Andy Farrell gives Wales flowers but hints they pushed luck in one area

Andy Farrell hinted that Wales may have pushed their luck in one particular area of the game after Ireland kept alive their slim hopes of reclaiming the Guinness Six Nations title with a 27-17 bonus-point win in Dublin.

The Ireland boss praised a “dogged” Welsh defensive effort that prevented his side from reproducing the ruthless display that dismantled England in round three, but suggested the visitors repeatedly rode their luck in what he described as a refereeing “hot bed”.

Despite tries from Jacob Stockdale, Jack Crowley, Jack Conan and Jamie Osborne securing the win, Farrell’s side were forced to scrap throughout as Wales stayed in the contest with a dogged performance that included a fine solo score from prop Rhys Carre.

Ireland head coach Farrell said: “I actually thought Wales did fantastically well to stay in the game.

“They played tough, they hung on in there and kept it close on the scoreboard. I thought they were tremendous tonight.

“It was a proper Test match and for us to come away with a bonus-point win, we’d certainly take that with how the game unfolded because it was a different game to the game we played last time around.

“We weren’t playing rugby on the front foot because of how well they defended. I thought they were excellent in contact and at set-piece and they can be really proud of their performance.”

Although Ireland remain in contention for championship glory, table-topping France will retain the title with a round to spare by beating Scotland with a bonus point at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Wales, meanwhile, will bid to avoid the wooden spoon for the third successive Six Nations when they host Italy on the final weekend after they slipped to a 15th consecutive championship defeat, despite a creditable display at the Aviva Stadium.

“I thought we came up against a rock-solid defence who kept knocking us back and we should have been just a little bit more patient at times and I thought we’d get our reward from that,” said Farrell.

“But most of the credit of how that Test match unfolded has to go to Wales because I thought they were outstanding in the way they went about the fight.

“It was a dogged Test match and that’s how these type of Test matches should be.”

Farrell also hinted that Wales, in one particular area of the game, had pushed their luck at times. Steve Tandy’s men threatened multiple intercepts and threaded a fine line, if you’ll excuse the pun, with referee Karl Dickson.

“The offside is the hotbed, isn’t it, for referees at this moment in time and to keep giving them another opportunity on another opportunity.

“When you’re defending your own line pretty well, it gives them the territory and the feel-good factor that they’re after, there’s no doubt.”