A cruel, and late, penalty by Leigh Halfpenny finally settled a compelling, and error-strewn, encounter between Ireland and Wales 23-21 for the visitors at Aviva Stadium.
Wales probably deserved the win overall but the manner of the defeat will rankle with Irish fans, as the final penalty, in the final minute, against Stephen Ferris, looked a bit harsh from an Irish perspective, though what the Ulster man was trying to do is a bit of a mystery.
Things had started so well for Ireland, with two penalties in the opening three minutes. After spurning the chance to nail the first one, Jonny Sexton landed the second and Ireland were off and running.
But the next 30 minutes were all about Wales as they dominated Ireland, gaining territory and ground with every possession. Somewhat unlucky not to get a try after eight minutes, Jonathan Davies eventually crossed after 15 minutes. It was no more than they deserved but they should have been further ahead as Rhys Priestland missed the conversion and a penalty minutes later.
However, the home defence stood firm against a rampant Welsh attack and eventually Ireland hit back as Tommy Bowe teed up Rory Best for a try just before half-time to give Ireland a fortunate 10-5 lead at the break.
Wales lost captain Sam Warburton to a dead leg over the interval and Sexton added three more with an early penalty. Priestland then missed another kick before Leigh Halfpenny landed one to narrow the gap.
Wales then took the lead when George North sent most of the Irish defence scattering with his brute force before setting up Davies for his second of the game, which was duly converted by Halfpenny.
Another Sexton penalty put Ireland back into the lead on the hour mark but then a moment of madness, very dangerous madness at that, turned the game towards Ireland.
Welsh lock Bradley Davies speared Donnacha Ryan into the ground, a far worse tackle than the one that saw Warburton dismissed at the World Cup, but Davies escaped with a yellow.
Ireland immediately took advantage and Tommy Bowe crossed the line to put six between the sides. Sexton missed the conversion, and a subsequent penalty, but Ireland still led with four to go.
Then man-mountain North forced his way over to narrow the gap to one and Halfpenny missed the difficult kick that would have restored the Welsh lead.
Ireland had three minutes to hang on but then Wayne Barnes pinged Ferris for a tackle that he judged to be dangerous.
Halfpenny did the business from right in front of the posts but the talking points are many. Why were Ireland so flat for long periods? Why did Davies not see red for his clearly dangerous tackle? And why did Ferris tackle in such a way that Barnes could make that call?
No Grand Slam then, or Triple Crown, but the Championship is still on but we will need to beat France in Paris next week. No pressure then.
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