Surrender by witless Wales greeted with dumb disbelief

In the immediate aftermath of the most debilitating defeat yet, Alan Davies, the Wales coach, was asked if his job was on the line. "I would hope not. We've got to pull together," he replied. "From championship to spoon is hard to accept. It doesn't mean we've lost faith in this group of hard-working internationals. It isn't getting knocked down that counts, it's if you get up."

With J P R Williams having resigned as an adviser and with Geoff Evans considering his position as a selector following a "serious disagreement" prior to the Ireland dbcle, there is more evidence of tearing apart than pulling together.

In the hall of infamy Davies was not sure whether this match should take pride of place. "It's difficult to put a measure of negative on it," he said. "If you look at my face I don't have to say that much."

Wales, whose last victory over Ireland in Cardiff was in 1983, suffered only the second whitewash in their history. It was not simply defeat per se on Saturday that left the Principality in a state of dumb disbelief, but the manner of it. Wales failed to score a try and, despite an abundance of possession, never looked like doing so.

The impression that the team was in disarray was given in the opening minute when Ireland won a line-out followed by a penalty and Gareth Llewellyn hastily summoned his pack together for an impromptu tactical discussion. It was as if they had never met before.

Wales still won plenty of ball but were embarrassingly inept when it came to breaking down Ireland's defence. Peter Clohessy, who is unlikely to make himself available for Ireland's World Cup squad, was given a torrid time by Mike Griffiths and Richie Collins was allowed to dominate the tail of the line-out but if the forwards as a unit were unimpressive, the threequarters were dire.

It is not Alan Davies's fault that Robert Jones, for example, should give the sort of performance that made the selectors drop him in the first place. Jones had the ball in his hands 55 times, compared to 26 for Niall Hogan, and even if a lot of the possession was cumbersome, the scrum-half's use of it was flawed in every facet of play. Not one member of the back line looked capable of providing a touch of guile or genius that had always been taken for granted by the massed choirs, a birthright to playing at the Arms Park. The choirs fell silent.

"Attention to all police and stewards, Mr Rugby is in the stadium," it was announced at one point. Ten minutes later: "Mr Rugby has left the stadium." While it is tempting to think that Mr Rugby is a good judge of a game, it turned out be the code name for a security operation. The Princess of Wales was present but it was also tempting to think that if there was any threat it would be directed not at her but at the WRU hierarchy for a betrayal of heritage. The game was so bad that Gerry Murphy, the Ireland coach, remarked: "A neutral observer might be asking for his money back."

The worst thing Collins did was to put Eric Elwood out of the game with a late, high challenge. Not only was it illegal but it brought Paul Burke on and he took his chance splendidly. Ireland produced the only coherent move of the entire match when Burke, Philip Danaher and Richard Wallace created a try for Brendan Mullin, who was winning his 50th cap.

"Some of our strength seems to have deserted us," Robert Norster, the Wales manager, said. "We won hard-earned ball and then gave it away. We conceded a lot of penalties, which is a sign of a side losing its shape." Noel Murphy said that when the countries meet again, in the World Cup in Johannesburg in June, Ireland will be fitter and better prepared. The Irish manager added: "I feel for Welsh rugby." Coming from a man who looked a couple of leaves short of a shamrock in Dublin just two weeks ago, this was a most damning indictment.

Wales: Penalties Jenkins (4). Ireland: Try Mullin; Conversion: Burke; Penalties Burke(3).

Wales: M Back (Bridgend); I Evans (Llanelli, capt), M Hall (Cardiff), N Davies (Llanelli), W Proctor (Llanelli); N Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Jones (Swansea); M Griffiths (Cardiff), G Jenkins (Swansea), S John, P Davies (Llanelli), G Llewellyn (Neath), A Gibbs (Newbridge), E Lewis (Cardiff), R Collins ( Pontypridd).

Ireland: J Staples (Harlequins); R Wallace (Garryowen), B Mullin (Blackrock College), P Danaher (Garryowen), S Geoghegan (Bath); E Elwood (Lansdowne), N Hogan (Terenure College); N Popplewell ( Wasps), T Kingston (Dolphin, capt), P Clohessy (Young Munster), G Fulcher (Cork Constitution), D Tweed (Ballymena), A Foley (Shannon), P Johns (Dungannon), E Halvey (Shannon). Replacement: P Burke (Cork Constitution) for Elwood, 21.

Referee: R Megson (Scotland).