Wales put an end to Ireland's winning streak with a 16-10 victory at the Aviva Stadium as both teams come closer to finalising their 31-man squads for the Rugby World Cup.
Ireland looked lively from the start and a Jonny Sexton cross-field kick was nearly met by Keith Earls but the fly-half put too much on the kick. That seemed to be a theme of the first half with the Irish trying to kick the corners but their execution letting them down.
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Some tidy Welsh forward play was cleverly disrupted by Iain Henderson, but Leigh Halfpenny got the first points of the game with a penalty for Wales after Richardt Strauss came in at the side.
Justin Tipuric capitalised on a Rob Kearney drop and some more strong play from the Welsh forwards saw Tipuric rumble over after a series of rolling mauls.
Halfpenny added the conversion before Henderson crashed through the strong Welsh defence just before half time, with Sexton adding the extra two to draw Ireland level.
The second half started slowly and did not kick into life until a Halfpenny penalty in the 66th minute, before the full-back added another a couple of minutes later.
Sean Cronin was held up over the line in the last play of the game as Ireland looked to grab a late winner, but they were unable to find a way through.
Wales ended up with the win but both Joe Schmidt and Warren Gatland will be sweating on the fitness of Sexton, Alun-Wyn Jones, Luke Fitzgerald and Earls, who all had to go off injured.
Calum Gillon
