Ireland 36 Wales 15After three successive defeats to, admittedly, altogether tougher opposition, Ireland rediscovered their winning ways at the expense of Wales yesterday.

The timing was useful given next up is a game against the world champions and Grand Slam holders next Saturday week in Twickenham, where England seemingly haven't lost since Christ was a carpenter.

A fifth successive win over the Welsh was a good deal more handsome than the 36-15 scoreline intimated as Eddie O'Sullivan thus maintained his record of never having lost to a side outside the world's big five.

On a bitingly cold, windy day, the stadium rocked to the pre-match anthems before a minute's silence was observed for the victims of the Dublin Bus accident on Saturday. Despite the kick-off being delayed by 10 minutes, in time-honoured fashion there were still hundreds filing in as Ronan O'Gara kicked off.

By the time they were in their seats, the writing was already on the wall, Shane Byrne having rumbled over. Fittingly, it came from an Irish lineout maul. A trademark of the Shannon, Munster and Ireland packs coached by Niall O'Donovan, this was the bedrock of Ireland's domination up front.

The supremacy extended to the breakdown/tackle area as well as the scrums, and with the newly-devised Brian O'Driscoll-Gordon D'Arcy midfield partnership and co locating a decidedly soft centre in the Welsh defence, by the hour mark they were six tries and 36-3 to the good, the returning captain accounting for two of them in what was a stunning return to combat even by his exceptional standards.

D'Arcy too deserved a score, but his first home Six Nations start ended prematurely when he sustained a bruised back after a stunning solo break. O'Sullivan estimated this week's welcome break should ensure his fitness for the Twickenham encounter.

Alas, the prognosis was not so good for another making his first championship start at Lansdowne Road. Donncha O'Callaghan was helped off in the 37th minute with damaged medial knee ligaments.

"He'd be under pressure to be available for England. He'll have a scan tomorrow (Monday) but two weeks might be a bit of a stretch for him," said O'Sullivan

For Wales though, buoyed by a belief that they would not only beat Ireland but also emerge as real challengers to France and England, the wounds cut much deeper. The thousands of supporters who travelled over with a spring in their step were met with a cold blast of what coach Steve Hansen acknowledged was a reality check. Rather forlornly, he commented: "I'm sure some people will be hysterical about it and call it a false dawn and all that nonsense," before insisting one bad day didn't negate their improvement of the last year.

His Ireland counterpart was "very pleased with the overall performance". O'Sullivan had said the Irish squad had identified the need to dominate Wales up front, and they certainly did that.

All in all, it was a fairly complete tactical coup for O'Sullivan, and he was entitled to laud the O'Driscoll-D'Arcy partnership.

"I was very happy with it. They're quite similar as players, both quite elusive at close quarters, but they can also distribute. And from a defensive point of view that makes it quite difficult because they can off-load. They also defended together very well and if it was a gamble, it worked." Touché.

O'Driscoll reckoned too much had been made of the selection. "Basically, we're just moving in one channel", from where they play for Leinster. For this game, and especially against this Welsh defence, it undoubtedly worked, though you still sense a slightly short-term look to it. Most of the inroads they achieved were down to individual brilliance, and the rejigged three-quarter line cannot be said to have given much width to Ireland's game. Then again, it probably wasn't designed to on this occasion.

Ireland defended excellently for an hour, gang-tackling Welsh ball-carriers to prevent them off-loading and forcing them to the ground, where the likes of O'Driscoll, D'Arcy and the excellent Keith Gleeson pillaged and poached the ball all day long.

One couldn't dispute O'Sullivan's claim that the game was over by the time Wales came into it. Yet once Wales added some straight running to their wide game, and held onto the ball through the phases, they did create overlaps out wide.

The two tries scored by Tom Shanklin were mere consolation but O'Sullivan and defensive coach Mike Ford will be obliged to nit-pick when the squad assemble for a three-day camp in midweek and with England's inestimably more potent, multi-phase game in mind, they'll certainly have scope to.

It is a daunting assignment, but at least Ireland have the winning habit again, and up front they know they can be a match for anybody.