Wales finale will be Best of times for Rory

IRELAND skipper Rory Best looked forward to a monumental clash with Wales in his final Six Nations match after yesterday’s morale-boosting defeat of France in Dublin.

‘That was a lot closer to how we want to be known and how we want to play,’ said Best, who will retire after the World Cup.

Ireland lost to England in their opening Six Nations match before stuttering wins over Italy and Scotland raised further questions about their World Cup credentials.

Now they can upset Wales’ Grand Slam hopes and overtake the Six Nations leaders with a win in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon.

Hooker Best, 36, added: ‘It’s a really great way to finish off my Six Nations career. There’s few better stadiums in the world to play in, never mind with all the expectations that they’re going to have. It’ll be a fantastic occasion to sign off my Six Nations career.’

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said: ‘To dominate like that in a Six Nations game is rare. Up front we were superb — the pressure we put on their lineout, the quality of our lineout ball, good scrum pressure, the intensity of our ball carry, the intensity of our defence. It made it very hard for France to play.’

Best got the early try while Johnny Sexton, Jack Conan and Keith Earls also scored before France hit back late on.