The talk before the opening weekend of the Six Nations weekend is all about momentum. Ireland have that in spades after overcoming Wales 30-22 in Cardiff.
By Declan Whooley
Declan Kidney was a coach under pressure after an indifferent season last year, a new captain and a couple of key injuries.
However the away side made a blistering start in the Millennium Stadium, with the pack dominating the scrum, the backrow getting the better at the breakdown and the Irish backs having their opposite numbers constantly on the back-foot.
Brian O’Driscoll showed all his class with deft hands to put Simon Zebo through for the first try, while the Munster man showed amazing skill of his own in the lead up to Cian Healy burrowing over for the second try.
With a half-time lead of 23-3, Irish fans were in dreamland. Even George Hook was beside himself in the studio, a real indicator of the performance.
Man of the match O’Driscoll went over himself immediately after the resumption for his 46th try in an Irish jersey to leave the score 30-3, a truly remarkable scoreline at the home of the Grand Slam champions.
That seemed to rekindle the Welsh spirit and the remainder of the second half was spent mainly in Irish territory.
Some heavy hitting in Cardiff
Alex Cuthbert ran through for a try to renew Welsh hope in a game that seemed totally lost. A yellow card for Rory Best and a try from Leigh Halfpenny closed the gap to 30-15 with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Ireland spent the last ten minutes with 14 men after Conor Murray was also sin-binned with Wales throwing everything they had at the Irish defence, but they stood solid with each wave of attack.
Substitute Craig Mitchell barrelled over with five minutes to reduce the gap to eight points, but Ireland survived the second half onslaught in what was a ferocious encounter between the two rugby rivals and there will be a lot of sore bodies tomorrow on both sides.
A brilliant start to the Six Nations and Ireland will welcome England to the Aviva next Sunday full of confidence and harbouring hopes of silverware.
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