Ireland hold off Welsh comeback to clinch victory – 6 Nations

NatWest 6 Nations

Ireland 37-27 Wales 

Two tries from Jacob Stockdale made sure Ireland held off a spirited Welsh comeback in Dublin to secure a third 6 Nations victory. First half tries from Stockdale and Bundee Aki gave the hosts the lead going into the break, despite Gareth Davies slipping in under the posts for the visitors.

Two tries from Ireland’s forwards after the break looked to have put the game beyond the Welsh, but tries from Aaron Shingler and Steff Evans put the visitors within three points with two minutes left.

But another Stockdale try sealed the victory as he intercepted a looping pass and ran in under the posts in the final play.

Leigh Halfpenny opened the scoring after two minutes with a penalty, and Sexton missed a chance to go level just after as his penalty effort hit the post.

The fly-half instantly made up for the mistake though, whipping a flat miss-pass out to Stockdale from five metres out for the winger to touch down in the corner.

Wales responded well, putting pressure on the hosts and getting their rewards as Davies spied a hole in the Irish defence.

Following a powerful surge by Shingler, Davies scooped up the ball and slipped through a gap to run in under the posts and take the lead, with Halfpenny converting.

The Welsh full-back then had the opportunity to increase the lead with a long penalty, but the ball dropped just short of the crossbar. With another attempt minutes later, he made sure of the three points to go eight points clear.

Sexton closed the gap with his first successful kick of the day, slotting a penalty from close range in front of the posts.

As the clock ticked past 40 minutes, Ireland managed to take the lead before the break as Aki burst through a tackle and stretched out to place the ball down over the line, and Sexton added the extras to make it 15-13 at half-time.

Ireland continued their momentum after the break, extending their lead with two tries from the forwards to secure the bonus point.

Keith Earls made a great break down the right and the ball was set up in midfield, then after a few phases Dan Leavy bundled over with a pick-and-go under the posts, which Sexton again converted.

Healy scored in a similar manner ten minutes later, powering over from close-range in the right-hand corner to make it 27-13.

Just as the game looked to be slipping away from Wales, they got a score back to keep their hopes alive.

After waves of pressure on the Irish defence in their own 22, Wales got the ball out to Hadleigh Parkes, who looped a long pass out to Josh Navidi on the right wing to offload to Shingler for his first Test try.

In a pulsating last ten minutes both teams were throwing the ball around, playing fluid rugby, and Conor Murray looked to have put the game to bed with a 75th minute penalty.

But almost instantly Wales hit back with great play from Scott Williams to draw his man and offload to Navidi, who set up another try as Evans was on hand to race in down the left.

Halfpenny converted to put Wales within three points with two minutes left in a dramatic end to the game.

Wales knew they had to gamble and ended up forcing the passes, only for Stockdale to pick off a long looping one from Gareth Anscombe and speed in to seal the game, with Joey Carbery adding the extras to make secure a 37-27 victory for the Irish.