Earls Bags Man Of The Match With Ireland

Munster centre Keith Earls marked his first Irish appearance in over two years with a sprightly and impressive performance that saw him cross the whitewash for his 13th international try and receive the Man of the Match accolade. There were tries also for Munster’s Simon Zebo and Felix Jones.

Head Coach Joe Schmidt will be happy with his side’s complete and convincing win over this afternoon’s hosts at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – a game which Ireland controlled from start to finish, getting the upper hand both in open play and a set-piece with the returning Donnacha Ryan more than playing his part in a commanding scrum and line-out.

A sustained period of pressure in the opening half saw terrific work and the breakdown and quick ball from the Irish wreak havoc for the Welsh as they struggled to get defensive numbers across. As the visitors ran with serious purpose, Jamie Heaslip had the easiest of run-ins when Schmidt’s men created a three-on-one overlap for the captain to touch down to the left of the posts.

Paddy Jackson was off target with the conversion but he made no mistake on his second attempt – converting Ireland’s second try. With Ireland exerting their dominance in the scrum, the Welsh forwards were left with precious little time to set themselves in defence and quick ball from Eoin Reddan and a good line from Darren Cave saw the Ulster centre touch down to the right of the posts.

Strong in defence and at the centre of all that was threatening about the Irish attack, it was just rewards for Munster-man Keith Earls when he crossed for Ireland’s third. Unlucky to be held up over the line after some magical footwork earlier in the half, the ever alert Earls was on hand to scoop the loose ball after Andrew Trimble landed a crunching tackle on Eli Walker, and there was no catching the centre as he headed for the line on 31 minutes.

Jackson added the extras but Trimble would soon leave the game with a foot sprain – Munster’s Simon Zebo replacing the injured winger on 35 minutes.

Eventually working their way into the game after 30 minutes of Irish dominance, a clever line-out move gave the Welsh the final say of the half with Richard Hibbard touching down – 7-25 at the break.

Any hopes of a Welsh comeback in the second half were well and truly quashed within five minutes. Collective and sustained intensity on behalf of the Irish brought them to within inches of the line and when Zebo chose to go low down the short side, Gatland’s men had no answer.

The Cork Con winger also played a key role in setting up his Munster team-mate Felix Jones for Ireland’s fifth. With the Welsh again struggling to get number across, Zebo fired a beautifully weighted skip pass to the oncoming Jones who found himself on the left wing in scoring his third international try.

The introduction of Munster loosehead Dave Kilcoyne close to the 50 minute mark brought the provincial representation on the field to six players. Unfortunately though, following another strong Irish performance, openside Tommy O’Donnell would soon leave the field injured. After a collision in the tackle and having received treatment on the field for a number of minutes, O’Donnell left on a stretcher to warm applause and awaits further assessment from the Irish medical staff.

As they did in the opening 40, Wales had the final say of the half – and of the game – in running in a beautifully worked try from the ever skilful Justin Tipuric before Alex Cuthbert also crossed for a try.

However, it was too little too late, and, with Man of the Match Keith Earls leading the charge, Ireland ran out deserved 21-35 winners.