Ireland continued their winning start to the 2021 Six Nations with a 12 – 40 victory against their Welsh counterparts at Cardiff Arms Park.

Ulster’s Nathan Doak stole the show with a 20 point haul, from a try, 3 conversions and 3 penalties, with Cathal Forde, Chris Cosgrave, Daniel Okeke and Alex Kendellen also crossing in a second dominant performance from the Irish pack.

It’s hard to say who the credit goes to for Ireland’s two opening performances in the Six Nations, the coaching of Richie Murphy, or whoever looked after the strength and conditioning of the forwards over the last 16 months. It’s certainly a pack of prime beef, and they picked up where they left off against Scotland with a dominant display against Wales.

Despite some crisp play from Doak, who kept everyone pointing in the right direction with his quick deliveries, it took Ireland 13 minutes to break through the Welsh defence, centre Forde picking a sweet line to brush off two wrong footed tackles to score under the posts. Doak converted to give Ireland a 0 – 7 lead.

Busy winger Cosgrave picked up Ireland’s second, coming inside off a well timed pass from Jamie Osborne which left a relatively clear run in on the 24th minute. Doak converted and added a penalty just short of the half hour mark to take the score to 0 – 17 in Ireland’s favour.

Ben Moxham looked like he was going to add to Ireland’s total before the break, jinking into space for a clear run at the line, but an excellent defensive tackle from Wales’ Dan John brought the run to an end and the teams turned round with Ireland leading by 17 points.

Doak opened up his second half performance with the try of the game down the left. Gathering a chip ahead his interchange with Osborne ended with Doak crossing out wide for an unconverted try to move the score along to 0 – 22.

Wales got on the scoreboard minutes later as Moxham failed to clear a Welsh kick to the corner and coughed up a 5m scrum. A few pick and goes later the Welsh skipper Alex Mann crashed over for an unconverted try to get the home side on the scoreboard. Captains Mann and Kendellen enjoying a good personal battle in the back row.

The game was definitely becoming more competitive in the second half though Doak kept Ireland firmly in front with a 56th minute penalty moving the score to 5 – 25 before a Welsh break saw Ireland’s Shane Jennings carded for slowing down the ruck. Wales took full advantage to send their extra man, Carrick McDonough, over in the corner, their slick passing too quick for the Irish defence. Sam Costelow added the conversion to take the score to 12 – 25.

It could have sparked a tasty finish but Wales coughed up a penalty on the restart which Doak converted to reinstate their three score lead and, with the replacements adding extra energy, Ireland went on to wrap up the game with tries from replacement Okeke and, Ireland captain, Kendellen. Doak converted the latter to take the final score to Wales 12 Ireland 40.

Teams

WALES: Jacob Beetham, Dan John, Ioan Evans, Joe Hawkins, Carrick McDonough, Sam Costelow, Harri Williams, Garyn Phillips, Efan Daniel, Nathan Evans, Joe Peard, Dafydd Jenkins, Alex Mann (C), Harri Deaves, Carwyn Tuipulotu. Replacements: Oliver Burrows, Theo Bevacqua, Lewys Jones, James Fender, Chris Tshiunza, Ethan Lloyd, Will Reed, Tom Florence, Morgan Richards, Eddie James, Rhys Thomas.

IRELAND: Jamie Osborne, Ben Moxham, Shane Jennings, Cathal Forde, Chris Cosgrave, Tim Corkery, Nathan Doak, Jack Boyle, Ronan Loughnane, Mark Donnelly, Alex Soroka, Harry Sheridan, Donnacha Byrne, Oisín McCormack, Alex Kendellen. Replacements: Eoin de Buitléar, George Saunderson, Sam Illo, Mark Morrissey, Reuban Crothers, Conor McKee, Ben Carson, Jude Postlethwaite, Fearghail O’Donoghue, Daniel Okeke, Conor Rankin.

Ulster Contingent