That’s all for this blog, for today – Lee has England v Scotland right here:
The Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, speaks to the BBC: “Strangely I’m not that disappointed with a lot of the things in the game … the things I’m disappointed with are the thing we can fix up: the slow start, the penalties we gave away seemed to be needless, and they created momentum off that.
“When you look at the game, I think we had about the same amount of entries into the 22, and they came away with points … they’re a good side, they were taking ‘threes’, they don’t play a lot of rugby around halfway, and they’re clinical.
“I think we’ll take a lot from that … there are things we need to work on … but we weren’t quite good enough to finish off our opportunities.
“[At half-time] We spoke about discipline and the penalties we were giving away. We just wanted to get a little more line speed defensively in the second half. I thought we brought that, and we were much better, and put Ireland under a lot of pressure… At 27-10, we’ve gone down there [to Ireland’s 22], we’ve had a “not straight” [lineout throw], we’ve had an overthrow, a couple of passes that we’ve forced … at 27-10 I thought: “If we score here, we can have an interesting last 20 minutes.” … Like I said I can be positive about the things we can fix up.
“Some of the young boys stepped up … it was a great experience for them.”
Sonja McLaughlan asks: Does Gatland still want the challenge of Test match rugby?
“Yes, I do. [Gatland smiles.] It was tough and disappointing. They’re a good side, and they’re a good side because they’ve been together for a long time, and they don’t make many mistakes. They manage the game well. That’s why they are the No 1 side in the world. That’s the step up we need to take. We need to be clinical, we need to be patient … we’ll work on that over the next few weeks.”
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Ken Owens, the Wales captain, speaks to the BBC: “Obviously disappointment … we lacked a lot of discipline and accuracy which put ourselves under pressure.
“We showed a bit of character second half … it was just a little bit of accuracy at key moments
“We’re a work in progress, we’ve got to learn quickly … if you don’t win collisions, you don’t win the gain line, you are going to struggle.
“I thought we had plenty of clarity in the week … it’s a work in progress, we’ve just got to stick at it.”
Michael Aylwin reports from the Principality Stadium:
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Peter O’Mahony has a chat with Sonja McLaughlan of the BBC: “Certainly first 40 minutes, we were flowing nicely … started well, you know, very calm, attacked well, defence was good … some big moments to deny them probably two tries, on our own goal line, guys showing up for each other when it mattered
“But we’ll look at that second half, particularly … Wales put us under a huge amount of pressure … we conceded too many penalties, we’ve got plenty to have a look at.
“I think from a team performance it was certainly one of the better ones I’ve been involved in … set piece was very good … we haven’t won here since 22013, you know … particuarly in the first half, the scrum and lineout fired really well, and gave us a great platform to get stuck in.”
Afternoon all, Luke here, to bring you a bit of reaction …
Hugo Keenan speaks to the BBC: “I think we came out and started well which was really important. We haven’t won here in a good few years. We knew the crowd would be behind them. It’s always a loud, tough place to go. Being honest, I think we probably slipped off in that second half. But we’re delighted to get that bonus-point win to kick off the Six Nations.”
“These are the occasions you want to be a part of … Wales put it up to us … they’re in a but of a transition phase but they are a serious side.
“We’re just taking it game by game … we hadn’t won here in about 10 years … we are just taking it one game at a time.
“I think there’s plenty in that second half to work on. We’ll regroup and review it and a big game next week again.”
I’m jumping across to the England v Scotland game now, see you there!
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Ireland win comfortably playing approximately 60% as well as they’re able. Some work to do.
Wales were 70% bobbins, 20% mediocre and 10% competent. Lots more work to do.
FULL TIME! Wales 10 - 34 Ireland
PEEP! An old fashioned hiding is brought to a close.
80 mins. Ireland have one last drive in the Wales 22, working phases before the ball is creamed right by the boot of Byrne to find Hansen who is smashed into touch inches from the line.
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79 mins. Wales are having an attack around halfway, it feels as pointless as it is without cutting edge.
It ends with giving a penalty to Ireland.
75 mins. Liam Williams is back on.
Rob Herring and Dave Kilcoyne are in for Ireland.
Somewhere, Wayne Pivac is quietly chuckling to himself. But Wales have looked better this half, and there is no escaping that Ireland are fundamentally a better team at present.
TRY! Wales 10 - 34 Ireland (Josh Van Der Flier)
72 mins. For what feels like the first time this half, Ireland have some real phases in the Wales half and they are unleashing all their greatest hits of alignment, handling and fast ball to pull Wales all over the place.
Eventually on the fifteenth phase the ball comes left to Van Der Flier who simply has to fall over to score under the posts.
Byrne converts.
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68 mins. Johnny Sexton and Van Der Flier hit and hold up George North to win a scrum for Ireland and end Wales’s latest attack in the 22.
That’s Sexton’s last contribution as he’s replaced by Ross Byrne.
66 mins. James Lowe tries a wide pass that Dyer reads but can’t hold it as he looks to grab it. He arguably should’ve held it, but odds are that Keenan has him covered in any case.
Rhys Webb and Owen Williams on for Tomos Williams and Dan Biggar.
Craig Casey has replaced Conor Murray.
YELLOW CARD! Liam Williams (Wales)
64 mins. Scott Baldwin’s first throw is stolen by Ryan and once again, a Wales attack crumples to a depressing end.
In the next Ireland possession, Liam Williams is upright in a tackle on Sexton. It caught the head, but Sexton was bent over and the ref says no high degree of danger. Yellow Card!
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62 mins. Tomos Williams has a decent run up the left, but his support is slow to the breakdown and Aki takes advantage to grip the ball and win a penalty.
But wait! The TMO has spotted that the reason the support was slow was because Irish defenders were obstriucting! Penalty reversed and Wales have a lineout on the Ireland 5m line"!
Lots more subs:
Dafydd Jenkins, Scott Baldwin on for Alun Wyn Jones and Ken Owens for Wales
Jack Conan, Tom O’Toole and Bundee Aki replace O’Mahony, Bealham and McCloskey for Ireland.
59 mins. Wales’s tackle line is now so rapid it runs offside and Sheehan is once again finding his jumper in a lineout, this time on the home 5m line. But Carre clamps onto the ball in the breakdown to win a clearing penalty.
58 mins. Ireland have a lineout in the Wales half, in which Sheehan makes no mistake with finding Henderson. They set about hitting up with some carries, but the Wales tackle line is much quicker this half, so the green attack is finding it a bit harder at the moment to punch through
Subs:
Iain Henderson is on for Tadhg Beirne
Tommy Reffell replaces Tipuric and Rhys Carre is in for Gareth Thomas
54 mins. Iain Henderson has just come on and his first action is to jump in the air and come down and clatter into Liam Williams late. It looked bad, but on review he came down and hit Williams around the arm and shoulder, so Ref DIckson gives it as a penalty only.
53 mins. Some textbook possessions from both sides end as Liam Williams has a run from deep, drifting across the line and stepping through a gap to gallop into the Ireland half. He offloads to Tipuric who tries one of his special passes, looping left Dyer, but it’s too high and player and ball are in touch.
49 mins. It’s Ireland’s turn look unconvincing as they are done for crossing in their own half. Wales win a solid lineout and are attacking under the Irish posts before Doris comes up with a huge tackle, gripping Tipuric to hold him up, win a scrum for his team and bring the red attack to a halt.
47 mins. Biggar boots the penalty miles into the Irish half, but Owens can’t keep his throw in straight from the resulting lineout. Ireland can clear their lines to cool the Welsh attacking ardour after a great start to the second half.
The game will restart with a penalty to Wales after Porter dived late on Williams after his scored.
That was Porter’s third penalty on the trot in five minutes, but Ref Dickson doesn’t seem to be interested in having a further converation
TRY! Wales 10 - 27 Ireland (Liam Williams)
45 mins. Wales work it left from the lineout three times, with each one crucially off quick ball. The last phase finally gets around the Ireland defence and it’s Williams to jog in.
Biggar converts.
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44 mins. Another Wales attack, another Porter penalty with the prop this time in at the side. Owens will be throwing into a lineout on the Ireland 22…
42 mins. Wales have some settling phases early on before Porter is penalised for not rolling away. On the advantage Ringrose absolutely pulverises Biggar’s torso in a perfectly legal tackle.
Biggar is up after a bit of magic sponge action.
SECOND HALF!
Biggar gets this asymmetric caravan back on the road.
To try and get to the heart of it for Wales, Dan Biggar is having a horrible game. However, Owen Williams off the bench feels like more of the same, purchased from Aldi’s centre aisle, so not sure where Gatland can turn here.
A masterclass from Ireland in how to play just enough rugby to humble your opposition completely. Wales look laboured and indisciplined in defence; lateral and unsure in attack.
But, a more generous person could say Wales were very close to scoring two tries. I’m not a generous person, however.
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HALF TIME!
PEEEEEP! That’s yer lot for this half and Wales retreat to the dressing room to recriminate and worry.
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40+2 mins. Wales are doing their best to grab more points before halftime, throwing the ball about around the Irish 10m line. There’s a penalty for Porter tackling from the ground, which is pushed into touch in Ireland’s 22.
This great platform is ruined as Owens overthrows allowing Ireland to clear. There’s a flash of an opportunity again as Jac Morgan returns with the ball, but eventually McCloskey’s chips it out to end the half.
37 mins. From a lineout, George North has a strong run into the 22 and two phases later Morgan has a pick and go that carries him over the line but Andrew Porter gets his body between the ball and the ground. Outstanding defence from the prop.
36 mins. Faletau has a run in midfield from a solid Wales lineout. The next phase has Biggar booting it back to Ireland and Keenan is caught holding on.
33 mins. Time is off after Caelan Doris was held up short of the line by Owens. There are a couple of players receiving treatment which will give Wales some time to work out what they hell they do about this. Not crawling through rucks, for example.
32 mins. Keenan has a gentle canter back from a deep Liam Williams kick and after he’s stopped Bears in penalised for crawling through the ruck, clearly off his feet. Brainless.
30 mins. Ireland have an attack around halfway, once again showing the patterns and timing that have served them so well recently. This time McCloskey is put into a gap and they are up into the 22 before some imprecise breakdown work allows Wales to win the ball back and clear.
PENALTY! Wales 3 - 27 Ireland (Johnny Sexton)
27 mins. Wales’ EIGHTH (!!) penalty of the half is punished one more by the Ireland captain
24 mins. Another first, Wales have a good scrum on the Ireland 22 and this time Hawkins comes in on a lovely crash angle to rumble up to within feet of the line. The ball is quick to recycle to Biggar, but he’s static, grappled in the tackle then the Irish defenders swarm the breakdown meaning the Welsh 10 can do nothing but hold on and be penalised.
TRY! Wales 3 - 24 Ireland (James Lowe)
21 mins. For the first time, Wales have some decent phases in the Irish half. However, it’s notable that Ireland are putting very few into the ruck, leaving plenty defenders fanned out across the field so as the home side push it lateral a few too many times the green cover allows Lowe to push up, intercept and gallop in from 60 metres.
Sexton converts again.
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PENALTY! Wales 3 - 17 Ireland (Johnny Sexton)
18 mins. Wales are not having a good time at the scrum, and the latest sees them collapse in the shadow of their own posts, allowing Sexton to restore the fourteen point gap with his boot.
PENALTY! Wales 3 - 14 Ireland (Dan Biggar)
14 mins. Faletau does a good job tidying up the scrum five to give Wales a couple of attacks in the Ireland 22. It’s the visitors’ turn to drift offside and Biggar wastes no time getting his side on the scoresheet from the tee.
12 mins. Ireland’s latest attack breaks down as Wales finally get up in the face of Sexton. The ball spills and Rio Dyer is first to it, hacks on and chases 30 metres, but just as it looks like he’s about to flop on it to score, Hugo Keenan times his dive perfectly to get to it first and defuse the situation
TRY! Wales 0 - 14 Ireland (James Ryan)
9 mins. The chance to kick sticks is spurned by Sexton and instead Ireland take a tap and go and take a few ramming carries up to the line from 5m. The third of them is from Ryan and he’s over.
Sexton slots the two.
The Irish forwards are destroying Wales in the ruck. This game is probably already over.
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7 mins. Ireland have another lineout, this time midway in the Wales half, which is batted off the top to find Ringrose in midfield with a solid carry. Keenan is brought into the line up the left and the visitors are in the Wales 22 and up to eight phases before the red defence inevitably drift offside as they scramble manically.
Tadhg Beirne is receving some treatment.
TRY! Wales 0 - 7 Ireland (Caelan Doris)
2 mins. Solid lineout drill pulls the ball into the maul. After few seconds it’s released right and a few phases later Doris forces over from short. A solid start for Ireland that brings Wales to ground and splinters their early hope comprehensively.
Sexton converts.
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1 min. Tomos Williams gathers the deep kick and sees it off but misses touch allowing to run it back. The ball is worked left to McCloskey and a delightful kick puts Liam WIlliams and Josh Adams under pressure. The winger do nowt but boot it out on the 5m.
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Kick Off!
Johnny Sexton sends the ball through the smoke plumes to get us underway.
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HERE COME THE TEAMS!
The roof is on in Cardiff as the fireworks and flamethrowers welcome the teams to the pitch. Anthem time, then we’ll be off
Andy Farrell is here talking about the late loss of Jamison Gibson-Park, but as you might expect he’s not worried, thinks it’s “good for the group” and the opportunity it presents to Conor Murray and Craig Casey.
The rest of the interview is conducted with the energy and general appearance of a spiritually contented monk who still looks like he could do some damage if pushed.
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Interim CEO of the WRU, Nigel Walker, is talking to the BBC about why he’s in the interim position in the first place. He’s outlining the steps being taken, including the independent review, to address the misogynistic culture in the Union highlighted in recent BBC Wales documentary.
Pre-match reading.
Quell some of your nervous energy by having a gander at what our team or writers reckon on this years championship.
Teams
Warren Gatland has taken the lead of Embrace by coming back to what he knows with his (second) first Wales selection. Unlike Embrace, however, this looks like something you may want to pay attention to as he’s mixed staggering amounts of experience -including new captain, Ken Owens - with a sprinkling of the exciting youth of Rio Dyer, Jac Morgan and Joe Hawkins in the starting XV. On the bench, Rhys Webb and Owen Williams make international returns, having been largely ignored under Pivac.
For Andy Farrell and Ireland it’s pretty much a CTRL-ALT-C, CTRL-ALT-V of the squad that delivered so much in 2022, with changes forced by injury in the main. Why wouldn’t you? Finlay Bealham is in for Tadhg Furlong, Stuart McCloskey is preferred to Bundee Aki in the centre with Robbie Henshaw not fit.
WALES: Liam Williams; Josh Adams, George North, Joe Hawkins, Rio Dyer; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Ken Owens (captain), Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Rhys Webb, Owen Williams, Alex Cuthbert.
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Bundee Aki.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO: Tom Foley (RFU)
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Preamble
And so it begins … not just this latest iteration of the Six Nations, but also 2023: the Year of the World Cup. From herein expect every move, injury, strategy and selection to usher in hot takes, indications of portent, and the clanging doom of Ireland fans dreading yet another unsatisfactory exit.
But before we get to all that there’s the small matter of this match in Cardiff, and the world’s oldest international rugby tournament to win for both teams.
Don’t call it a comeback, Gatland’s been (mostly) here for years. But this won’t stop the anticipation of the home nation reaching if not fever pitch, then certainly a few notes above the worst modern jazz being played on a lone tuba in an empty warehouse, which is where Wayne Pivac left them last year. Voices are quick to remind us that the Kiwi won a grand slam in his first tournament in 2008, merely a few months after taking the reins of Gareth Davies’s 2007 Rugby World Cup donkey derby. He can’t do it again, can he?
Ireland couldn’t be in a more different position. Cruising at the top of the world rankings with a settled head coach who has taken them there with an authority and fluidity to their playing style, while imbuing an iron-clad confidence that sees them to victory even when some of the former falls away. They are favourites for a reason.
All this conjecture will soon be booted in the air like a testing high ball, and we’ll see in a few hours who will grab it, shape it and set an early narrative in this Six Nations chapter of the 2023 rugby tome.
