Ireland were comprehensively outclassed by Warren Gatland‘s Wales side as they clinched the Grand Slam for the first time since 2012.

Wales were in control for all of the game with Jordan Larmour adding a consolation try for Ireland on the final whistle.

Signs were ominous when Jacob Stockdale was bundled into touch from the kick off by George North after Gareth Anscombe landed the kick on a sixpence. Wales won the lineout and, with a penalty advantage, Anscombe dinked a ball over the top for Hadleigh Parkes to gather and score the first try of the game with just two minutes played.

It was excellent vision from the Cardiff player to spot that Ireland had no sweeper in behind with both Rob Kearney and Conor Murray providing numbers in defence.

The decision from Ireland to keep the roof open proved fruitless, as Wales were happy to defend, giving Ireland 60% possession and 62% territory. The home side put in a massive shift, making 140 tackles to Ireland’s 73 with the visitors never looking like troubling the Welsh line. In the opening stages of the match, Ireland made numerous handling errors which could be argued to have been down to slippery conditions.

Ireland had a chance foiled by a magnificent tackle from Parkes. Johnny Sexton found Stockdale with a cross kick but the Scarlets player stopped a certain try and forced the Ulsterman into a knock on.

Wales were excellent at neutralizing all of Ireland’s attacking threat and forced Ireland into conceding penalties. Eight were conceded in the first half in comparison to round four where they conceded seven in the whole match.

The opening stages were frenetic and Ireland did cause a few problems but the Welsh scramble defence was exceptional. The boot of Anscombe kept the scoreboard ticking and took Wales out of sight shortly into the second half.

The defence was on top in this match and was testament to how Wales have played throughout the tournament. Ireland had a multitude of opportunities inside the Welsh 22, but handling errors and stupid mistakes let the home side off the hook. Unusual for Ireland, they had made four handling errors in the opening 12 minutes and coupled with back to back penalties, gave the hosts the territory and, crucially, the momentum which they converted into points.

It wasn’t until the last play of the game that Ireland got on the board. Inside the 22m line, Ireland kept the ball tight before releasing Larmour who stepped the final Welsh defender and dotted down.

WALES: Liam Williams, George North, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones (C), Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty. Replacements: Elliot Dee; Nicky Smith; Dillon Lewis; Jake Ball; Aaron Wainwright; Aled Davies; Dan Biggar; Owen Watkin.

IRELAND: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Cian Healy, Rory Best (C), Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, CJ Stander. Replacements: Niall Scannell, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Quinn Roux, Jack Conan, Kieran Marmion, Jack Carty, Jordan Larmour.