Following Ireland's 31-7 win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, here are five takeaways from the Six Nations clash.
home dominance
Ireland look unstoppable in the 2024 Six Nations, especially at the Aviva Stadium. The win against Wales was their 18th consecutive win in Dublin. That's great in itself, but it's worth noting that as of November 2022, only South Africa have come within seven points of Andy Farrell's side.
Home advantage is a hugely important thing in the sport, but the Irish crowd is particularly good when the team is on form, which only emphasizes how extremely well dressed they are. The team that featured Brian O'Driscoll was called the “Golden Generation,” but there is no doubt that this team is at an even higher level.
Irish physical and clinical
The hosts were relentless in the first half, although head coach Farrell was not completely satisfied with their play. Despite some good defending from Wales, Ireland still managed to score two tries and lead 17-0 at half-time. Their handling is very precise, their skill level is top notch, and their decision-making from both forwards and backs is exceptional.
As the Welshman found out, the Irish were very difficult to stop once they got going, and unsurprisingly they went 3-3 in this tournament. The second period was sluggish at times, but they managed to overcome it with their superb defense and high physicality, and pulled away from their opponent in the final stages.
No victory without scrum
Wales managed to avoid much damage in this area of Twickenham, at least until the second half, but in Dublin they were completely dominated by Ireland. Warren Gatland's side actually defended pretty well and forced the Irish to work hard to get forward with their phase play, but the set-pieces undone all that good work.
The front row of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong enjoyed the Welsh scrum, and the Irish loosehead had a particularly good game against Keiron Assilatti. As a result, the visitors were unable to get into the game early on as Farrell's side dominated possession and territory.
Once that was no longer a factor in the second half, it was no wonder Wales started creating more chances. There were still some mistakes and things were a bit loose, but it actually worked out to the away team's advantage as Ireland didn't go for the set-pieces which worked so well.
Peter O'Mahony has an innovative solution to Andrew Porter's “elbows down” problem in Scrum.
raise your elbows pic.twitter.com/zSV1kKkbCo
— Three Red Kings (@threeredkings) February 24, 2024
violation of discipline
One of the positive features of Wales' play in their opening two games was the team's overall ability to keep penalties to a minimum. He only committed 11 offenses in total against Scotland and England, but by the end of the 23rd minute of this encounter, that number had increased to 18.
That's right, they conceded seven goals early in their third-round matchup, which contributed to the huge halftime lead. However, they managed to rectify that in the second period and instead managed to turn the tables on Ireland. Perhaps due to a drop in intensity due to a comfortable buffer, the host team loosened up in the third quarter and started making some surprising mistakes.
However, the young Welsh team deserved the credit for their sustained pressure on their opponents and their success in conceding a penalty try to Tadhg Beirne. However, they were unable to build on it further and a big defensive set from Farrell's charge turned the tide and ultimately turned what could have been a tense final ten minutes into a comfortable victory.
TMO lessons
It was interesting to listen to the conversation between referee Andrea Piardi and the TV match officials as the visitors crossed the whitewash after the driving maul. Much of the talk centered on the referee after the second round, when Scotland were denied a try for essentially technical reasons. It appeared that Sam Skinner had scored a touchdown, but Brian McNeese was unable to give it a touchdown because referee Nick Berry's question required conclusive evidence that a score had been scored.
Fast forward two weeks and Wales charged towards the line from the maul and crossed it, but it was inconclusive as to whether they had scored or not. Logically it could have been withheld, and to be honest it would have been reasonable for Piardi to come to that conclusion, but the Italians erred on the side of caution.
He did not make an on-field decision, instead asking TMO Eric Gozan for a “try or no try” for an independent assessment. Ultimately, we want our referees to be decisive, but when we really don't know, it's important to properly use all the tools available to us to make the right decision. Obviously, the original decision was uncontroversial, given that Beirne had committed the offense and was given a yellow card and a penalty try as a result, but it suggests that lessons had been learned.
If the message from the leaders following that incident in Edinburgh is that they are taking the necessary steps to improve their game, even if it is not much consolation for the Scots at the moment. It's good to see that.
read more: Six Nations victory over Wales keeps Ireland's Grand Slam hopes alive
