Saturday, March 08, 2008

Wales Take Triple Crown

Six Nations Game 10 - Ireland vs Wales (12-16)

Ireland started well with a couple of penalties against the men in red, but eventually the Welsh were able to claw one back for themselves and the score stood t 6-3 at half time. Welsh scrum half Mike Philips [right] spent ten iminutes in the bin either side of the break for a professional foul.

But despite having a specialist player out for his sins, Wales managed to hang on to their hats with Shane Williams filling in at No. 9. They even managed to take another penalty off Ireland to bring the scores level.

With Philips back on, Wales got fired up again and Shane Williams saw a miniscule gap in the Irish defence, broke through and scored his 40th try for Wales in 55 tests. Stephen Jones' conversion brought the score to 13-6!

Soon after, Martyn Williams took out Eoin Reddan with a naughty trip, and spent time in the sin-bin. Ronan O'Gara slotted the penalty for that offence, and another a little while later to bring the Irish to within 1 score of salvaging the game.

But it was not to be, and Ireland finished on the wrong end of 1 12-16 defeat at home. The Welsh fans were in fine voice at Croke Park as Captain Ryan Jones [left] lifted the Triple Crown, tied with red ribbons flying about, above his head. So only France now stand in the way of a possible Welsh Grand Slam.

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