Johnny Sexton questioned the intentions of Josh Adams after being floored by the Wales centre’s shoulder charge.
Adams was yellow-carded in the 49 th minute for smashing into the former Lions fly-half off the ball.
He looked aggrieved to receive his marching orders, and it exacerbated a frustrating afternoon all-round for him after he was switched from the wing to outside-centre.
But the post-match consensus was that referee Jaco Peyper got the call right, and that if anything Adams was fortunate not to have seen red.
Asked for his assessment of the flashpoint, Sexton said: “It was dealt with on the pitch. I can’t really answer because I was on the receiving end. You’ll have to ask him what his intentions were.
“Look, it was one of those things, it was dealt with and we got on with it.
“We made them pay with a couple more tries.”
Ireland scored their third try almost immediately after Adams’ yellow through wing Andrew Conway, with Gary Ringrose following him across the line on the hour mark.
