13/03/2010
Declan Kidney had opted to stick with the same starting XV that had done the business against England in Twickenham on Ireland’s previous outing. On the bench, Rob Kearney returned from his injury enforced layoff but Geordan Murphy, after a stunning performance against England, held onto the number fifteen shirt.
Wales would be without the services of Ryan Jones who was replaced in the back row by Gareth Delve who was into the team to earn his 10th cap since debut in 2006.
The weather was dry however the bright sunshine that had bathed the capital in the week preceding the game had ducked behind a heavy blanket of cloud as O’Driscoll lead his team out onto the field earning his 100th cap, joining that exclusive group of players which included his teammate John Hayes, no doubt a proud and momentous occasion for all the O’Driscoll circle of family and friends.
Ireland lined out playing into the famous Hill 16 with the visitors kicking off the afternoons battle. But it was Wales who opened the first seconds on the attack, however when their lineout was stole outside the Irish 22, Ireland worked through the phases which saw David Wallace, make a superb break down the left flank, before cutting inside and finding the offload. Wales infringed at the breakdown and with 4 minutes on the clock Sexton opted for a penalty 5m inside the Welsh half, however on this occasion the ball missed the target.
From a Welsh lineout on 6 minutes the visitors worked in field before Ireland were penalised at the breakdown handing Stephen Jones a simple kick for posts inside the Irish 22. He made no mistake and Wales took an early 0-3 lead with 10 minutes on the clock.
An uncharacteristic kick out on the full by Geordan Murphy handed the visitors a lineout 10m inside the Irish half, but once again Ireland disrupted the set piece and turned over ball. The welsh lineout was in serious trouble with jumpers and hookers failing to find their rhythm.
Stephen Jones opted to kick for posts on 13 minutes, in truth it was a difficult kick and the ball drifted wide of the uprights.
Ireland were in need of taking this game by the scruff of the neck as the visitors had enjoyed the lions share of possession and territory, however thus far the Irish defence was holding firm.
From an Irish attacking scrum on 15 minutes, Wales infringed and Sexton kicked for the lineout. Quick ball off the top by Heaslip sent Ireland on the attack. Working 16 metres inside the welsh half, the breakdown once again proved Wales undoing and the visitors were penalised, handing Sexton a golden opportunity to level the scores and the St Marys man duly obliged on 18 minutes to level the scores at 3 apiece.
From deep in their own half, Ireland worked up field with Ferris, Best and O’Connell combining to pummel the Welsh defensive line. In the process D’Arcy picked up an injury but still managed to play through and execute a superb tackle, just managing to pick himself up off the deck. From another turned over lineout, Ireland secured ball and Tommy Bowe made a superb break infield just to be brought down, however the referee was playing advantage for a previous infringement and this handed Sexton another penalty kick which he slotted home to extend Irelands lead by 6-3 on 23 minutes. D’Arcy was substituted by Rob Kearney.
Wales Lee Byrne was sent to the sin bin on 24 minutes after repeated infringements at the breakdown and immediately Ireland went on the offensive.
While attacking out wide on the right, Tomas O’Leary put in a chip over the top which Sexton followed up. A quick penalty saw the ball worked through the hands where it found Keith Earls, who with work still to do powered his way over the line to score the opening try of the afternoon on 26 minutes. Sexton who had taken a knock from collecting O’Leary’s chip, still visibly shaken, missed the conversion. Ireland 11-3 Wales.
With 28 minutes on the clock, O’Callaghan collected in the lineout, from the resulting maul, Ireland appeared to be going backwards, but Best secured ball, and popped to O’Connell who broke from the base, drawing the defence. A sublime offload by O’Connell to O’Leary saw the Dolphin scrum half jink inside then out to stretch across the line and score Irelands second try of the afternoon. Sexton missed the conversion but Ireland were now 16-3 to the good.
Wales were far from finished and immediately they launched their own attack. As the forwards flooded the breakdown trying to create space for the outside backs, the visitors had worked their way within touching distance of the Irish line. On 37 minutes they got just reward for a fine phase of attacking play when Jones kicked a penalty inside the Irish 22, to close the gap to within ten points at 16-6.
In the closing moments of the first half, neat interlinking play between the Irish backs saw Keith Earls employ deft footballing skills to chip the ball off the floor into his hands, and set-up a footrace to the line, but on this occasion the ball bounced out of play concluding the first half’s proceedings.
Half time Ireland 16 – 6 Wales
The ball seen it’s fair share of airtime in the opening phases of the second half as both teams elected to kick in order to pressure the opposition into making an error. After the kicking subsided, Wales from a throw to the front of the lineout began to steadily build phases keeping the ball alive until they were 10m inside the Irish 22. Fortuitously they were handed an attacking scrum when Rory Best who had turned the tackler, was penalised at the breakdown. The south African referee, Craig Joubert, was not making too many friends in Croke park when minutes later he penalised the Irish for what seemed like a clear Welsh infringement handing the visitors an attacking 5 metre scrum. After 3 scrum resets, the Irish pack drove the visitors off the ball and cleared it into touch on the Irish 10 metre line.
On 51 minutes Sexton extended Irelands lead with a well taken penalty on the 22 midway between posts and touch. The scores were now 19-6 in favour of Ireland.
One sensed the referee was failing to police the breakdown and when David Wallace held up the tackler and tried to compete from the ball, he found himself penalised for not releasing despite the fact that he was the tackler and he was on his feet, therefore perfectly entitled to compete for the ball. Jones slotted home the penalty and Wales were once again within 10 points at 19-9 with 55 minutes on the clock.
Four minutes later, Ireland were once again on the attack, when from a long throw to O’Callaghan in the lineout, the Munster man found his provincial colleague Tomas O’Leary off the top with a quick pass. O’Leary ran a tremendous arching run and with pinpoint accuracy his pass found Keith Earls on the left wing. Earls still had lots of work to do and powered over Shane Williams covering tackle to dot down in the corner. The conversion was not successful but Ireland had now extended their lead to 24-9 with 20 minutes still left to play.
Stephen Jones kept the welsh scores ticking over and on 62 minutes he added another penalty to close the gap to 24-12.
For the next 10 minutes Wales enjoyed the majority of possession but the Irish defence, lead by skipper Brian O’Driscoll, kept the visitors penned inside their own half. Wales only excursion into the Irish half saw their lineout on the Irish 22 lose ground as they tried to bring the outside backs into the game only to be undone by a forward pass.
With 6 minutes left to play the evergreen John Hayes was replaced by Tony Buckley and the big Shannon man made an immediate impact with a superb carry over the half way line.
Ireland were starting to stretch their legs and when the backs combined with some intricate interlinking play, Jonny Sexton stepped back in the pocked and drifted over an impressive drop goal with four minutes left to play, extending Ireland’s lead to 27-12
Cronin, Reddan, Cullen, O’Gara and Jennings replaced Best, O’Learey, O’Connell, Earls and Ferris respectively as Kidney emptied his bench. And as the clock ticked down, and the final whistle was blown, the Irish had outplayed and out classed the visitors to the tune of 27-12. Total domination in the lineout undoubtedly set the platform from which Ireland launched a series of successful attacks and although Tomas O’Leary picked up the RBS man of the match, and deservedly so, mention must also go to the tremendous work of the Irish back-row with David Wallace in particular standing out in his hunger to make tackles and cause havoc with the ball in hand. Defensive coach Les Kiss will also be pleased that his side did not concede a try.
Ireland
15 - Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (Capt.)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
9 - Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
17 - Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18 - Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
19 - Shane Jennings (St.Mary's College/Leinster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
22 - Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Wales
15 – Lee Byrne
14 – Leigh Halfpenny
13 – James Hook
12 – Jamie Roberts
11 – Shane Williams
10 – Stephen Jones
9 – Richie Rees
1 – Paul James
2 – Matthew Rees
3 – Adam Jones
4 – Bradley Davies
5 – Luke Charterist
6 – Jonathan Thomas
7 – Martyn Williams
8 – Gareth Delve
Replacements
16 – Huw Bennett
17 – Rhys Gill
18 – Ian Gough
19 – Sam Warburton
20 – Dwayne Peel
21 – Andrew Bishop
22 – Tom Shanklin
23 – Dan Lyttle