Six Nations: Ireland 21 Wales 23

Ireland got pretty much what they deserved out of this one with Wales snatching a a late penalty through Leigh Halfpenny to take the spoils.

Watching the game on BBC1 was somewhat surprised to hear the panel eulogise over the performances from both teams at the end. Maybe I’m just not into the senior side that much these days but I thought the first half was pretty poor, in fact I fell asleep before the break, and the second half was only really exciting in it’s closeness.

Both sides made plenty of mistakes, Ireland’s kicking game was appalling and handling generally poor from both sides. For much of the first half Wales failed to make any headway against a fairly weak Irish midfield.
[aside]While Ireland’s midfield will no doubt get the blame for this defeat my reckoning is that it ‘s down to poor tactics and the continued selection of the three beefy ball carriers in the back row.  Ireland have only had success with this back row when the rest of the pack are on fire – slowing down the opponents ball and keeping Ireland on the front foot. Front foot ball allows all three . . .