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.

“They should never have been getting out of their 22 on that kick-off, and we should have been squeezing the life out of them.

“First games in the Six Nations are rarely classics, we probably let Wales out with a get-out-of-jail free card there.’’ D’Arcy pointed out that with the exception of Jonathan Davies’ try in the first half, Ireland’s defence had done well.

“In the first half maybe they flattered to deceive a little, they pushed the ball wide, but once we gave away that try we got our defence almost spot-on.

“Once we got the width right in our defence they were running up and we were putting the pressure on them.

“But we needed to be doing that for the rest of the match.”

Was fatigue the reason Ireland weren’t able to keep that pressure going as the game wore on? “We’ll have to look at the video, but I’m sure there’s some reason for it.”

Asked what aspects of their game Ireland need to work on this week, D’Arcy was specific: “Ruck time — we needed to be a little more accurate. We working on a few tweaks, there might have been a little bit of rustiness, but rugby comes down to the breakdown and we need to be a little more accurate there. Everything flows from there.”

The great Six Nations cliche holds that momentum is all-important when it comes to the start of the tournament, so what does Sunday’s defeat mean for Ireland?

“The Grand Slam is gone, the Triple Crown is gone, so what are we playing for now? We’re paying for pride in our jersey, for our supporters — who were phenomenal. Walking out on that pitch, seeing all those green flags waving, the atmosphere... it made me proud to be Irish.

“So we’re playing to restore a bit of pride in the jersey, in the crest, and for our supporters. We’re playing for the championship now — maybe we’ll come in under the radar now and get a win in Paris. Four more games, maybe we’ll be the ones jumping up and down, but first things first.”