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.
33 mins: Wales again go through the phases with first North and then Moriarty carrying across the gain line. They come right again in the Irish 22, but Webb's pass from the ruck is forwards and Barnes spots it straight away. Conor Murray looks to have an issue with his arm, and appears to be carrying a bicep injury of some sorts. We'll keep an eye on it.
36 mins: Sloppy play from Ireland sees Toner bring play right, to feed Earls down a blind alley. He's forced to cut back in field, which puts everyone out of position and leave the prop, Tadhg Furlong, at fly-half. Predictably, he takes his eyes off the ball and drops it, handing Wales a good platform to attack from outside the Irish 22. Murray has more treatment on his arm, and he doesn't look good at all. He's going to carry on though.
39 mins: Wales attack left through Liam Williams only in a one-on-one against Earls. The Irishman does well to stop him, but Wales are into the 22. Wales have the advantage, do Biggar kicks over the the corner to Williams. He plays infield to Halfpenny, who offloads to Davies, and he's stopped a metre short of the line. Sexton is lying all over the ball, and he's rightly sent to the sin-bin for his efforts. Wales have the choice of penalties and they take the one in front of the posts for Halfpenny to go for three points. It's a regulation kick for the full-back, and he duly slots it over. Wales back in front 8-6.
40 mins: Murray really is struggling out there and it's effecting the quality of Irish ball. Without Sexton, Henshaw is having to guide the back line, and the move falls flat when Heaslip knocks on. That's the end of the have, and it's advantage Wales both on the scoreboard and on the pitch, with Sexton in the sin-bin.
Half-time: Should Wales have been reduced to 14 during the Irish period of pressure? There's plenty who believe so.
Half-time: Out come Wales first and you can sense they've got their tails up, given they're back out extremely early and going through a few on-field drills. Will Murray return for the second half?
Half-time: Murray joins his side in jogging out for the second half and it looks like the scrum-half is fit to continue. They are, of course, still down to 14 men with Sexton in the sin-bin for the next few minutes.
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