Ireland v Wales LIVE: Result and reaction from Six Nations
Ireland 31-7 Wales: Andy Farrell’s men were made to work hard by stubborn visitors but a bonus-point win moved them closer to a grand slam
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Your support makes all the difference.Grand slam-chasing Ireland rugby made it three bonus-point Six Nations wins from three against Wales rugby at the Aviva Stadium, racking up their 18th successive home triumph with a 31-7 victory.
The hosts dominated the first half and led by 17-0 at the break thanks to tries from Dan Sheehan and James Lowe. A penalty try for Wales and yellow card for Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne just after half-time threatened to make things interesting.
Ireland mostly retained control with 14 men, though a ragged second half remained competitive until Ciaran Frawley marked his first Six Nations start with a debut try on 67 minutes and Beirne added the bonus-point try at the death as Wales sank to their 10th defeat in their last 11 Six Nations game.
Ireland travel to England in two weeks before hoping to play for their second successive grand slam at home to Scotland on 16 March. Wales have back-to-back home games against France and Italy, with the latter now a potential wooden spoon decider.
Relive all the action from Dublin below:
Wales line-up
Wales XV: 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Keiron Assiratti; 4 Dafydd Jenkins (capt.), 5 Adam Beard; 6 Alex Mann, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Aaron Wainwright; 9 Tomos Williams, 10 Sam Costelow; 11 Rio Dyer, 12 Nick Tompkins, 13 George North, 14 Josh Adams; 15 Cameron Winnett.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin; 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady.
Ireland line-up
Ireland XV: 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3.Tadhg Furlong; 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 Tadhg Beirne; 6 Peter O’Mahony (capt), 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris; 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 10 Jack Crowley; 11 James Lowe, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Calvin Nash; 15 Ciaran Frawley.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Oli Jager, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan; 22 Conor Murray, 23 Stuart McCloskey.
Ireland v Wales team news
Ciaran Frawley is given the starting 15 shirt by Andy Farrell in the absence of the injured Hugo Keenan, but Caelan Doris is fit and starts in the back row. There are six forwards on the Ireland bench, including a potential debutant in Oli Jager, who impressed with the Crusaders in New Zealand before a midseason move to Munster, with only Conor Murray and Stuart McCloskey as back replacements.
Sam Costelow returns at fly half for Wales after missing the defeat to England, stepping in for Ioan Lloyd, who drops to the bench. That is the sole change to the starting line-up made by Warren Gatland, with the rest of the 15 intact after a strong first hour at Twickenham.
On the bench, there is a potential debutant in back rower Mackenzie Martin, and Dillon Lewis is primed for his first appearance of the championship after injury to Archie Griffin.
How to watch Ireland vs Wales
Ireland vs Wales is due to kick off at 2.15pm GMT on Saturday 24 February at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on ITV1, with coverage on the channel from 1.25pm GMT. A live stream will be available via ITVX.
If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
Ireland vs Wales
Ireland are looking to take another step towards a Six Nations grand slam as they host Wales at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon.
Andy Farrell’s side have been in strong form so far as they attempt to regain the tophy they won 2023, after shutting down France in Marseille and Italy in Dublin last time out.
The Irish now take on Wales who are winless in this campaign despite encouraging performances against Scotland and England in their opening two matches.
We’ll have all the action throughout the afternoon so stick around as we build-up to kick off at 2.15pm.
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