackson are from the six counties of Ulster that make up Northern Ireland – so saying they are from Northern Ireland is correct. To be honest I couldn’t give a toss what part of the Island any of these Ireland players come from. They all wore the jersey with pride and honour today.
Good man Alan
@Joe Conway – 100% spot on sir. This a game (I know its more than that) but whatever our politics and aspirations are they stay off the field and out of the green jersey
Magnificent performance..if this is what we can expect from the Joe Schmidt era, I can’t wait for more…roll on Twickenham…we’re delivering..
Brilliant performance!
Is there anyone more irritating in international rugby than Mike Philips, George Hook apart of course. Highlight of game for me was Rob Kearney laughing in his face just after Jackson’s try.
Mike Philips showed why he gets into so much trouble. Rob Kearney was livid with that cheap shot on Paddy and reacted straight away. Philips needs one almighty slap.
How good was that, thought the early kicking to Halfpenny was a bad way to go but it proved to be devastating. O’Mahoney was immense he will be POC’s replacement. Flights booked of to twickers I go!
Schmidt happens!
Alan seag
to be honest i was just trolling, your classy response put me in my place.
good day to you sir.
26-3? SWEET as a nut