‘Great sides handle adversity’

Wales 24 Ireland 25

It was Gleeson's try from an exquisitely delivered pass by Geordan Murphy after 39 minutes that enabled Ireland to go in at half time leading by 14-7. And play had hardly resumed when he was capitalising on a bad Welsh error to stretch the advantage by another five points.

However, from 19-7 ahead, Ireland played their poorest rugby, failing to capitalise on a great chance to put the game out of Wales's reach at an attacking lineout on the home line and

instead conceded seven at the other end almost immediately.

So, 19-14 then became 22-24 as Wales struck for a third try and man of the match Stephen Jones dropped the goal. Ireland were left reeling on the ropes until O'Gara came to the rescue with his now famous dropped goal.

"Geordan gave me a great pass for the first try and I just happened to be in the right spot," said Gleeson. It can't be all luck, however, and Gleeson was again the executioner after Matthew Watkins had his attempted clearance charged down, Rhys Williams fumbled in trying to clean up and Peter Stringer fed Alan Quinlan in the outhalf channel and he and David Humphreys sent Gleeson over comfortably inside the right-hand corner flag. Even if he missed one or two crucial tackles, the tries made for a great day the number seven.

Gleeson left his native Dublin when he was seven years of age and didn't decide to return to his native heath from Australia until he realised a few years ago he didn't figure in their

international plans. But he hasn't dismissed a reversal of the roles some time in the future. "I keep in touch. I'd like to keep a profile in Australia for life after rugby, whether I end up there or not there, I'm not sure. Warm weather could make it happen."

Gleeson acknowledged that he and his teammates were physically shattered when Stephen Jones dropped the goal that put Wales in front with time almost up.

"The first reaction was obviously that we had just lost the game but very quickly some of the senior players, the likes of Kevin Maggs, Brian O'Driscoll, pulled our heads together and told us, look, let's keep our composure, let's get down there, if we can get down there, we can probably score," he related.

"Great sides come back from this, there are always five minutes of injury time to be played and that's what we counted on. I cramped up towards the end, the first time this has ever happened to me, and this is probably most the tired I've ever been.

"It was their plan to move the ball, and they did that well. At the end, you saw some good Irish bodies strewn on the ground. Most guys were prepared for it physically. We had a week off

before and after the French game and the bodies were ready for it. It's next weekend that will be the test."

Malcolm O'Kelly led Ireland on to the pitch at the start of his 50th international and clearly it's one he won't forget for many reasons not least the dramatic finish.

"It was a real roller coaster game," said O'Kelly. "It was up in the air right to the end. We hung in there. There were times when we were shaky and the last 10 minutes were a free for all.

"All our plans went out the window. I was gutted to see their dropped goal going over but we knew we had time to pull it out of the bag."

It was then, of course, that O'Kelly earned his keep. He explained: "I got hold of the restart, got a tap on it, reclaimed it, secured it, and Rog knocked it over. That was some sight to see, but we are emotionally and physically destroyed."

Scorers for Ireland: K Gleeson 2 tries; D Humphreys 4 pens, R O'Gara dropped goal.

Wales: S Jones try, 3 cons, 1 dropped goal; M Williams, G Thomas try each.

IRELAND: G Murphy; J Bishop, B O'Driscoll capt, K Maggs, D Hickie; D Humphreys, P Stringer;

M Horan, S Byrne, J Hayes, L Cullen, M O'Kelly, A Quinlan, K Gleeson, A Foley. Subs: R O'Gara for Humphreys, 70 mins; D O'Callaghan for Cullen, 71; J Fitzpatrick for Horan, 75; E Miller for Quinlan, 76.

WALES:R Williams; M Jones, M Taylor, T Shanklin, G Thomas; S Jones, G Cooper; I Thomas, J Humphreys, capt, G Jenkins, R Sidoli, G Llewellyn, C Charvis, M Williams, D Jones. Subs: M Watkins for G Thomas, injured, 11 mins; M Davies for Humpreys, 42; D Peel for Cooper, 51; M Madden for Jenkins, 75.

Referee: Steve Lander (England).