Rugby: Smiling Irish dismiss title talk

Wales 6 Ireland 36

Ireland will be crowned Lloyds TSB Six Nations champions if they beat England by the fanciful margin of 61 points or more at Lansdowne Road next Saturday.

Such pie-in-the-sky nonsense has already been dismissed as pure fiction by an Irish side that coasted to a record win over woeful Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

‘‘No,’’ replied try-scoring centre Brian O’Driscoll, when asked if Ireland would threaten to register an astounding landslide success.

But at least O’Driscoll and company will make a game of it though, which seemed unlikely just three weeks ago when Scotland ran them ragged and sent Wales into Saturday’s clash as favourites to end an 18-year wait for victory over Ireland in Cardiff.

Late tries from O’Driscoll, Denis Hickie and Shane Horgan underlined the gulf in class. Had video referee Ed Murray not ruled out first-half ‘‘touchdowns’’ by Horgan and lock Mick Galwey, then Ireland could well have racked up a half-century.

Wales were appalling, leaving Graham Henry to reflect on possibly the worst performance by any team he has ever coached.

And while the New Zealander started searching for answers, Ireland celebrated a record-winning margin against Wales, most points scored since fixtures began between the countries in 1882 and a record-equalling contribution from fly-half David Humphreys.

Humphreys’ 19-point haul - five penalties and two conversions - saw him match his achievement when Ireland beat Wales at Wembley two years ago.

The Ulsterman’s all-round play totally justified an unexpected recall instead of Ronan O’Gara.

‘‘Cardiff has been kind to us over the years, but I never expected that we would win by 30 points,’’ said Ireland skipper Keith Wood.

‘‘Even though we took a long time to secure the victory, I felt good throughout the game. I was enjoying myself, and I only get that feeling when we are on top.

‘‘There were a lot of pleasing aspects for us, but there are still things we have to work on and we should have been out of sight at half-time.

‘‘It would have been good to go in at the break 20 points up, and it would have reflected the way we had dominated the game, but we kept going and got our reward in the end,’’ he added.

‘‘I am going to enjoy the moment, and on Monday I will start thinking about England, which is another game and another day.’’

Ireland coach Warren Gatland revealed that his players felt in control at half-time, even though their overwhelming territorial supremacy produced only a 15-3 lead.

‘‘The players felt that the pressure was getting to the Welsh, and that they were struggling with the pace and intensity of the match,’’ Gatland said.

‘‘I knew that if we kept our heads, then we would get the result, and that is how it turned out. By the end, we were fully on top in every department - the players’ effort and commitment proved outstanding.’’

Ireland’s rampant back-row of Eric Miller, David Wallace and Anthony Foley kept Wales on the back foot throughout a hopelessly one-sided encounter, and with the forwards in charge, Humphreys was able to dictate.

‘‘We just had to stay patient and stick at it,’’ Humphreys said. ‘‘We put a lot of things right after the Scotland game, and we are delighted with the win.’’

Wales did not help themselves, missing an alarming 27 tackles and making 17 handling errors. Without injured Lions Scott Quinnell, Mark Taylor, Neil Jenkins and Martyn Williams, they resembled a shambolic outfit.

Disgruntled supporters shuffled out of the stadium long before full-time, confidence in their team having dipped to a new low since Henry took charge more than three years ago.

Only full-back Kevin Morgan made what could be termed a notable contribution, threatening the Irish defence through his pace and considerable footballing skills, but so many key personnel failed to deliver.

Number eight Geraint Lewis endured a nightmare afternoon, spilling possession time and again, while veteran centre Allan Bateman was defensively suspect, flanker Colin Charvis proved anonymous and captain David Young had a 50th cap to forget.

The collective result was dire, sending Henry back to the drawing board ahead of appointments with Argentina, Tonga and world champions Australia next month.

‘‘I wish I knew what was wrong - we did not have one peak in our game, and there was no sharpness or pace,’’ Henry conceded.

‘‘I know that there will be pressure on me after the performance, and I take full responsibility for what happened. We are all in the same boat, but the person who carries the can is me.

‘‘We need to show resolve and character now. It is about getting together as a group, and while we do have players who will be returning from injury in the coming weeks, I thought we had enough to beat Ireland.

‘‘But the Irish played superbly - they got their tactics right and put us under constant pressure. We made basic errors and Ireland punished us.

‘‘They will fancy their chances against England next Saturday, having pulled themselves up following the Scotland defeat, and on their day, they are a match for anyone.’’

A first Grand Slam since 1995 is the prize that awaits England in Dublin, a clean sweep denied them at the final hurdle by Wales and then Scotland during the past two years.