Wales 18-27 Ireland: Six Nations favourites seal Triple Crown
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Ireland overcame a much-improved Wales 18-27 in a hard-fought Six Nations clash on Saturday.
Andy Farrell's team, who were reduced to 14 men for 20 minutes after Garry Ringrose was sent off, made it three wins from as many Six Nations outings as they continued their surge towards the title and sealed the Triple Crown in the process.
Jack Conan went over early on at the Principality Stadium, with Sam Prendergast adding the extras before sending a penalty through the sticks to extend Ireland's lead to 10-0.
Yet Wales fought back to take a shock 13-10 half-time lead courtesy of a pair of Gareth Anscombe penalties and Jac Morgan's try, while Ringrose was sin-binned for a reckless head-on-head collision with Ben Thomas.
Ringrose saw that yellow upgraded to a 20-minute red at half-time, and Wales, playing under new coach Matt Sherratt for the first time following Warren Gatland's departure, made their numerical advantage count when Tom Rogers crossed.
But Prendergast nailed another penalty to halt Wales' momentum, before Jamie Osborne's try restored parity.
Prendergast then took control, staying composed with the boot as he converted three more penalties to see Ireland over the line as they edged further towards the title.
🏉 The Irish fight back in the second half ☘️ to secure the win against a spirited Wales side 🫡
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) February 22, 2025
✅ Ireland secure the triple crown 👑
✅ Grandslam title still on the books 💪 pic.twitter.com/tYu0FQss3r
Data Debrief: Plenty of fight, but no change in Wales' luck
Wales have now lost each of their last 15 Test matches, their longest ever such run. In fact, in the professional era, only Italy (L16 from 2019-2021) have gone on a longer losing run among Tier 1 nations.
Ireland, meanwhile, have now won each of their last four Six Nations matches against Wales, their joint-longest run against them in any iteration of the Championship (also W4 from 2001-2004). However their nine-point margin of victory today was their narrowest in that run.
They have now won their first three games in each of the last three editions of the Six Nations, becoming the first side to do so since Italy joined the Championship in 2000; previously, only England (2001/2002 and 2016/2017) had done so in back-to-back campaigns.
