A clinical Ireland side got up and running in the Autumn Nations Cup with a 32-9 victory over Wales in Dublin.
Quinn Roux’s 22nd-minute try set Ireland on their way in a fiercely competitive Group A opener, with six penalties shared between Johnny Sexton, Ireland debutant Billy Burns and Conor Murray keeping the visitors at arm’s length.
James Lowe added gloss to the scoreline by capping an impressive international debut with a try in added time at the end of the match as Andy Farrell’s men began their campaign with a win.
Leigh Halfpenny and Dan Biggar responded for Wales but Wayne Pivac’s men could not find a way through a solid Irish defence and slipped to their sixth straight defeat in all competitions.
Indiscipline cost the visitors throughout the 80 minutes at the Aviva Stadium against a home side who were in no mood to pass up the opportunities continually presented to them off the tee.
INTO THE BATTLE
Wales began the game looking for a first win in Dublin since 2015 and were first to venture deep into opposition territory when Biggar’s penalty pinned Ireland back inside their own 22.
The opportunity was spurned when the lineout was stolen before flashpoints between Alun Wyn Jones and Peter O’Mahony, then Lowe and Liam Williams, marked a tetchy opening spell as the two sides renewed acquaintances having last met back in February.
The first points of the evening went the way of the hosts when Sexton slotted over a tenth-minute penalty but the visitors were not behind for long and levelled matters through a three-pointer of their own from Biggar.
Debutant Lowe was enjoying a lively first half, regularly coming of his wing to receive possession, and showed the first real glimpse of his quality with an eye-catching line break 20 minutes in – soon after which Ireland crossed for the game’s first try.
Roux, an eleventh-hour replacement for Iain Henderson in the starting XV, was the man to power over from close range and go down in the history books as the Autumn Nations Cup’s first ever try scorer after a period of heavy pressure on the visiting line.
Sexton added the extras to move past Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s leading points scorer against Wales but his evening came to an end shortly afterwards as the fly-half sustained a hamstring injury in the process of kicking over his second penalty of the evening to extend the lead to 13-3.
Burns came on for his international bow and, after Halfpenny’s penalty reduced the deficit, the Ulster man was provided with a routine opportunity to get off the mark in an Ireland jersey after Rhys Carre was caught offside at a ruck in front of the posts.
Burns did the necessary and the score stayed at 16-6 until the break, with Andrew Porter narrowly failing to ground a bouncing ball after a Welsh lineout had strayed loose in the dying minutes of the first half.
PAYING THE PENALTY
The second half followed a similar theme to the first as the sides continued to trade penalties.
Halfpenny’s mighty boot did not have quite enough to land an attempt from the halfway line but he made no mistake from closer to the posts on 50 minutes to take Wales back to within a converted score.
Ireland surged back and came close to scoring their second when Cian Healy was held up over the line by a superb combined defensive effort between Toby Faletau and Gareth Davies, who made amends after his box-kick being charged down by Caelan Doris had created the opening.
The hosts stayed on the front foot and Burns’ boot extended the lead to 19-9 with 25 minutes remaining before the stand-off followed Sexton in departing early through injury.
The vastly experienced Conor Murray slotted in at outside-half and gave Wales no respite, punishing more infringements with two late penalties to seal the outcome.
George North was brought off the bench to win his 100th Test cap while Callum Sheedy came on for his debut but the pair had little chance to impact the game, with the closing stages played out deep in visiting territory.
It looked as though a second try would prove elusive for the hosts until Lowe received a crash ball and charged over from ten metres out to mark a dream debut for the Leinster wing and wrap up a job well done for Farrell’s men.
KEY MOMENT
The final score may look comprehensive but that certainly didn’t look like being the case during a hard-fought first half – which made Quinn Roux’s try so vital.
The Connacht lock finished off a period of heavy pressure on the Welsh line after Caelan Doris had taken Ireland to within a couple of metres with a neat dummy.
Roux put his head down and grounded the ball to put his side into a lead they held throughout the remainder of the contest.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Caelan Doris continued his seamless introduction to international rugby with another high-class display on Friday night.
Wearing the No.8 shirt usually reserved for CJ Stander, the 22-year-old put in a tireless performance and played a key role in setting up Roux’s opening try.
He almost set up another for Cian Healy, charging down Gareth Davies’ box-kick and expertly keeping the ball in play with a neat flick back early in the second half, only for the prop to be held up over the line.
The Leinster man has excelled at club level in recent years and this was the latest evidence to show he has taken the step up to the green jersey in his stride.
