Ireland end England Slam hopes

England were denied successive Six Nations Grand Slams on Saturday as Ireland claimed a hard-fought 13-9 victory in Dublin.

Only one try was scored in the game and it went the way of Irish lock Iain Henderson, as the hosts held on for a morale-boosting success.

The result sees England's run of wins end on 18 as Ireland bounced back from last week's loss to Wales with a hugely spirited showing.

All of England's points came via the boot of Owen Farrell and in truth they were massively under-par against an Ireland side full of fight.

Ireland were always going to be much-improved from last Friday's defeat in Cardiff, especially in front of their fans, and they did not disappoint early on.

Johnny Sexton struck on 10 minutes after side entry from England at the ruck and they were well worth their early advantage.

Farrell did level matters eight minutes later due to Ireland not rolling away and the game was fascinatingly poised even at an early stage.

Ireland, who had lost the influential Jamie Heaslip to injury before kick-off, had to reshuffle their squad as CJ Stander moved to number eight with Peter O'Mahony coming off the bench to start on the blindside flank.  The tweaks did not fluster them though as they were on top.

Further reason to smile came in the 24th minute when lock Henderson reached out for a try which Sexton converted to make it a 10-3 cushion.  And that was the scoreline at the break after a first 40 that Ireland dominated, enjoying 74 percent possession and 77 percent territory.

Eddie Jones was clearly upset with his side's showing and duly made a change up front as Mako Vunipola replaced Joe Marler at prop.

A stern talking to seemed to improve their fortunes as Farrell reduced the score to 10-6 on 52 minutes and they appeared to be turning the screw in the tight exchanges.

Three minutes later Jamie George was the next to emerge, replacing captain Dylan Hartley for the run-in.

However, Jones' next changes were somewhat a knee-jerk reaction to Sexton sending over a crucial penalty from a tough angle after Farrell had tackled him high.

That made it 13-6 so Ireland had pushed England out to two scores from claiming that Grand Slam with 17 minutes left.

Farrell cut the margin four minutes later off the tee after strong mauling work from his forwards saw Ireland enter from the side, and thus we had the grandstand finish back on in Dublin at 13-9.

England though, importantly for Ireland, had yet to breach the whitewash in the match.

That pyschological fact seemed to get the Irish over the finish line with their noses in front as they held on for victory that sees them finish in second place, while England, upset to miss the Slam, must settle with the Six Nations title.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Try:  Henderson
Con:  Sexton
Pens:  Sexton 2

For England:
Pens:  Farrell 3

Ireland:  15 Jared Payne, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadgh Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Dan Leavy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Andrew Conway

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te'o, 23 Jack Nowell

Referee:  Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees:  Mathieu Raynal (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

France win in 100th minute

France scored a converted try in the 100th minute of the game to defeat Wales 20-18 in their Six Nations clash in Paris on Saturday.

A 20-minute spell on the Welsh line was the conclusion to this fixture as Camille Chat's try, converted by Camille Lopez, saw France win.

Les Bleus' other try-scorer was Rémi Lamerat, while for Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny kicked six out of six penalty attempts, as they finish fifth.

France began with a real purpose in Paris and despite fly-half Lopez missing a long-range penalty, they led 7-0 in the seventh minute after said player's clever chip in the Welsh 22 saw centre Lamerat gather and cross.  Lopez's conversion was an easy one from in front.

Louis Picamoles was a catalyst for France up front while their pack also showed their power to hand Lopez a shot for 10-0 which he took.

Then came a controversial moment in the match on 19 minutes as Virimi Vakatawa was adjudged to have deliberately knocked down Dan Biggar's pass to George North, who had the line within reach.  Wayne Barnes was confident it was a card offence as Vakatawa went to the bin.

Halfpenny made an immediate dent in the score from wide out before nailing another penalty, this time from over 50 metres out, for 10-6.

Wales seemed to be growing in confidence and continued to flourish with ball in hand, possibly feeling aggrieved to go into the break with just one more Halfpenny penalty to their name.

As it was, 10-9 was a fair reflection on the fixture which looked set to go down to the wire.

France wanted to make a statement after the break, snubbing two penalties in favour of a quick tap and then scrum, which backfired when Barnes penalised them at the set-piece.

Barnes was becoming increasingly unpopular at the Stade de France with the local supporters.

And the experienced referee Barnes was in the firing line of boos again soon after when Wales were handed another scrum penalty, Halfpenny did the rest from halfway.

Wales were now leading for the first time in the game and with 20 minutes remaining France decided to send on the majority of their bench.

The visitors meanwhile had lost both Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball to injury, which meant replacement hooker Scott Baldwin had to play out of position, with more disruption set to come until the end of the match.

Halfpenny was on-target again from a similar position on 65 minutes to make it 15-10 to Wales but Lopez responded soon after for 15-13.

Crucially for Wales they reclaimed that five-point buffer on 72 minutes following Uini Atonio's high tackle, with Halfpenny slotting from in front.

They now had the clock and lead on their side with the possibility of back-to-back wins over Ireland and France looming large.

Then followed over 20 remarkable minutes of France play being camped on the Welsh line, which saw tighthead prop Samson Lee yellow carded, as France banged on the door.

Eventually they bust it open with replacement Chat crossing in the 100th minute, after a series of scrum penalties and attacks giong close, before Lopez slotted the match-winning conversion, ending a bizarre game at the Stade de France.

The scorers:

For France:
Tries:  Lamerat, Chat
Cons:  Lopez 2
Pens:  Lopez 2
Yellow Card:  Vakatawa

For Wales:
Pens:  Halfpenny 6
Yellow Card:  Lee

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Sébastien Vahaamahina, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Camille Chat, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 François Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)

Scotland finish on a high

Scotland finished their Six Nations campaign on a high when they claimed a deserved 29-0 bonus-point win over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for large periods — especially during the first half — although Italy will be disappointed with their effort and poor goalkicking from Carlo Canna, who failed to convert three penalties in the first half, meant they failed to score any points.

The result was a perfect send-off for Scotland's head coach Vern Cotter under whose guidance the Scots have made tremendous strides, and they finish the tournament with an unbeaten home record having won three out of five matches, which is their best performance with the New Zealander at the helm since he took over the coaching reins in 2014.

Scotland started brightly made an early statement of intent when they overpowered Italy at the opening scrum.

The Azzurri's forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging and Stuart Hogg opened the scoring when he slotted the resulting penalty from 45 metres out in the fifth minute.

The next 15 minutes was fairly even as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy although Italy missed a golden opportunity to open their account in the 21st minute when Canna was off target with a fairly straightforward shot at goal, after John Barclay was penalised for an indiscretion at a ruck.

Five minutes later, Huw Jones made a line break on the edge of his 22 but stumbled when trying to beat the final defender on Italy's five-metre line.  That was the Stormers midfielder's final act of this Test as he injured his ankle in that run and was then replaced by Matt Scott.

Scotland were eventually rewarded just before the half-hour mark when Finn Russell went over for the opening try after gathering a perfectly-timed pass from Ali Price close to Italy's try-line.

Russell dusted himself off and added the extras before Canna missed his second easy penalty attempt shortly afterwards after Jonny Gray was penalised for obstructing Sergio Parisse.

Scotland did not waste any time to extend their lead and just before half-time Scott got his name onto the scoresheet when he dived on a loose ball behind Italy's try-line, after Price delivered a teasing box kick which was knocked backwards by Hogg.

Russell failed with the conversion attempt and on the stroke of half-time Italy were awarded a penalty, but Canna's poor goalkicking continued as he failed with his third effort from the kicking tee.

Italy came out like men possessed after the interval and spent the first 15 minutes of the second half camped inside the home side's half.

The Azzurri restricted play mostly to their forwards but missed a golden opportunity to open their account when they did strike out wide with their backs, Hogg and Scott doing well to hold Angelo Esposito up in the tackle when he went over Scotland's try-line in the 49th minute.

Shorlty afterwards, Scotland were reduced to 14 men when their captain, Barclay, was sent to the sin bin for deliberately collapsing a maul close to his try-line.

But despite being a man down, Scotland launched a gallant defensive effort and kept the visitors at bay for the next 10 minutes.

This was best illustrated in the 51st minute when Edoardo Padovani knocked on a pass from Esposito with the try-line begging which summed up the lack of finishing power Italy had, having been largely in control since the break.

Ten minutes later, Scotland made them pay when Tim Visser beat Tommaso Benvenuti in a foot race to touch down after Hogg delivered a chip kick in the build-up.

Russell converted which sealed the win for the hosts, and when Tommy Seymour crossed for Scotland's fourth try, after running onto a pass from Hogg deep inside Italy's 22, they also had the bonus point in the bag to give Cotter the perfect send-off.

The scorers:

For Scotland:
Tries:  Russell, Scott, Visser, Seymour
Cons:  Russell 3
Pen:  Hogg
Yellow Card:  Barclay

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Maxime Mata Mbanda', 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Marcello Violi, 23 Luca Sperandio

Referee:  Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

England claim Six Nations title

England made it back-to-back Six Nations triumphs as they defeated Scotland 61-21 with a bonus-point at Twickenham on Saturday.

A hat-trick from outside centre Jonathan Joseph led the way for Eddie Jones' charges, with Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and Danny Care (2) also crossing as they move an impressive eight points clear in the table.

Scotland, who were a shadow of the side that beat Ireland and Wales, carded tries from Gordon Reid and Huw Jones (2) in a poor display.

They were immediately on the back foot, largely from their own doing, when hooker Fraser Brown was sin-binned for a tip tackle on England wing Elliot Daly.

The Wasps man was eventually permanently substituted for Watson and when Brown returned his side were 13-0 down.

The first England try came from quick lineout ball as fast hands led to Joseph slicing through from 30 metres out.  Owen Farrell made it 7-0.

Farrell was on-target again on seven minutes when Scotland had come offside at a ruck, the penalty meaning England had a 10-point buffer.

That became 13-0 after hands in the ruck, before Daly eventually made way, with Scotland then losing Stuart Hogg and also his replacement Mark Bennett to injury soon after.

It had been a truly disastrous opening to the game at Twickenham for a Scotland side looking out of sorts.

England showed no sympathy and were over again on 25 minutes when slick handling saw Joseph ghost through for a 20-0 lead with the kick.

Fortunately for the Scots Reid barged over to get them on the board but England chalked that off when Joseph supplied Watson for 30-7.

The start to the second-half was a carbon copy of the first as Joseph re-opened his team's account, taking a short ball off Ben Youngs for his hat-trick and the bonus-point.

England were now motoring towards the Calcutta Cup and the Championship, with Scotland trailing by 30.

Slim hope arrived for Vern Cotter's charges on 50 minutes when a period of pressure in the England 22 led to Jones barging over for 40-14.

But it was short-lived as England turned the screw again at the hour mark, replacement number eight Vunipola crossing from a driving maul as England closed to within two points of the half century.

At this point they'd replaced captain Dylan Hartley and hat-trick man Joseph.

Scotland's own stand-out centre, Jones, was over again on 70 minutes with a strong finish but shortly after England struck back through Care, with Farrell's kick making it 54-21 before Care grabbed a brace late on.

Those tries helped to seal a comprehensive win and the title with a round to spare on a day of records;  the most points England have ever scored against Scotland, as England matched New Zealand's Tier 1 win record of 18 victories in a row.

The scorers:

For England:
Tries:  Joseph 3, Watson, B Vunipola, Care 2
Cons:  Farrell 7
Pens:  Farrell 4

For Scotland:
Tries:  Reid, Jones 2
Cons:  Russell 3
Yellow Card:  Brown

England:  15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Joe Marler
Replacements:  16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Anthony Watson

Scotland:  15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Replacements:  16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett

Referee:  Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees:  Romain Poite (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Bonus-point win for France in Rome

France broke away in the second half to secure a 40-18 win over Italy in Rome, earning a second victory of the tournament.

Italy took a surprise lead through Sergio Parisse but France responded in kind through Gaël Fickou, with three penalties from Camille Lopez to two from Carlo Canna giving France a 16-11 advantage by the break.

Virimi Vakatawa's try extended the French advantage and from there they never looked back, Louis Picamoles crashing over before Brice Dulin secured the bonus point in the final few minutes.

Under the Rome sunshine Italy started full of running, a multiple-phase attack concluding when Canna sold a dummy to the French defence to draw in two defenders, before freeing his arms to offload to Parisse for the opening score.

France hit back through a Lopez penalty after Edoardo Gori strayed offside at the scrum, but Italy had the perfect chance to respond after unlocking France's defence with a cute offload from Parisse.

With numbers to spare out wide, Lorenzo Cittadini's cut-out pass was the entirely wrong option and France escaped conceding a second try.

That mistake aside this was an outstanding display in the opening quarter from the Azzurri, whose confidence appeared high.  Canna punished France for not rolling away with a first penalty to make it 8-3.

France then punctured the mood with an attack straight off the restart.  Fickou's excellent mid-air take released Vakatawa down the touchline, and after testing the Italian defence France won a penalty which Lopez converted to cut the gap to two points.

Suddenly it was France who had their tails up, executing a brilliant attack from deep for their first try.

Rémi Lamerat and Vakatawa combined to chew up the ground ahead of them before the ball was kept alive and Fickou finished it off, slicing through following a brilliant show-and-go before scoring under the posts.  Lopez converted, with France ahead for the first time at 13-8.

Italy have crumbled after similar moments in the past but this was a little different, working their way upfield for Canna to land a second penalty and reduce the deficit.

Another Lopez penalty in response cemented France's advantage, with les Bleus holding a 16-11 advantage come the interval.

And the purple patch for Lopez off the kicking tee continued with another three points after half-time, stretching the lead to six, before France looked on the verge of putting the game to bed following another Fickou break.  Edoardo Padovani had other ideas, reeling in Vakatawa down the touchline.

The big winger couldn't be restrained for long however.  Setting up deep in Italian territory, Baptiste Serin's short pass caught Italy out around the fringes for Vakatawa to score under the posts, making it 26-11 with the conversion from Lopez.

Early optimism over Italy's prospects was now beginning to fade, Giorgio Bronzini denied by the TMO, with France instead going up the other end and powering over through Picamoles after Italy's forwards had been sucked into the rolling maul.

Eddy Ben Arous looked to have wrapped up the bonus point, only for the try to be brought back after Picamoles was adjudged to have a foot in touch.

With the game all but won, France handed a debut to exciting young scrum-half Antoine Dupont, and it took until the 76th minute for the bonus point to finally come.

Kévin Gourdon, in another outstanding performance, broke free and fed Dulin on his outside for the full-back ro race home, securing the bonus-point win in the process, with Angelo Esposito's late consolation try for Italy having no bearing on the outcome.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Parisse, Esposito
Con:  Canna
Pens:  Canna 2

For France:
Tries:  Fickou, Vakatawa, Picamoles, Dulin
Cons:  Lopez 4
Pens:  Lopez 4

Italy:  15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carla Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Abraham Steyn, 5 Dries van Schalkwyk, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti
Replacements:  16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 George Biagi, 20 Maxime Mbanda, 21 Giorgio Bronzini, 22 Tommaso Benvenuti, 23 Luca Sperandio

France:  15 Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Rémi Lamerat, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Kévin Gourdon, 6 Fabien Sanconnie, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Guilhem Guirado (c), 1 Cyril Baille
Replacements:  16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Eddy Ben Arous, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Bernard Le Roux, 21 Antoine Dupont, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Yoann Huget

Referee:  Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  Nigel Owens (Wales), JP Doyle (England)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)

North double lifts Wales past Ireland

George North answered his critics with a brace of tries as Wales held off Ireland in a stellar Test match in Cardiff, winning 22-9.

North's try and a Leigh Halfpenny penalty handed Wales an 8-6 half-time advantage, after three-pointers in response from Johnny Sexton and Paddy Jackson.

North then grabbed a second score after good work upfront from the Welsh maul, Sexton keeping Ireland in the game with a penalty at 15-9.

That six-point gap made for a remarkable final quarter as Ireland threw everything at Wales only to come up short, as a late try from Jamie Roberts put the seal on the win.

Friday's result means that England can now win the Six Nations title a round early if they defeat Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales head coach Rob Howley's decision to stick with the exact same starting XV felt less like a vote a confidence and more of a last chance warning, following that abject second half at Murrayfield.

And if reputations and places in the Test side were truly on the line, then those Wales starters will head into next week's training with a spring in their step.  On a skills basis it was never perfect.  But for heart and physicality, Wales could not have given anything more.

The stage to perform equally could not have been better, under Cardiff's closed roof and backed by a deafening crowd even by the high standards of the Principality Stadium.

It was Ireland who struck first, Sexton knocking over three points to make him the second Irishman to reach the 300-point Six Nations milestone after Ronan O'Gara.

Twice Ireland sprung out of the defensive early to make interceptions but the size of the early tackles, most of all an outstanding effort by Sean O'Brien, rightly drew approving roars from the crowd.  Both the consistency and quality of those huge hits rarely seemed to let up.

CJ Stander's tackle bust and sprint up the touchline was a rare instance of defensive line speed letting Wales down, even if the hosts escaped.

As so often in this Championship however Rhys Webb provided the spark, coincidentally minutes after Sexton left the field for a Head Injury Assessment.

Setting up as if to deploy a maul, Webb upped the tempo through a quick one-two with Scott Williams, before sending a perfect pass wide to Leigh Halfpenny who sent in North from ten metres out.

Created superbly by Webb, North simply had too much power and speed having charged up onto the ball, celebrating with relish after criticism over his recent performances.

Ireland soon led again, pressure on Wales resulting in a penalty for not releasing and the unwavering Paddy Jackson making it 6-5 before Sexton returned.

From one half-back injury to another Ireland were left sweating over the condition of Conor Murray's left bicep, as the hot favourite to start for the Lions was treated on multiple occasions after a collision at the ruck which seemed to affect the usual zip on his pass.

And as for so much of the first half the final minutes centred around Wales pressing around the fringes of Ireland's defence for an opening deep in the visitors' territory.

Awarded a penalty advantage Biggar's cross-field kick found Liam Williams, left in space by Keith Earls, and as Wales surged to the line Sexton failed to roll away, receiving a yellow card as a result.

Halfpenny knocked over the resulting penalty to make it 8-6, handing the hosts a slender half-time advantage.

Somewhat surprisingly Murray returned for the second half, but it was his foot falling into touch chasing back to cover a kick which left Wales in a golden position to attack five metres from the Irish line.

They duly struck, sucking in Irish bodies through the rolling maul before North was fed down the blindside to score his second try.  Halfpenny converted from the touchline, giving Wales a 15-6 lead.

Momentum, the fickle beast, felt completely with Wales and Ireland produced a fine response, surviving a period of defensive pressure before unleashing a multi-phase barrage on a tiring Wales.  After two penalties Ireland settled for a shot at the posts, cutting the gap to six.

Biggar clattered the post with a drop goal attempt not long after, eager to restore Wales' two-score lead, and the tension that resulted from that six-point gap was palpable, memories of the late defeat to England from last month still lingering.

Ireland underthrew at the lineout, Halfpenny uncharactersitcally knocked on under the ball, and when Biggar was charged down deep in his own dead-ball area it felt as though Wales were about to crack.

Robbie Henshaw's immaculate grubber kick duly forced Halfpenny into touch and from the ensuing lineout Ireland looked set to finally break Wales down, only to concede a penalty as their maul trundled towards the try line, Robbie Henshaw the guilty party for obstruction.  Irish chances repeatedly wasted.

And after Ireland had failed to find a way through from a five-metre scrum it was Wales who landed the knockout punch, Roberts the scorer after Taulupe Faletau charged down Sexton's kick.

Exhaustion, clear on both sides, summed up an excellent Test match played at peak physicality.  Yet there could only be one winner.  Welsh pride restored.

The scorers:

For Wales:
Tries:  North 2, Roberts
Cons:  Halfpenny 2
Pen:  Halfpenny

For Ireland:
Pens:  Sexton 2, Jackson
Yellow Card:  Sexton

Wales:  15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements:  16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts

Ireland:  15 Rob Kearney, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O’Brien, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Jack McGrath
Replacements:  16 Niall Scannell, 17 Cian Healy, 18 John Ryan, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Tommy Bowe

Referee:  Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees:  Jérôme Garcès (France), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO:  Ben Skeen (New Zealand)