Ireland, shaken up in the second half, defeated Wales (31-7) on Saturday in the Six Nations Tournament in Dublin after a less successful meeting than usual, but sufficient to extend the dreams of a second Grand Slam in a row.
The green tide which swept away France (38-17) and Italy (36-0) was more discreet at the Aviva stadium, slowed down by unusual blunders and by the valor of a young, eye-catching Welsh team , despite the bubble displayed at half-time (17-0).
The XV of Clover nevertheless ensured the essential with this third victory in three matches, with the offensive bonus obtained on the gong, enough to offer itself a probable “final” for the title against England in two weeks, the March 9 at Twickenham.
English coach Andy Farrell will return to the country with the possibility of further achieving the objective at the start of the Tournament: winning a second successive Grand Slam, something no nation has accomplished since the transition to six nations in 2000.
In the post-war period, only England (1991-1992) and France (1997-1998) achieved a flawless performance two editions in a row, at a time when the Tournament was played with five players.
Against the English, however, it will be necessary to erase the faults seen at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The defending champions were unusually clumsy in touch, at least in the first half, and sometimes undisciplined in defense. They started the second period with fourteen men after a yellow card received by Tadhg Beirne, with a penalty try (43rd, 17-7), and ended it in the same way after the warning from James Ryan ( 76th).
Bundee Aki’s try on the hour mark was also invalidated for a preliminary forward from Robbie Henshaw, his center partner.
They nevertheless managed to cross the goal regularly through Dan Sheehan (21st), James Lowe (32nd), Ciaran Frawley (67th) and Beirne (80th 1), a fourth try from the second line which offers the offensive bonus in extremis.
No team has managed to achieve five bonus victories in the same edition since the introduction of offensive bonuses in 2017. Scotland, the final opponent of the 2024 edition, had deprived the XV of Clover of such a performance the last year, by one try (22-7 victory for Ireland with three tries).
In two weeks, Ireland will try to continue this mission against the English, who they could break a record in the process. On Saturday, Andy Farrell’s team achieved an eleventh success in a row in the Tournament, something only the XV de la Rose had managed to do so far in 2017.
Wales will host France on March 10 in Cardiff, with three defeats under their belt. The Leek XV, in reconstruction, again showed good things in Dublin, but also a guilty irregularity from one period to another, as against Scotland (27-26) and England (16-14) .
