Wales vs Ireland live: George North double secures victory for Welsh to open door for England to win Six Nations
All the latest updates from the Principality Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.Wales got back to winning ways after back-to-back defeats to beat Ireland 22-9, with George North finding his form with two tries to hold off a spirited away side. The result now means that England can win the Six Nations title if they beat Scotland on Saturday, given that they will take a minimum eight-point lead with just one round to play. Re-live the action here.
- Wales beat Ireland 22-9 at the Principality Stadium
- George North scores tries either side of half-time to put Wales ahead
- Jonathan Sexton kicks two penalties with Paddy Jackson adding the third
- Jamie Roberts comes off the bench to seal the victory late on
- Defeat for Ireland means England can win the Six Nations title if they beat Scotland on Saturday
Follow the live blog below…
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Teams...
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny; George North, Jonathan Davies, Scott Williams, Liam Williams; Dan Biggar, Rhys Webb; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Jake Ball, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Taulupe Faletau, Gareth Davies, Sam Davies, Jamie Roberts
Ireland: R Kearney; K Earls, G Ringrose, R Henshaw, S Zebo; J Sexton, C Murray; J McGrath, R Best, T Furlong, D Ryan, D Toner, CJ Stander, S O'Brien, J Heaslip.
Replacements: N Scannell, C Healy, J Ryan, I Henderson, P O'Mahony, K Marmion, P Jackson, T Bowe.
14 mins: Wales bring the pressure immediately from the lineout, and Earls has to kick possession away. Halfpenny and North try to counter, but Ireland turn it over again and Zebo breaks free. He chips downfield and it's a foot race between Ringrose and Biggar. The Welsh fly-half shepherds the ball over the try line before touching it down, and that's extremely composed play from the No 10.
15 mins: Stander breaks free and is rampaging forwards! He charges over Halfpenny, and it brought down some seven metres short of the line. Wales immediately concede the penalty, and Sexton turns down the kick to go for the corner.
Wales steal the lineout!
17 mins: Biggar kicks away possession but doesn't find touch. Sexton replies with an extremely high bomb, but it's far too long and runs dead to bring play back to the Welsh 10m line for a scrum to the home side.
18 mins: From the scrum, Wales immediately attack left, and Liam Williams chips in-field as he's tackled into touch. Davies and Williams chase it, but Sexton is back to gather the ball. He takes a whack to the face off Davies' knee, and his left eye is already swollen up. Paddy Jackson is ready to come on as Sexton will require an HIA, but he looks ok to continue in a few minutes' time. That's a minor blow for Ireland, but Sexton should be good to return.
19 mins: Good refereeing from Wayne Barnes, as he decides there's nothing in that collision and calls for play on after a TMO review. The right decision.
20 mins: A beauty of a try for Wales! Williams breaks the line through the middle for the first time, and Webb, on hand to take the offload, floats a lovely pass wide right for Halfpenny to run on to. He draws in Zebo and Ringrose, before releasing George North and the towering wing barges his way over to score. Halfpenny can't convert but Wales lead 5-3 and the crowd have come alive!
24 mins: Cardinal sin from Webb just after his moment of brilliance as he runs across Zebo's line when chasing a kick to concede a penalty. Ireland again go to touch, but this time Ireland set the maul up and it's a powerful one. They move all the way up to the try line and are trying to batter the door down - with a penalty advantage to boot. Heaslip has a go, but there's no advantage and Barnes comes back for the penalty. Jackson goes to the corner again, and Ireland need to capitalise on one of these chances.
27 mins: Another penalty for Ireland, and this time it's a central position that allows Jackson to go for goal. He's nails it, and Ireland lead again 5-6. That's it for Jackson as Sexton comes back on.
29 mins: Wales are playing a dangerous game as Sexton snaffles another flat pass, getting his second interception of the game. He's turned over though, and then Earls nearly bags another interception. For all that good possession of the ball, they're suddenly throwing it around with reckless abandon.
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