Ireland survive almighty scare against Wales to keep Six Nations Grand Slam hopes alive
HARD FOUGHT: Ireland's Jamie Osborne celebrates scoring a try. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady.
Ireland survived an almighty scare at the Principality Stadium on Saturday to hold off a defiant Welsh challenge and keep alive their hopes of a Guinness Six Nations third title in a row.
The back-to-back champions clinched a Triple Crown with this third win of the 2025 championship and remain on course for a second Grand Slam in three years but they had to survive a fierce examination from a Wales side that won back the hearts of their home supporters with a spirited display that belied their dismal run of what is now 12 straight Test defeats.
Jack Conan and Jamie Osborne, two of seven changes made by interim head coach Simon Easterby from the side which had dominated Scotland at Murrayfield two weekends earlier, scored tries while the goal-kicking of fly-half Sam Prendergast secured victory with the last three of his five penalties proving the difference as Ireland broke an 18-18-tie in the final quarter having rallied from a 13-10 half-time deficit and the sending off Garry Ringrose on a 20-minute red card.
With a Triple Crown in the bag, Ireland now face France at home in Dublin on March 8 and will need a return to form to keep their history-making hopes alive.
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Ireland were expecting a re-energised and rejigged Wales side following a change at the top with Warren Gatland replaced by Matt Sherratt after 11 straight Test defeats as the Welshmen returned to Cardiff after back-to-back championship defeats in France and Italy.
They were also braced for a frenetic start, so when Jack Conan crossed the Wales tryline after just seven minutes and Sam Prendergast converted and then added a penalty 13 minutes later, the champions looked to have weathered the storm.
Yet Wales, enjoying scrum dominance to the delight of their supporters with four first-half penalties at the set-piece, kept their composure and steadily fought their way back.
Fly-half Gareth Anscombe, recalled to the squad by interim boss Sherratt following his omission by Gatland from the first two games, kicked a 23rd penalty to get the home side up and running and then was gifted another opportunity from the tee when Ringrose’s high head contact on inside centre Ben Thomas saw the Ireland centre yellow carded on 34 minutes.
Anscombe’s penalty made it 10-6 as Ringrose’s offence was reviewed for a possible upgrade to a red card and Wales closed the first half on a high as the piled pressure on the Irish rearguard.
Wales went to the corner from successive penalties and finally made their breakthrough in added time as captain Jac Morgan burrowed over next to the posts after his side had besieged the Irish line. Anscombe’s conversion sent Wales in at the interval with a 13-10 lead and the majority of the sell-out crowd with plenty of belief their winning run was about to end.
That belief was reinforced with the half-time decision that Ringrose’s yellow card had been upgraded to a 20-minute red, Ireland reduced to 14 men for an extra 10 minutes and forced to used a replacement for the banished Ringrose.
Worse was to come for the under-manned Ireland as the home side stretched their lead at the start of the second half, Wales capitalising on a pass that Sam Prendergast could only knock-on, wing Tom Rogers eventually scoring in the right corner. Anscombe missed the conversion from wide right but the Principality Stadium was delirious with their side 18-10 ahead.
Ireland survived further punishment and closed the gap to 18-13 with a Prendergast penalty before Bundee Aki was introduced at the end of the 20-minute red card to restore the visitors to their full complement.
It gave Ireland the boost they badly needed, with a spell of possession that would bring their second try of the afternoon.
Prendergast’s second 50-22 of the game was almost nonchalantly dispatched to the right wing and from there Ireland struck gold, Jamison Gibson-Park sending a chip to the left corner where James Lowe rose to bat the ball inside to Jamie Osborne, the full-back standing in for the rested Hugo Keenan perfectly placed to collect and score the game-levelling try.
It stayed 18-18 after Prendergast missed with his conversion from wide on the left but Ireland were right back in it as the final quarter approached.
Finally, Ireland regained their attacking flow, and came close to adding a third try on 66 minutes when Mack Hansen was held up over the line by full-back Blair Murray. Yet three points did accrue, from a penalty advantage, as Prendergast pushed his side back into the lead at 21-18 with the subsequent kick.
He was given another opportunity three minutes later when Aki earned his side another penalty with an excellent jackal at a ruck, his blood-spattered face emerging from contact with a huge roar before Prendergast nailed his long-range kick from just inside the Wales half for a 24-18 lead.
Ireland were not out of the woods and were rescued on 72 minutes by a lengthy TMO decision to deny Wales wing Ellis Mee, the debutant adjudged to have grounded short of the tryline and knocked on.
It did not remove the tension, at least not until another crucial penalty turnover at a ruck with three minutes to go, Prendergast holding his nerve amid the din to kick Ireland into nine-point lead with time running out on the brave Welsh challenge.
B Murray; T Rogers (J Roberts, 63), M Llewellyn, B Thomas, E Mee; G Anscombe (J Evans, 53), Tomos Williams; N Smith (G Thomas, 18-30 - HIA), E Dee (E Lloyd, 74), WG John (H Thomas, 53); W Rowlands (Teddy Williams, 71), D Jenkins; J Morgan – captain, T Reffell (A Wainwright, 56), T Faletau.
R Williams.
J Osborne; M Hansen (J Crowley, 73), G Ringrose (B Aki, 20-min RC replacement, 51), R Henshaw, J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park (C Murray, 78); A Porter (J Boyle, 70), D Sheehan – captain (G McCarthy, 75), T Clarkson (F Bealham, 49); J McCarthy (J Ryan, ht-49 – HIA & 65), T Beirne; P O’Mahony, J van der Flier, J Conan (R Baird, 44).
20-Minute: Ringrose 34 mins (upgraded from yellow under review).
Christophe Ridley (England)
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