Ireland vs Wales LIVE: Six Nations rugby final score and result as Andrew Conway strikes twice
Follow all the reaction live from the Aviva Stadium in Dublin
Ireland eased past reigning champions Wales 29-7 in the opening game of the Six Nations championship in Dublin on Saturday, picking up where they left off in November with a comfortable victory.
Ireland looked every inch one of the tournament favourites when they roared out of the blocks in the same manner that toppled New Zealand three months ago but still needed a second half burst to put the injury-hit visitors out of sight.
“It’s never going to be perfect in your first game but we’ve got everything to play for and we know there’s a massive test ahead next week,” captain Johnny Sexton said in a pitchside interview, referring to next week’s trip to France.
It took Sexton’s men just two minutes to take control. An attacking lineout that has proved so lethal of late was the starting point again with Bundee Aki crossing in the corner, aided by a nice looped pass from debutant winger Mack Hansen.
It felt like only a matter of time before the hosts would score again from hand but a couple of sloppy errors - including Sexton uncharacteristically missing two out of three shots at goal - invited Wayne Pivac’s side back into the game
A predictable attack from a side shorn of 680 caps through injuries to the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric, George North and Taulupe Faletau was comfortably contained by Ireland’s choke tackle defence.
While a better side could punish Ireland later in the tournament for not being clinical enough to extend their lead beyond 10-0 at halftime, Andy Farrell’s side returned in a much more ruthless mood after the interval.
Andrew Conway put Ireland out of sight with two tries either side of a yellow card for makeshift Wales centre Josh Adams, first using every millimetre of his 1.8 metre frame to reach for the corner and simply collecting a pass to add another.
Centre Garry Ringrose snaked through the porous Welsh defence on the hour to make sure of the winning bonus point.
Ireland emptied their bench and with that lost a little bit of concentration, allowing Wales flanker Taine Basham in for a late try that ensured the visitors did not add a scoreless outing to an otherwise miserable afternoon.
The win extended Ireland’s winning run to nine games but they will face an altogether more difficult test in Paris if they are to make it 10 in a row.
Team News - Wales
After such severe injury issues, it is a Welsh side with a new look to begin the defence of their Six Nations crown. For the first time since 2006, they line up for the opening game of the tournament without either Alun Wyn Jones or Ken Owens, with Dan Biggar taking on leadership duties. Two spots along from the fly-half is perhaps where the most eye-catching selection comes – Josh Adams makes his first international start at outside centre as part of an exciting, attacking backline.
Autumn star Taine Basham and Ellis Jenkins should dovetail well in the back row, particularly when bothering Ireland’s breakdown ball, while after a breakthrough year-and-a-half-or-so Adam Beard takes on even greater importance without the skipper alongside him. Uncapped rake Dewi Lake awaits a debut at hooker among the substitutes.
Wales: 15-L. Williams, 14-McNicholl, 13-Adams, 12-Tompkins, 11-Rees-Zammit, 10-Biggar, 9-T. Williams; 1-W. Jones, 2-Elias, 3-Francis, 4-Rowlands, 5-Beard, 6-Jenkins, 7-Basham, 8-Wainwright
Replacements: 16-Lake, 17-G. Thomas, 18-Lewis, 19-Carter, 20-Moriarty, 21-G. Davies, 22-Sheedy, 23-Watkin
Team News - Ireland
Thirteen of the Irish starting fifteen that beat the All Blacks in November also begin the Six Nations opener. The injection of Tadhg Beirne ensures there will be little drop off in the second row even with Iain Henderson short of fitness, while in the absence of James Lowe on the left wing there is a debut for Mack Hansen, a star in his first season at Connacht. Hansen, an Australia U20 international, qualifies through his Cork-born mother and is comfortable across the back three.
Robbie Henshaw is another who misses out after an adductor issue that has limited his training time, which means another club standout awaits a debut in the centres from the bench: James Hume has been a key cog in Ulster’s impressive backline. There should also be a first Six Nations appearance for Dan Sheehan, the wickedly talented Dubliner who is one of 14 Leinster-men in the 23.
Ireland: 15-Keenan, 14-Conway, 13-Ringrose, 12-Aki, 11-Hansen, 10-Sexton, 9-Gibson-Park; 1-Porter, 2-Kelleher, 3-Furlong, 4-Beirne, 5-Ryan, 6-Doris, 7-Van Der Flier, 8-Conan
Replacements: 16-Sheehan, 17-Healy, 18-Bealham, 19-Baird, 20-O’Mahony, 21-Murray, 22-Carbery, 23-Hume
A late change for Wales
Wales’ campaign isn’t off to an ideal start. Seb Davies is struggling with spasms in his back so drops off the bench, replaced by young locking talent Ben Carter in the number 19 jersey. A blow on matchday for Wayne Pivac.
However that does make a fine cue for us to look at the two teams in depth...
Back in action
Wales were unlikely champions 12 months ago, taking advantage of a little bit of luck but showing plenty of fight and flair on their way to a well-earned crown. The task this year is even tougher - Wayne Pivac’s injury list reads like a Welsh rugby who’s who with desperate fitness misfortune. Such is the strength of this year’s competition that even as defending champions you might consider them outsiders for the tournament, but there are plenty in Ireland who are wary of writing off a wounded Wales with little to lose as they head to Dublin.
The Independent’s Six Nations Newsletter
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This year’s Six Nations will be “a championship for the ages” as it returns with renewed vitality after the pandemic forced last year’s tournament behind closed doors
Ireland vs Wales
We’ll have a closer dig through the two teams in a bit, but this is a classic Six Nations fixture to kick us off, and there is plenty that catches the eye.
Here are some of the big talking points:
Talking points ahead of Ireland vs Wales
Six Nations opener presents a tough start for reigning champions Wales
Kingdom of the North
And the on-field action won’t be bad, either. The autumn was one of great positives for most of our competing nations, capitalising on weary Southern Hemisphere foes but producing a string of statement performances. Ireland and France felled the All Blacks, England went unbeaten and both Scotland and Wales put away Australia, and sage heads say that this could be the most hard-fought edition of this grand old tournament yet.
“It could be the most competitive and open Six Nations in history,” posited Italian head coach Kieran Crowley from Rome at last week’s launch. “Everyone is looking strong. You look at the results from November and the best rugby is being played in the Northern Hemisphere.”
Ireland vs Wales
There is still more than an hour and a half until it all gets underway at the Aviva Stadium, but there are a few early birds who have filed past the filling taverns for Dublin’s chief rugby amphitheatre. There is little like a Six Nations city on matchday, and plenty of those of a Welsh persuasion have travelled to to add red streaks to the green sea. With fans free to flock and frolic with greater freedom than at any point in the last two years this should be a spectacular tournament...
The Six Nations is back - and maybe better than ever.
Open the turnstiles and ready your voices - the Six Nations is here! 23 long months since fans were last permitted to attend rugby’s most storied annual championship, it returns in all its technicolour glory with renewed vitality and verve. Rugby in the northern hemisphere has rarely, if ever, been better and with five genuine contenders for the crown, the tournament proper looks set to return with a bang.
Where better to begin than Dublin for a clash between fancied Ireland, looking to build on an outstanding autumn, and a wounded Wales, without a host of stars as they look to defend the title they improbably secured last year.
We’ll have all the thrills, spills and action over the next month or so as destination of the 2022 Six Nations is decided - and this could be a tournament for the ages.
Six Nations has all the ingredients of a championship for the ages
With crowds back and five viable contenders to clinch glory, Kieran Crowley’s prediction that it ‘could be the most competitive and open Six Nations in history’ does not look so far-fetched
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