CARDIFF (Reuters) – Ireland coach Simon Easterby admitted that his side were made to sweat to the last as they eked out a 27-18 victory over hosts Wales in an enthralling Six Nations clash in Cardiff on Saturday and remained on course for a hat-trick of titles.
Ireland were not at their fluent best, and struggled in the scrums, but were also put under huge pressure by a rejuvenated Wales team that nevertheless slipped to a 15th straight defeat.
“I think there’s been some really poor media talk around Wales and the state of the game (in the country),” Easterby told reporters. “We knew they would be a tough opposition. We knew they would play with that type of passion.
“You look at the tries they scored and the one Ellis Mee didn’t in the corner, they have the ability to play with ball in hand. They made it tough. We knew it would be tougher than some in the media suggested.”
Ireland led 10-0 midway through the first half but were 13-10 behind at halftime. It was only in the closing stages of the game that they managed to pull away on the scoreboard.
“We knew Wales would come back into it if we gave them an opportunity. I’m pleased with how we dealt with that,” Easterby said.
Ireland lost centre Garry Ringrose to a 20-minute red card in the first half after a dangerous tackle that resulted in head-on-head contact with Wales centre Ben Thomas.
It was initially a yellow card before being upgraded to red on bunker review.
“Those can go either way,” Easterby said. “Ringrose is a brilliant player for us. Everything he does is with intent, in terms of the speed he works. That’s probably cost him.
“He’s not a dirty player. The way we’re playing the game at the moment, the bunker and the 20-minute red card are the rules of the game.”
(Reporting by Nick Said; editing by Clare Fallon)
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