Ireland kicked off their Six Nations title charge with an impressive bonus-point victory over Wales as they ran out 34-10 winners in Cardiff.
Tries from Caelan Doris, James Ryan, James Lowe and Josh van der Flier saw the Irish home, with Johnny Sexton and Ross Byrne adding extra points.
For Wales they endured a nightmare first half as they went in 27-3 adrift but, to their credit, Warren Gatland’s team did improve after the turnaround.
Their try came from Liam Williams while Dan Biggar slotted a conversion and penalty, with the Welsh discipline and wastefulness a worry for Gatland.
Ireland though will be thrilled to get their Six Nations campaign off to such a positive start, with France in Dublin their next assignment in Round Two.
It was another defeat after a miserable 12 months that featured humiliating home losses to Italy and Georgia under Gatland’s predecessor Wayne Pivac, while off the field the Welsh Rugby Union has been rocked to its core by sexism and discrimination allegations in the organisation.
And Ireland were in no mood to allow Wales a reprieve, dominating every critical area, most notably the battle up-front.
Scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park was ruled out with a hamstring injury as Ireland were forced into making a late change with Conor Murray replacing him, while Munster’s Craig Casey provided bench cover.
Wales had been forced into changing their line-up on Thursday, with Williams coming in for full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who suffered a back spasm during training.
Ireland needed just two minutes to deliver a reminder of their quality, scoring from an opening attack that was all about patient build-up play.
They went through the phases close to Wales’ line, before Doris powered over and Sexton’s conversion gave Ireland a dream start.
Ireland’s high-tempo game had Wales in all sorts of trouble, and they moved 14 points clear with only nine minutes gone.
Wales could not deal with Ireland’s impressive ball-carriers, and after sufficient dents had been made in the home defence, Ryan claimed their second try, with Sexton again converting.
Wales needed something to stir them, and wing Rio Dyer almost provided it when he broke clear following an Irish midfield mistake, but full-back Hugo Keenan beat him to the ball behind Ireland’s line.
Biggar opened Wales’ account through a 15th-minute penalty, but Sexton quickly cancelled that out with a penalty from in front of the posts, closing a dominant first quarter from his team.
But the visitors had no intention of slowing down, and Wales were unlocked again when Biggar’s intended pass to Williams found Lowe instead, and he sprinted clear to touch down, before Sexton again converted.
Ireland were in cruise control, leading 24-3 with almost an hour of the game remaining, and Wales already appeared in damage-limitation mode.
Another Sexton penalty made it 27-3 at the interval, and even when Wales flanker Jac Morgan found a way over Ireland’s line, prop Andrew Porter got underneath him to prevent a try.
🏴☘️ A bonus-point victory for Ireland! #GuinnessSixNations #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/ZlEDFNPoFc
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) February 4, 2023
Wales began the second period with far greater intent, and Williams’ 45th-minute try ― converted by Biggar ― at least gave the home supporters something to shout about.
It was a far better performance by Wales, with Dyer a consistent threat to the Irish defence, yet the lineout remained Wales’ problem area in contrast to Ireland’s exemplary set-piece efforts.
Full-back Williams was then sin-binned for a shoulder-led challenge on Sexton, and Ireland moved past 30 points through Van der Flier’s score that underlined Wales’ shortcomings as they fell to an opening defeat.
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