LONDON – Wales have exacted revenge for their loss at the beginning of the month with a 16-10 shock victory over Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.
An inspired performance by back-rower Justin Tipuric, 11 points from lynchpin Leigh Halfpenny and a stubborn defence was enough to hold the Irish off after an onslaught in the final minutes almost led to Ireland claiming victory.
It was a match that ebbed and flowed, however, it was a far cry from the excitement we saw in Cardiff in their first World Cup warm-up match. And as teams endeavoured to play the style of rugby we saw in their first encounter in August, both teams struggled to play with the same fluency and at times, looked to struggle.
Tipuric was superb as he led a significantly different outfit from the understrength Welsh that suffered defeat to the Irish last time around. At the beginning of the month, the Wales pack made the gain line look impassable however, this time, it was breached with ease time and time again as their intensity was impressive.
As for the visitors, they yet again dominated at scrum time which they’ll hope continues leading into the World Cup. While they were dominant at set piece, they struggled to get any parity at the break down against a Welsh time that really muscled up.
Both teams have one final warm-up game before the big show kicks off with Ireland facing England in an interesting battle at Twickenham and Wales taking on Italy in Cardiff.