D’Arcy: Wales should never have escaped from their own 22

Gordon D’Arcy acknowledged that he and his Ireland team-mates shouldn’t have left Wales get out of their own half as the clock ran down in the Aviva on Sunday, let alone win a match-winning penalty.

Leigh Halfpenny’s late, late strike broke Irish hearts as he pushed Wales two points ahead, 23-21, with less than 30 seconds left to play, but “it should never have come to that,” admitted the Ireland centre.

“They got a penalty on our 10 metre line in front of the posts on 79 minutes, but it should never have come to that,” said D’Arcy.