Match Report - Wales crush shambolic Ireland to land Grand Slam
Wales were crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champions as they demolished Ireland 25-7 in Cardiff to claim European rugby’s glittering double prize.
The Principality Stadium threatened to lift from its foundations, with Wales making it 14 games unbeaten and giving head coach Warren Gatland a record-breaking Six Nations swansong.
Gatland’s final Six Nations game – he leaves Wales after the World Cup later this year – saw him become the first coach in Five or Six Nations history to win three Grand Slams.
Gareth Anscombe kicked 20 points – six penalties and the conversion of centre Hadleigh Parkes’ second-minute try – to sink Ireland in swirling rain under leaden skies on an afternoon when the visitors insisted the stadium roof remained open.
Ireland were washed away as Wales completed a first Six Nations clean sweep for seven years – a tournament record fourth Grand Slam – and landed their first Six Nations title since 2013, while also climbing above Ireland to second in the official world rankings.
WAL 25-7 IRE
Wales have done it! Capturing the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam in Cardiff with their 14th win on the bounce.
Diweddglo chwedlonol i'r ymgyrch Chwe Gwlad?, wedi ei sefydlu ar waith caled a chyfeillgarwch.
??????? #HWFN #ForTheJersey pic.twitter.com/nA5XgpNLEz
— Welsh Rugby Union ??????? (@WelshRugbyUnion) March 16, 2019
The outcome was never in doubt once Anscombe and Parkes combined to cut Ireland open after just 70 seconds, with the visitors’ only points coming from Jordan Larmour’s 80th-minute touchdown that his fellow replacement Jack Carty converted.
Ireland went into the game with an outside chance of title success, but the final Six Nations game for head coach Joe Schmidt and captain Rory Best will quickly be erased from the memory.
Wales have now claimed four Grand Slams in 15 seasons – 2005, 2008, 2012 and 2019 – and they will head to the World Cup six months from now as major title contenders.
Wales were unchanged from the side that beat Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend, while Ireland showed three switches as full-back Rob Kearney, flanker Sean O’Brien and lock Tadhg Beirne, who made his Six Nations debut, all started.
The stadium roof was open at Ireland’s request, but with a forecast of gale-force winds it was Wales that blew the game wide open with a brilliant early try.
Wales’ forwards laid the foundations, driving forcefully from a lineout, but the try owed everything to Anscombe, whose sublime angled kick off the outside off his right boot was caught by Parkes.
The Scarlets centre took his chance superbly, with Anscombe’s conversion making it 7-0, before Parkes then turned defender to pull off a stunning try-saving tackle on Ireland wing Jacob Stockdale.
Wales were then forced into a major reshuffle when wing George North was forced off injured. Dan Biggar replaced him, with Anscombe moving to full-back and Liam Williams switching to wing duties.
Anscombe, though, was not remotely knocked out of his stride and he kicked a penalty from just inside Ireland’s half to put Wales 10-0 ahead after 17 minutes.
It should have arguably been more just three minutes later, but Wales saw a penalty award reversed following a challenge by scrum-half Gareth Davies on Ireland centre Bundee Aki.
Ireland dominated in terms of territory during the third quarter, but they encountered a Wales defence as resilient and defiant as it had been in repelling Scotland seven days ago.
Another Anscombe penalty opened up a 13-point lead as the interval approached and, with the rain pouring down, Ireland appeared more miserable than the weather, being dominated by a title-hungry Wales team.
Anscombe then completed his penalty hat-trick, and Wales trooped off 16-0 ahead, 40 minutes from glory.
He then put the issue beyond doubt with two penalties during the third quarter, before adding another penalty 10 minutes from time and the celebrations could begin after one of Wales’ most dominant displays in recent memory.
It was a day when they rose to the occasion majestically, inspired by a number of world-class individual displays, but none more so than Anscombe’s as he came of age as a Test match performer.
Comments on RugbyPass
Havili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to comments