How Ireland rated: Outstanding start for Mack Hansen in the 'Lowe role'
Ireland's Mack Hansen with Louis Rees-Zammit of Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
The Six Nations is a special time of year. Coming into this spring, Ireland were on a high. Could the build-up have gone any better? Three wins in November will give anyone a bounce. One over what had become a bogey side in Japan, one over an old enemy in Argentina and one over what has been the traditional benchmark in recent years - the All Blacks - sets Ireland up about as good as it could possibly be.
Wales, with a rake of experience out through injury and a mixed November, didn't really come in with the sheen or swagger of incumbent champions. The weird flow of time in the pandemic means that early 2021 feels like two seasons ago at this stage but, make no mistake, Wales were champions for a reason last year and despite their issues, nobody in the Irish camp would be dismissing the threat Pivac's men would pose, circumstances be damned.
The game was both a vindication and a rebuke of that caution. Ireland started incredibly well, scored early and looked like they had the power and structure to just power through Wales. The scores looked like they'd come easy as the rain fell but... it just didn't happen. As clueless and lightweight as Wales looked in the first 40 minutes, Ireland just couldn't pull the trigger. Sexton missed penalties, Ireland's attack struggled in the rain and Wales, despite not really showing anything, somehow managed to get in at halftime with just a 10 point deficit. Wales - they just don't go away.
But, then, in the second half - they did.
Wales just imploded. You can't lose the amount of guys they lost and then fail to impact Ireland's breakdown and expect to win against this Irish side. It might have been possible to keep in range of Ireland had their discipline not been so poor.
Their indiscipline was brutal all game as they fell foul of Jaco Peyper's whistle repeatedly. Wales can have some complaints over some of those decisions but nobody can complain in good faith about the yellow card that saw Adams taking a 10 minute break in the sinbin. Ireland took full control from there and ran out easy winners. Wales were difficult to put away, scrappy and physical but their discipline, lineout and collision winning ability in attack was so poor there was nowhere for them to go against a bruisingly effective and dynamic Ireland side.
Very solid, even in difficult conditions. 7/10
A good showing for the Munster man. His work under the high ball on a day built to be difficult in that facet of the game was impressive. His finish for this try right after halftime was elite level stuff. He wasn't done there, either. 9/10
Pretty good stuff. Ringrose struggled to impact the game offensively until the cusp of the fourth quarter where he ghosted past some tepid Welsh defence to finish off a superb Irish counter-attack. 7/10
Great try to start the game off and some solid collision work. 8/10
A very nice start to his international career with some good breaks, good looped running off his wing and just constant high quality in that "Lowe Role" which is almost like another midfielder. Outstanding. 9/10
His kicking was a bit ropey, by his standards, but the quality of his involvements was top drawer. His conversion of Conway's try after halftime was something special. 8/10
A very mixed game by Gibson-Park. Some of his pass accuracy wasn't what it needed to be at key moments but he finished his time on the field strongly. 6/10
There were a few wobbles in the scrum, but nothing that the officials punished too harshly. Unendingly physical. 8/10
Not the fireworks that we've become accustomed to, but a decent outing all the same. 7/10
The Best In The World just doing Best In The World things during his time on the field. Solid in the scrum, impactful in the collisions... exactly what you'd expect. 8/10
Another high quality off-ball performance from Beirne, who keeps producing the good at test level like he's always been playing at that level. Choke tackles, lineout steals - quality. A late mistake that lead to a Welsh try blotted his copybook slightly. 8/10
A decent outing, if a little behind the action at times. 7/10
A very complete performance from a very complete player. 8/10
Another very solid performance from Van Der Flier, who just doesn't make mistakes. 7/10
A good breakdown turnover but a quiet enough performance on the whole. 6/10 Replacements: Exactly the type of zip and power you'd want, even as Wales challenge fell away dramatically as the game ticked to a close. 8/10
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