IT’S STRANGE TO see a Welsh crowd come to Dublin harbouring little hope of their team getting a result. The few Welsh supporters The 42 spoke to over the last few days weren’t giving their team much chance of causing an upset at Aviva Stadium today, and it was notable that they didn’t seem to travel in the usual strong numbers for this round three Six Nations clash.
As it transpired, their fears were well-founded. Ireland weren’t at their clinical, relentless best today but still had enough to notch up their third bonus-point win of the campaign, Tadhg Beirne’s late score ensuring a somewhat scrappy performance ended on a high note for the defending champions as they bagged a 31-7 win in Dublin.
Warren Gatland’s young Welsh side didn’t offer a huge amount with ball in hand, but deserve credit for how hard they made life for Ireland here. Their defensive effort at times was seriously impressive and their second-half display was much improved on a first-half in which Ireland utterly dominated the forward battle.
“I think the scoreline at the end probably didn’t reflect the effort we’d put in,” said Gatland.
“At 17-7, attacking their 22, we didn’t come away with anything. If we’d come away with something, maybe things might have been closer.
“We just didn’t get any foothold in the game in that first-half. I thought there were a couple of tough calls against us in that first-half, so it was difficult to get some momentum. To be honest, between the two 22s, it’s where they are as a team, winning more collisions and getting more go-forward.
“I can’t question the ability of the players and how hard they worked.”
Gatland is attempting a major squad refresh this year, with his starting team today containing a total of just 499 caps – 119 of which belonged to George North. When the two teams played in Cardiff last season, Wales’ total caps stood at 952.
“I think that we’ve said all along that it’s about the development of this team and learning. They’ve played against one of the best teams in the world. Eight or nine of their team are over 30 and have been around for a while. So it’s just making sure we keep working hard, doing what we’re doing and looking forward to the next game.”
Ireland are in a different place. After a devasting World Cup quarter-final exit Andy Farrell’s side have picked up where they left off, storming to impressive defeats of France and Italy before today’s 24-point success against Wales.
With games against England (away) and Scotland (home) to come, Farrell’s men are now another step closer to becoming the first side in the Six Nations era to win back-to-back Grand Slams.
“I think they’re definitely capable of doing it,” Gatland said.
They’ve got the experience and the composure. Players who can carry and get them on the front foot. I think they’ll be a hard team to knock over.”
Still, the Wales boss took encouragement from his own team’s performance in Dublin – particularly in how they managed to frustrate Ireland’s much-lauded attacking system for large portions of the game.
“We spoke at half-time and said that basically they didn’t trouble us in phase play. They really didn’t for that first-half.
“We’ve conceded off allowing them to get in our 22. One was off a driving lineout and the scrum was under a bit of pressure early on. That was something we worked really hard on all week, in terms of identifying when they were sweeping around with players, loosening off defensively. On the whole, we did a really good job of it.
“They’ve been clinical in the way they’ve caught teams when they sweep around. When they shorten teams up, teams get defensively too narrow. We worked pretty hard on loosening off defensively and following the numbers, splitting our midfield as well. I thought we did a really good job on that.”
