Wayne Pivac confessed he was a relieved man after gaining his most significant win so far as Wales coach and proving he’s added something to his assets – a streak of luck.
Pivac’s team opened their Six Nations with a fortune-favoured 21-16 victory over Ireland in an empty Principality Stadium.
Ireland were the better side for much of the game, even though they played 67 minutes with only 14 men after Peter O’Mahony was sent off for smashing an elbow into Tomas Francis at a ruck.
Even then, Ireland took a deserved lead through the game’s first try through an old Pivac and Scarlets favourite, Tadgh Beirne, and it needed some sharp finishing from George North and Louis Rees-Zamitt to rescue things for Wales.
But there was more relief for Wales right at the end when Irish replacement Billy Burns kicked his penalty the wrong side of the corner flag instead of what might have been a match-winning forward drive.
“We made it hard for ourselves didn’t we?” admitted Pivac, whose only victory before this against a Six Nations opponent was against Italy a year ago.
“I’m very, very relieved obviously, and very happy to get off to a winning start.
“That’s the main thing, that’s round one and we just talked about that in the changing room so we’ll take that win any way we can and push forward now to Scotland next week.”
If the big positive for Wales was the result and Ireland’s shocking ill discipline through O’Mahony, there were setbacks in terms injuries to four players who could all miss the Scotland game at Murrayfield in six days’ time.
Dan Lydiate went off early with knee injury, Tomos Williams appeared to pull a hamstring and both Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos went off with head injuries.
“The turnaround means certain players won’t be playing for us. Head knocks in a six day turnaround mean certain players will be gone,” added Piac, who preferred to stress the positives, including a magnificent controlled dive to score by Rees-Zamitt.
“It was a fantastic finish from Louis. He took is superbly and it was a crucial score.
“We are disappointed with some aspects of the performance because we put ourselves under too much pressure.
“It was a mixed performance. We did some things well. The scrum was good, but there is still some work to work to do on the line-out.
“The discipline is also an area we have really got to have a look at. It was one of those games that kept us our feet.
️ “The game told a story about coming under pressure when you’re a man to the good, but we came through it.”@WelshRugbyUnion captain Alun Wyn Jones believes his side have started to redeem themselves after #GuinnessSixNations victory over @IrishRugby in Cardiff
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 7, 2021
“But we wanted to win. It was day one of a competition, which we’re looking at as a whole.”
Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones – sporting a black eye reportedly as a result of a punch from squad member Jake Ball – seemed to confirm his shiner had come from inside the camp when he said: “It’s just the game.
“I’m sure there’s a queue of hundreds, so we just move on. We showed character and it was a tight finish in the end.
“There were forced errors and execution errors and we’ll have to review that. But it was all about the result. The character was shown after we put ourselves under pressure.
“We still need to improve our execution. Scotland beat us in the autumn and they’ve kicked on from that campaign and started with a bang with their win over England.
“We’ll kick on and get our teeth stuck into that next week.”
A game of three tries, a red card, a match-saving tackle by Justin Tipuric, and a careless missed touch by Ireland’s Burns in the final seconds suggested drama but the game was more about bitten off opportunities than chewed fingernails.
The kick that moved Leigh Halfpenny to 6th on the all-time Guinness Six Nations point scorer list, surpassing compatriot Neil Jenkins!
Chapeau, @LeighHalfpenny1 #GuinnessSixNations #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/8H0P1ge5TD
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 7, 2021
Wales were outplayed for long periods, even when Ireland were down to 14 men from the 13th minute, but Andy Farrell’s side carry glitches and Wales eventually had just enough to squeeze home.
The concern for Pivac will be that the dominant pack was generally the seven men in green and it was only when Wales pounced on Irish errors that the decisive tries came for North and Rees-Zamitt.
For far too long, Wales looked like the team who were a man short as Irish power around the fringes kept Alun Wyn Jones and his pack on the back foot.
Although the Welsh scrum was an improvement on the brittle effort of the autumn, it was hard to judge after O’Mahony’s dismissal reduced the Irish power. The line-out, however, despite the return of hooker Ken Owens, is still a source of trouble and confusion for Wales and its disfunction led to the first Irish try.
The Wesh captain, in fact, was one of the few players who wasn’t prepared to take a step backwards and if his tackling had been matched by some of his teammates then Wales may have had far fewer anxious moments.
Missed tackles enabled Ireland to score the try that put them 13-6 ahead and it was only when Wales found some cutting edge in the second half that they were able to retrieve the situation.
Have we mentioned this guy is 20?
A finish in the corner from @LouisReesZammit #GuinnessSixNations #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/zoMwXdTBnQ
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 7, 2021
North benefitted from a slick pass from Josh Navidi and then showed the finishing power he has rediscovered for the Ospreys this season.
Rees-Zamitt’s finish was more spectacular, the young Gloucester flier squeezing in at the corner when he had no margin for error.
The try – which came at a crucial time when Wales needed to gain points after upping the tempo – showed all the wing’s class and athleticism and made the loss of the suspended Josh Adams easier to stomach for Pivac.
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