Ireland 27 - 12 Wales: Ireland's drive towards Triple Crown turns up heat on Scots

Published on Sunday 14 March 2010 23:30

VISITS to Dublin tend to be tough enough in normal times for Scotland. A visit to Dublin when the Triple Crown is on the line will be more demanding still.

Ireland will win their seventh crown in the past five years if they defeat Scotland on Saturday, and after this comfortable victory against Wales they will be hot favourites to do so. Although defeat by France on the second weekend of this year's RBS Six Nations Championship put paid to their hopes of back-to-back Grand Slams, the Irish have recovered well, and view the Triple Crown as a by no means negligible second prize.

The Scotland match will be their last at Croke Park before they return to Lansdowne Road, and they have realistically high hopes of signing off on a winning note.

"If we beat Scotland to win the Triple Crown, on top of winning the Grand Slam last year it would be great and a big honour for me," said man of the match Tomas O'Leary, who scored the first of his team's three tries against Wales. "Our defeat to France was disappointing and that result means it would be hard to win the championship, but the Triple Crown is still there. We always want to finish with some silverware, but Scotland will be a massive test for us."

O'Leary also helped craft two tries for Munster colleague Keith Earls in what was the best attacking performance from an Irish scrum-half in recent memory, produced on his 15th cap and amid pressure to keep his place in the team. The 26-year-old endured a slow start to the Six Nations, resulting in calls for him to be dropped, but has since impressed against England and Wales.

He said: "I enjoy it when things open up, any half-back does. We all look for breaks. It's great when I see a gap and it works out. It's nice to pick up man of the match. I enjoyed the game and love getting my hands on the ball. Thankfully, things went well for me. It's always good to be involved in any tries. From a running point of view this was definitely my best performance for Ireland."

O'Leary's size has seen him referred to as a fourth back-row forward, but on Saturday he underlined the artistry in his game. His contribution was key as ruthless Ireland romped to an easy victory without extending themselves against Jekyll and Hyde opposition.

"In the second half we were under serious pressure in terms of defending but we stood up. It was a very good first-half performance," said O'Leary. "In the second half we didn't play as much rugby and kicked a bit aimlessly to put ourselves under pressure. It was pleasing to prevent Wales from scoring when you see the firepower they have out wide."

Meanwhile, Wales coach Warren Gatland faces a selection balancing act when he contemplates his team to face fellow strugglers Italy. Gatland's hand could be strengthened by the probable availability of British and Irish Lions trio Mike Phillips, Gethin Jenkins and Ryan Jones after injuries, but he must also decide whether or not to go for youth, with Ospreys fly-half Dan Biggar and Cardiff Blues flanker Sam Warburton in the squad and thirsting for action. When Wales faced Italy last season, Gatland made nine changes from the side edged out by France a fortnight earlier – and his team delivered a stuttering 20-15 success.

"Italy is a massive game and we have to finish the tournament on a high," said Wales lock Luke Charteris. "It is going to be a tough week for us, but we have to prove we are a better side next weekend than we showed against Ireland."

Adam Jones believes it is time Wales "grew up a bit" after their naivety was exposed at Croke Park.

The match statistics showed Wales dominated territory and possession.

But it was a witless Welsh performance – underlined by full-back Lee Byrne's reckless indiscipline that should see him punished by being dropped for the Azzurri's visit.

Ireland scored two tries in his ten-minute absence, and it did not get much better when Byrne went back on, the Ospreys player conceding a penalty that Jonathan Sexton goaled after he threw the ball away.

"Our discipline is not good, and perhaps it is time we became more mature and grew up a bit," said prop Jones. "We shipped ten points during the yellow card, the lineout went to pot in the first half and Ireland were very good at the breakdown. That series of scrums early in the second half was the turning point of the game. We had a lot of pressure, but we let them off the hook and they scored soon after they cleared their lines."

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: Earls 2, O'Leary. Pens: Sexton 3. Drop Goals: Sexton.

Wales: Pens: S. Jones 4.

Ireland: G. Murphy; Bowe, B. O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Earls, Sexton, O'Leary, Healy, R. Best, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Ferris, D. Wallace, Heaslip. Replacements: Kearney for D'Arcy (23), O'Gara for Earls (77), Reddan for O'Leary (78), Cronin for R. Best (79), Buckley for Hayes (73), Cullen for O'Connell (79), Jennings for Ferris (78).

Wales: Byrne; Halfpenny, Hook, J. Roberts, S. Williams, S. Jones, R. Rees, P. James, M. Rees, A. Jones, B. Davies, Charteris, Thomas, M. Williams, Delve. Replacements: Bishop for Byrne (63), Peel for R. Rees (61), Gill for P. James (77), Bennett for M. Rees (56), Gough for B. Davies (58), Warburton for M. Williams (66). Not used: Shanklin. Sin bin: S. Williams (24).

Att: 81,340. Ref: C Joubert (South Africa).