RUGBY/Ireland 35; Wales 12: Just your typical, opening-day run-out. Ireland blew off the cobwebs in kick-starting their World Cup preparations with a predictably patchy performance writes Gerry Thornley at Lansdowne Road.
And much like the comparable 38-9 win over Romania almost a year ago, because of the limitations of gamey opposition there's an inherent risk in reading too much into it.
In truth, it was a better effort than a year ago, and with more pluses to it. First and foremost, Keith Wood is back. The old warrior certainly looked in need of the run-out but, as expected and as promised, put himself about with typical gusto for his invaluable 67 minutes on the pitch.
"I was sucking diesel by the time I was hauled off," he admitted, but with a guest appearance or two for Munster and a test or two to come, he should have just enough games under his belt to augment his intense fitness regime of the last few months.
Encouragingly, even though Mike Mullins has long since been bafflingly left out of the equation, Eddie O'Sullivan seems on course to harness most of Ireland's big guns for the World Cup party, and Paul O'Connell's barnstorming, two-try performance underlines the worth of trying to accommodate him in the second row alongside Malcolm O'Kelly.
Yet despite his own adroitly taken try, there was evidence that modifying O'Kelly's role as Ireland's primary, middle-of-the-line ball winner after his brilliant campaign last season diminished his performance.
It will also have annoyed O'Connell that he failed to control the short defensive line-out which led to Gareth Thomas outflanking the Irish defence off second phase for Wales's first try. Ireland coughed up five line-outs as Wood's darts, by his own admission, were a bit awry.
He conceded that he even made one call that didn't exist any more, "which makes it rather difficult to win the ball back".
In the scrums, Ireland's remodelled front row were disquietingly messed around, although a plethora of penalties either way is usually strong evidence that the referee isn't on top of things.
Like Wood and O'Connell, David Wallace is a weapon, and here he provided real impact off the bench.
There are not many forwards in Irish rugby who are capable of the trademark, dynamic burst he made in instigating the move for his own post-interval try. Victor Costello and Keith Wood maybe, but no others.
Wallace had replaced the hamstrung Anthony Foley, who had, ironically, looked fitter and slimmer than ever in an impressive first half.
Collectively, there were some good spells and some well constructed tries but the game wasn't without its longeurs, Ireland at times labouring to transfer possession and territory into points.
The biggest failing seemed to be a lack of depth coming onto the ball, with receivers taking it statically and too close to the advancing red line.
After one particularly laborious spell coming up to half-time, this was highlighted by way of contrast when the omnipresent Keith Gleeson took a good line from deep to cut through the Welsh defence, but as happened on many other occasions when clean incisions were made, the support wasn't there quickly enough.
The apparent policy to reject all penalties at goal and instead go for line-outs in the corners was not actually something that Ireland had talked much about beforehand, instead evolving as the match progressed.
Six attempted line-out mauls in the first half were held up, though O'Sullivan was not particularly disappointed about this, before the policy was finally rewarded with O'Connell's ultra-determined, get-outa-my-way, injury-time finale to round things off.
Wales defended those first-half drives impressively - once they drove O'Connell back scarcely before he landed, though he was airborne a tad too long perhaps - but O'Sullivan derived encouragement from the way Ireland kept thinking in that spell, varying the three attempted line-outs before finally scoring when Gleeson cleverly helped drive Alan Quinlan over the line.
Aside from marshalling the defence with typical authority and presence, Kevin Maggs took stock ball up the middle which was invariably a source of go-forward ruck ball and the prelude to the opening two tries.
O'Connell had also been an unlikely first try scorer when crashing over from David Humprheys's mis-pass for an impressive, multi-phase try. One can think of safer places to stand than in this fella's path, and certainly not with the try line in his focus.
He thus tripled his test tally, having scored on his debut against Wales in 2002. As his ensuing bout of concussion eroded any memories of that score or anything else from what should have been one of the most memorable days of his career, it's no wonder he was making doubly sure this time.
Indeed, though much of the penetration came from Maggs, the underused Geordan Murphy (the game's class act) and Brian O'Driscoll, ultimately all five tries were scored by forwards, evidence of the attempt to have forwards interchanging with backs in a more multi-faceted running game.
"We have put a lot of work into the forwards working with and off the backs, not just separately, and there's a lot of pressure on the forwards to run good lines off the backs," said O'Sullivan.
"We have some good game breakers in the backs but if we've forwards in support that creates more problems for defences."
Ireland are also endeavouring to offload before or in the tackle more as well. If you can reduce the amount of times your team go to ground with the ball by even five or 10 per cent, they become instantly more penetrative.
"The thing to remember as well is that when you pursue that policy of offloading in the tackle it does increase the turnover rate because there will be contact," O'Sullivan stressed.
"A guy will offload at the best possible time but he'll get hit at the time or the guy receiving it will. We have to accept there's a price for that. Hopefully it's not too high a price."
The best example of all this was probably O'Kelly's try, which showed the value of being able to score off turnover ball, even from long range, when defences are more off guard. Murphy was the key creator, Reggie Corrigan and Humphreys the support acts.
Wales had plenty of possession if not territory, reflecting a policy of running the ball from everywhere. It gave the Irish defence an arduous work-out, if not a particularly pacy or penetrative one.
It had been, O'Sullivan maintained, an informative exercise for him. But with a much changed, more experimental selection in the offing against Italy in Limerick on Saturday week, that warm-up might be even more revealing.
SCORING SEQUENCE
5 mins: O'Connell try, Humphreys con 7-0; 10 mins: Thomas try 7-5; 31 mins: Quinlan try, Humphreys con 14-5; half-time: 14-5; 41 mins: Wallace try, Humphreys con 21-5; 47 mins: O'Kelly try, Humphreys con 28-5; 67 mins: G Evans try, Harris con 28-12; 81 mins: O'Connell try, Murphy con 35-12.
IRELAND: G Murphy (Leicester); T Howe (Ulster and Dungannon), B O'Driscoll (Leinster and Blackrock), K Maggs (Bath), A Horgan (Munster and Cork Con); D Humphreys (Ulster and Dungannon), P Stringer (Munster and Shannon); R Corrigan (Leinster and Greystones), K Wood (Unattached, captain), S Best (Ulster and Belfast Harlequins), M O'Kelly (Leinster and St Mary's), P O'Connell (Munster and Young Munster), V Costello (Leinster and St Mary's), K Gleeson (Leinster and St Mary's), A Foley (Munster and Shannon). Replacements: D Wallace (Munster and Garryowen) for Quinlan (32-40 mins) and for Foley (half-time), J Fitzpatrick (Castres) for Best, G Dempsey (Leinster and Terenure) for Humphreys (both 62 mins), S Byrne (Leinster and Blackrock) for Wood, D O'Callaghan (Munster and Cork Con) for O'Kelly (68 mins), G Easterby (Rotherham) for Stringer, G D'Arcy (Leinster and Lansdowne) for Howe (both 78 mins).
WALES: N Robinson (Cardiff); G Evans (Llanelli), J Robinson (Cardiff), I Harris (Cardiff), G Thomas (Celtic Warriors, capt); C Sweeney (Celtic Warriors), D Peel (Llanelli); D Jones (Neath-Swansea), M Davies (Celtic Warriors), B Evans (Cardiff), M Owen (Gwent), G Llewellyn (Neath-Swansea), R Oakley (Gwent), R Parks (Celtic Warriors), A Popham (Leeds). Replacements: G Jenkins (Celtic Warriors) for Evans (52 mins), H Bennett (Neath-Swansea) for Davies (67 mins), V Cooper (Llanelli) for Owen (68 mins).
Referee: Joël Dumé (France).
