Ireland put their Grand Slam dreams back on track with a 31-7 victory over tenacious Wales in a Six Nations match at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Tries from Dan Sheehan, James Rowe, Ciaran Frawley and Tajig Beirne took Andy Farrell to five points, earning him a bonus point with his third try of the tournament.
Wales suffered their third defeat of the season after narrow defeats to Scotland and England in the previous games, and were given a penalty try to show for their efforts.
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Ireland's ominous march towards another clean sweep continues next month against England and Scotland, while winless Wales host France on matchday four and a potential wooden spoon shootout with Italy. be.
The largely inexperienced Welsh side crossed the Irish Sea as overwhelming underdogs, despite narrow defeats to Scotland and Steve Borthwick's side.
Visiting head coach Warren Gatland insisted he had traveled with faith rather than hope and urged his players to make “everything uncomfortable” for the enthusiastic hosts.
Wales' attempt at disruption began with some huge defending, as the home side's early advantage was initially only rewarded by a Jack Crowley penalty from long range.
Still, Ireland's well-oiled machine continued to make attack after attack, breaking through stubborn resistance and dominating the scoreboard.
In the 21st minute, Hooker Sheehan powered over at the end of a lineout maul to score his fourth try of the tournament, before Calvin Nash teed up Lowe for a touchdown into the left corner.
Wales were finally able to move into the top 22 of Ireland just before the break.
But Sam Costelow's decision to take a penalty for a corner did not pay off and the third game went into half-time scoreless, with the Reds trailing 17-0 after several costly fumbles.
Any potential fears that Wales would join a helpless Italy in Dublin were snuffed out within three minutes of the restart as Tomos Williams' quick tap penalty shifted the momentum.
Italian referee Andrea Piardi awarded a penalty try after a lengthy review of a maul that collapsed in Ireland's half, and Beirne was sent to the penalty box for illegally changing the bind.
A spirited Wales were truly in the ascendancy at this stage, but Bale's absence meant they were unable to get further on the scoreboard until Ireland regained order.
Frawley, who had replaced the injured Hugo Keenan after Bundy's Aki was denied a try-in review by Robbie Henshaw's knock-on in the bulldozer, celebrated his first Test start in style by diving jubilantly under the posts. Ta.
Wales came close to scoring an elimination goal in the dying minutes of the game, but during that time Irish substitute James Ryan was sent to the sin bin.
However, Beirne's late finish compounded the misery and they ended up slipping to a 10th defeat in their last 11 Six Nations games as they looked for their first win in Dublin since 2012.
team
Ireland: 15 Ciaran Frawley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundy Aki, 11 James Rowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Sheeran Doris, 7 Josh Van Der Flier , 6 Peter O'Mahony (c), 5 Tajig Beirne, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Tajig Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacement: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Oli Jaeger, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Stuart McCloskey
Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Leffel, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Keiron Assilatti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacement: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domakowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Roland, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Yoan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referee: Carl Dixon (England), Gianluca Gnecki (Italy)
TMO: Eric Gauzan (France)
read more: 'There's nothing quite like it' – Nigel Owens on why the Six Nations is better than the Rugby Championship
