03/06/26 04:53:00
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03/06 16:51 CST Ireland scrapes past Wales in Dublin to stay in Six Nations
title race
Ireland scrapes past Wales in Dublin to stay in Six Nations title race
DUBLIN (AP) --- Ireland scraped past Wales 27-17 and stayed in the Six Nations
title race on Friday for at least 24 hours.
France can successfully retain the title by beating Scotland at Murrayfield on
Saturday.
While Ireland won its first-ever Friday home championship match with a four-try
bonus point, Wales took most of the plaudits.
Wales started as a 20-point underdog but was trailing by only two points as
late as the 68th minute.
Wales hadn't beaten Ireland in Dublin in the championship in 14 years but Irish
flyhalf Jack Crowley was made to kick a 77th-minute penalty to avoid the chance
of a humbling draw.
Wales was second best in terms of territory and possession but backed up its
three-point home loss to Scotland in the last round with magnificent defense,
and an even better all-round show of commitment and progress.
Wales' Six Nations losing streak was extended to 15 games and it may yet finish
the tournament with a third consecutive wooden spoon, but it was more
encouragingly competitive against Ireland than coach Steve Tandy hoped for.
There was none of the fist-pumping joy by Ireland coach Andy Farrell that he
showed during the record away win against England two weeks ago as his team
failed to back up with the expected big win over Wales.
For Farrell there was simply relief. His side was far more clinical but it was
made to fight hard for every point.
Wales didn't give Ireland the space on the outside that it enjoyed against
England. Wales' rush defense, spearheaded by center Eddie James, frequently
shut down Ireland attempts to go wide. Flankers Alex Mann and James Botham were
also competitive in the breakdowns.
Ireland started impressively. A scrum penalty put them on the attack and winger
Jacob Stockdale ran a nice line off the shoulder of midfielder Stuart
McCloskey, his Ulster clubmate, to score in the sixth minute.
Ireland had two more attacks of at least a dozen phases in the first 20
minutes. But an Irish knock-on rubbed out a try for Jack Conan, and the second
chance was turned over by Mann.
Holding out Ireland galvanized Wales.
Ireland took a half-hour to score again, through Crowley, who couldn't convert
his own try.
The Irish looked set to reach halftime up 12-3. But Wales prop Rhys Carre, who
was prevented from adding another tap penalty try that he managed against
France and Scotland, made like a winger from 35 meters out and blew past three
Irish to score a brilliant try. Wales' leading try-scorer was even smiling
before he scored.
The Irish gave themselves breathing room on the scoreboard again when Conan
scored from a tap penalty after halftime.
But Wales refused to bow down. Josh Adams blew a try throwing a forward pass
but Botham scored off a ruck and Dan Edwards converted for 19-17.
It took a Joe McCarthy steal to launch a fourth Irish try walked in by fullback
Jamie Osborne with 12 minutes to go, and Crowley, who missed two easy
goalkicks, made the result safe with his only penalty.
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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