Deadly Stockdale inspires Ireland to victory in Cardiff
THIS rough old sport does not have a habit of producing too many fairytale endings, especially when it comes to World Cup warm-ups, and Warren Gatland was not handed one in his last game in Cardiff as Wales coach.
It was partly his choice. Rather than turn the heat up on Ireland’s World Cup preparations after their hiding by England by giving them a second shellacking on consecutive weekends – as he had promised – he gave Ireland coach Joe Schmidt a reprieve by fielding a shadow Wales side.
It cost Gatland not only a farewell victory, but it also brought an end to the 11-match unbeaten run at home that he cherished. However, the outgoing Wales coach – who showed rare emotion during his last Wales team talk on home soil – is a pragmatist above all.
Gatland knows that the pre-World Cup phoney war will soon be over, and that it was more important to see what he had in his reserve bank than it was to go full tilt to destroy the last vestiges of Irish confidence.
It explains why he made 14 changes from the team that beat England narrowly on the same ground a fortnight ago, and it also had the desired effect of resolving which fly-half is next in line to Dan Biggar, following Gareth Anscombe being ruled out of the World Cup.
Gatland was evenhanded in giving the young Cardiff Blues fly-half Jarrod Evans the first half in which to prove his point, before handing over to his more experienced Scarlets counterpart, Rhys Patchell, after the break.
Patchell won the trial head-to-head comfortably by sparking a Welsh revival in the final quarter which saw them come close to overhauling a 22-3 Irish lead, and in the process putting a gloss on a performance which did not otherwise have very much shine.
Patchell not only gave Wales some much-needed shape and direction, he also scored the 75th minute try which put them within a converted touchdown of a win in the last knockings. Add to that a jarring tackle which halted Chris Farrell just before the line and forced a knock-on, and he could not have done a lot more to make his case.
To be fair to Evans, he was given a shaky forward platform with precious little momentum in the first half, with captain Josh Navidi the only Welsh forward who seemed capable of getting over the gainline.
This was because the Irish side that Schmidt selected, which showed 11 changes from the 57-15 record defeat inflicted by England, was a much more vital, organised outfit than the bedraggled crew at Twickenham.
With Dave Kilcoyne at high revs at loose-head they were far better at the scrum, where overall they forced the Welsh into conceding five penalties. This included one for a scrum collapse which saw replacement tight-head Leon Brown yellow-carded in the 51st minute, leaving the Welsh a man short just as they were trying to loosen the Irish grip on the game.
Ireland took the initiative from the outset, with the Irish much more cohesive and combative in defence than they had been against England. With lock James Ryan, skipper Peter O’Mahony wearing No.7 and blindside Tadhg Beirne leading the defensive press they also used the choke-tackle to turn-over Welsh carriers.
They also had the advantage of the Connacht half-back pairing of Kieran Marmion and Jack Carty pulling the tactical strings, and after an early exchange of penalties between Carty and Jarrod Evans it was the Irish who made the first strike.
It started with a clean catch by the former Sale full-back Will Addison, and from the ruck Kilcoyne escaped the clutches of Navidi to storm into the Welsh half. When the prop was eventually overhauled the ball was moved swiftly to Carty, and his well-timed pass sent Andrew Conway on an arcing run into the Welsh 22 before he linked with Jacob Stockdale, giving his fellow wing a clear run to the line.
With Carty converting Ireland led 10-3 midway through the first-half, and with Evans missing a penalty from in front of the posts the Welsh profligacy was soon punished.
When a Welsh attack foundered due to a loose backhand pass by Aaron Shingler and Irish line speed, Stockdale proved again what a lethal finisher he can be by toe-poking the ball deep into the Welsh 22 and winning the race to catch the bounce before touching down.
Although Carty could not add the extras Ireland went into the half-time break 15-3 ahead, and Schmidt was sufficiently pleased with the head start that is two-try prized asset, Stockdale, was hauled off for safekeeping.
Soon after the start of the second half Wales mounted one of the first coherent attacking passages after a Hallam Amos catch had sent a raiding party of strapping wing Owen Lane, centres Owen Watkin, Scott Williams, and No.9 Aled Davies into the Irish 22.
However, the Irish were soon back in the ascendant thanks to their scrummaging superiority with referee Romain Poite warning Navidi that his front row were in jeopardy.
His message was: “Your engagement is too close, and not steady”. When the next scrum collapsed and Brown was sin-binned Wales could not complain they had no warning, Gatland had also been given notice that his reserve scrummaging strength might be a World Cup Achilles heel.
Ireland were camped on the Welsh line and would have scored had Carty’s pass to Conway not been a couple of yards forward – however, they were playing advantage and new they had a scrum penalty to fall back on.
They duly did so, and when Ireland got the drive on at the subsequent five metre scrum and Wales wheeled deliberately, the referee had no hesitation in awarding Ireland a penalty try.
Trailing by 19 points with only the final quarter to play Wales needed a scoring blitz to save the match, and they made a promising start when pick-and-drives by Navidi and James Davies saw Watkin and Scott Williams combine for Lane to pick up the pass on the bounce and step inside to wrongfoot the Irish cover for a well taken try.
Patchell’s conversion from the touchline cut the deficit to 22-10, and with Wales finally mounting some pressure, and their red-head replacement flyhalf firing penalties into the corner they were unlucky not to score again when Elliott Dee was dispossessed by Irish bench scrum-half Luke McGrath as he dived for the line.
Wales also had a lucky escape when lock Jake Ball threw a hospital pass to openside James Davies, forcing him to jump to take it and collect Bundee Aki’s shoulder at the same time. Aki’s centre partner Gary Ringrose snapped up the gift, only to hear the TMO rule it out for a dangerous tackle.
However, Patchell was not to be denied his chance to shine, and when Wales managed to win a scrum put in under the Irish posts and kept the pressure on with a series of forward drives, a pass from Tomos Williams gave his fly-half the stage.
Patchell made his statement loud and clear, cutting inside Ringrose to dart over, and then converted the try.
These teams meet again in Dublin on Saturday, and whether Gatland and Schmidt decide to go at it mob-handed, or with mix-and-match outfits, is anybody’s guess.