Four-try Ireland end Pivac's short Wales honeymoon

reland fullback Jordan Larmour has scored a fine solo try as they claimed a deserved 24-14 bonus-point victory over defending champions Wales in a bruising encounter that lifted the hosts to the top of the Six Nations.

Prop Tadhg Furlong, flanker Josh van der Flier and winger Andrew Conway also crossed on Saturday for the home side, who used their forward power to gain territory and set-piece dominance and outscored their visitors four tries to two.

“Our physicality was brought to the next level and in all fairness to Wales, they came and they pushed us hard so it was just great to get the win,” Ireland winger Jacob Stockdale told ITV

“They came and they fired a few shots early on and we know how good we can be when we’re all over our carrying and our break down and it just had to come throughout the game.

“Once were started to do that the tries came and it was a really fun game to play in.”

Scrumhalf Tomos Williams and flank Justin Tipuric scored fo r Wales, who suffered their first Six Nations defeat in nine matches having completed the grand slam in 2019.

Wales Captain Alun Wyn Jones admitted it was tough to take positives from a game which ended in defeat.

“Ultimately Test rugby is about winning isn’t it?” Jones told ITV.

“You can have all the enterprise and all the beauty you like but ultimately it’s about the result.”

It is also a first loss for new Wales coach Wayne Pivac, while Ireland counterpart Andy Farrell now has back-to-back wins heading into a meeting with England at Twickenham on February 22.

Ireland dominated the opening 20 minutes and eventually Larmour was put into space out wide and saw off four defenders to power over the line.

The visitors were dealt another blow when in-form wing Josh Adams was forced off injured after 25 minutes, but shortly afterwards they grabbed the lead.

Jones provided a sumptuous offload in the tackle for Dan Biggar and the five-eighth fed t he ball inside for Williams to score.

The halfback, however, then dropped a routine pass five metres from his own goal-line.

From the resultant scrum, Ireland took the ball through the phases for Furlong to barge his way over and give the home side a 12-7 halftime lead.

Ireland kept up their territorial advantage in the second period and were rewarded with a try from a driving lineout as Van der Flier rose from the melee with the ball in hand.

Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes then lost control of the ball as he stretched to dot it down over the line, before Conway produced the final score, crossing in the corner to claim the bonus point for the home side.

The Welsh will seek to get their campaign back on track when they host France in Cardiff in a fortnight.

AAP

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