Ireland Strengthen Title Challenge With Stirring Win Over Wales
25 Feb 2018
A seismic middle Saturday in the NatWest 6 Nations saw Ireland strengthen their challenge for the title, as Jacob Stockdale's 81st-minute intercept try sealed a compelling 37-27 bonus point win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland click, eventually
Ireland stumbled past France, and the Italy game was a complete mismatch. But in their third game the hosts found their stride, at last. They weren't perfect but in the race for a Grand Slam the timing of the performance was perfect. "At times it was some of the best attack we've had this season," said captain Rory Best. In terms of building team confidence ahead of the final stretch this game will go a long way.
Missing Lions?
One of Ireland's tasks was to absorb the loss of 93 caps worth of experience in the absence of Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw. Job done. Andrew Porter came in and was once again outstanding in the loose, carrying nine times. The highlight was surviving a reset scrum that led to Ireland's fourth try. Devin Toner put in an excellent effort in the scrum, lineout and around the park. Meanwhile, centre Chris Farrell took home a deserved man of the match award.
Case for the defence
Defence coach Andy Farrell admitted he was "fuming" after conceding three tries to Italy. Joe Schmidt said that the leaking of the same number again yesterday was "frustrating". The Irish defence seemed to freeze for the first of those, were again caught narrow for the second, and appeared to be outnumbered very easily for the final try. The errors are not new and are too common. The New Zealander admitted that it will be a priority to address these issues. "It is a concern with the runners Scotland have," he said, "with the Stuart Hoggs, the Tommy Seymours, the like of Sean Maitland. They are very quick athletes. It's always a concern. I think we helped them a bit. We didn't stay connected we had guys doing different things and I think we can repair a lot of that over the next two weeks." They'll have to if they want to stay on track for the title.
Magic Murray
Chris Farrell just got the nod for man of the match ahead of the scrum-half and if we weren't so used to the Munster number 9 performing like this for Ireland he probably would have taken the award. Schmidt joked afterwards that "it's incredible what these guys will do to get out of training on Tuesday", referring to the monstrous effort put in by the half-back as he drove Ireland to victory. From tackling like a demon all day, to almost perfect box-kicking, to stepping up for a crucial late penalty, he was simply outstanding. A lesser man would probably have gone off after twisting his foot with 10 minutes to play. Murray knew Sexton was struggling and knew too he had to stay put.
Scotland
Who would have thought it after their desperate showing on opening day against Wales but Scotland are now firmly in the championship mix after stunning wins over France and England. The two-week break is welcome respite for Ireland. Furlong and Henderson should return, while Schmidt said he was hopeful that Sean O'Brien might get a run with Leinster next week, however, no one will be risked, he added.
Not that he was around for last season's defeat but Andrew Porter said that "we owe Scotland one from last year. So we have to make these home games count, especially the one coming up. We can't be looking ahead to a Grand Slam, but that's the ultimate goal."
There will be no chance of taking them lightly now.
