First off, this was an excellent advert for Rugby and the Six Nations; it was a test match that had everything – skill, power, and plenty of spills and thrills. The match went from team to another, and it wasn’t until the very last minute that the game was decided.

Johnny Sexton kicked the first points of the game, a penalty in the third minute, but despite their positive start the Welsh came back straight away, and Ryan Jones ploughed over, only for the TMO to disallow the try, but Wales were certainly right in the game. New Prop Rhys Gill gave away a penalty soon after, but Wales had the lion’s share of possession and that dominance told when Rhys Priestland broke through taking defenders with him, and he flicked the ball to Jonathan Davies, who crashed over in the corner. Priestland missed his first kick of the afternoon, keeping the scores at 5-3. The outside-half had a chance to make amends only minutes later, when he had an easy kick bang in front of the posts – he missed. I don’t want to say “I told you so”, but I have said in previous articles that Priestland simply can’t take the pressure when goal-kicking in big games, and I have been proved right on that front. The Welsh piled on the pressure, but nothing came of it. Sexton missed a shot at goal, and any dominance Wales had was soon destroyed in the 37^th minute when hooker Rory Best trundled through open air and non-existent defence to touch down for the Irish. Sexton duly slotted the extras, and went into half-time 10-5 ahead, and amazing score line for all the dominance the visitors had.

The halftime interval brought bad news for Wales,  Captain Sam Warburton and wing Alex Cuthbert were both injured, and were replaced by Justin Tipuric and James Hook. Losing your Captain and openside flanker is a huge blow to any team, especially when they are one of the very best in the world.

The second-half started off as badly as the first had ended, with Rhys Gill giving away a penalty for Sexton to convert. Again Priestland hideously missed a kick, leaving Wales in a rut. Despite the set-backs, Wales were determined to attack and move upfield, and for the next penalty the kicking duties were handed to Leigh Halfpenny, who made no mistake in kicking the points. Then, after a Tommy Bowe mistake, the ball went into touch for a Welsh lineout. Tipuric took the ball at the back, and the ball was fed to George North, who bumped off Matthew McFadden and then delivered a magical offload to Jonathan Davies who proceeded to score. North’s skill set was on full show, both power and skill in equal measure from the big man. With the try converted, the score was 13-15, but Ireland retook the lead with another Sexton penalty.

What came next has to rank among the dullest things ever to occur on a Rugby field. Bradley Davies dropped Irish second-row Donncha Ryan on his neck, but luckily only got a yellow card. The ball had long gone, although Ryan did perform a cheap shot on Adam Jones, but in these circumstances you shouldn’t rise to the bait. The extra man soon told, and Bowe scored in the corner after a delightful Sexton dummy drop goal and long pass. Fortunately for Wales, he missed the conversion, but the Welsh had it all to do in the last 11 minutes. The next opportunity fell to Ireland however, but it was more of a time wasting effort, as Sexton missed from inside his own half.  Wales showed their class and made a comeback, with George North barging through Irish defenders to score right in the corner, after some simple passing from his backline partners. Halfpenny couldn’t convert, but we were now sure as anything in for a heart-stopping ending.

Wales had to launch their final attack from within their own half, and did so, making the hard yards upfield, until Wales secured that all important penalty when Stephen Ferris was adjudged to have illegally tip tackled Ian Evans – the Ulster man also taking a yellow card for his troubles. Little Leigh had a huge pressure kick to take, but he stood up and kicked it, 23-21 to Wales. That’s how the game ended, with Welsh elation and Irish dismay.

I don’t think anybody can say that Wales didn’t deserve to win, with all those injuries before and during the match (along with the missed kicks and yellow card), for them to come back and win is testament to the players and management. Many, including myself, expected Wales to lose, and this result now makes them the team to beat in the championship. Maybe now we can utter those two words, Grand Slam...

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