Wales and Ireland met today for the second time time in the World Cup build up, following Ireland's 35-21 win in Cardiff earlier this month.

Ireland were looking to build on their impressive win three weeks ago, whereas Wales were looking to get their preparations firmly on track with a win.

It was a much more recognisable Welsh team, George North returning to win his 50th cap in his first match since March, after taking a break having suffered several concussions at the start of 2015.

Fast start from both teams

The first ten minutes were lively, with both teams looking full of energy in both attack and defence, line breaks by both teams eventually coming to nothing. Both sides sent up some searching, testing high kicks, with Rob Kearney looking particularly strong under the high ball. There were a number of handling errors early on, perhaps as both teams were eager to impress their coaches ahead of the final world cup squad announcements.

The Welsh scrum looked much improved from their previous outing, two of the first three scrummages ending in penalties going their way. Tom Francis had been billed as a possible weak link in the Welsh front row, but held up well in the scrum on his international debut

Ireland were fiercely competing for the ball at every ruck, and while it won them a vital turnover near their own try line, they were sometimes a little over-enthusiastic, allowing Wales to take the lead through a Leigh Halfpenny penalty for Irish defenders joining the ruck from the side.

Shortly after, Wales were inching forwards towards the Irish line after a period of excellent attack with some powerful drives and excellent offloading. They didn't quite make it over though, winning a penalty for an Irish offside just as they perhaps looked to be stalling.

From the resulting lineout, Wales caught and drove, eventually being held up and winning another penalty after Ireland collapsed the maul - Ireland perhaps lucky not to concede a penalty try.

Wales opted for the catch-and-drive again, and won another penalty with their pressure on the Irish defence, referee Craig Joubert this time warning the Irish over the number of penalties they were giving away.

Wales used the same tactic yet again, using their penalty to start a driving maul metres from the Irish line. This time, they were not to be denied, forwards and backs alike piling into the maul to drive  the excellent Justin Tipuric over the line. Leigh Halfpenny's metronomic boot added the conversion.

Shortly after the restart, Ireland won their first penalty, Alun Wyn Jones failing to roll away from a tackle. Jonny Sexton made no mistake in putting his team on the board from the resulting kick.

Good pressure from the Welsh defence after the restart forced Ireland back inside their own 22, and they were rewarded with a lineout well inside the Irish half. It came to nothing, though, the Welsh eventually giving away a penalty for not releasing the ball.

Wales' defence continued to exert huge pressure on the Irish attackers, rushing up and taking away all Ireland's time. A lineout in Wales' half was no help, Ireland going nowhere just outside the Welsh 22, and giving away their seventh penalty of the match. They did then managed to disrupt the resulting Welsh lineout, and nearly scored via a kick towards Keith Earls, but he was unlucky with the bounce, and knocked the ball on.

Wales then lost the resulting scrum though, and had to defend ferociously on their own line, succeeding in pushing the Irish back slightly, but at the cost of giving away a penalty.

Ireland chose to run their penalty from a few metres out, and were rewarded for their perseverance when Henderson finally found a gap in the Welsh line to cross for a try under the posts, Sexton adding the extra two points.

At half time, the score was 10-10,  and you felt that Wales were perhaps a little unlucky not to be ahead, a momentary drop in the strength of their defence allowing Ireland to draw level on the stroke of half time.

Intense second half

The start of the second half looked very similar to much of the first 40 minutes, Ireland going backwards with the ball before an excellent clearing kick pushed Wales right back on their own line. Wales won their lineout, cleared, and for a moment the Irish were finding gaps in the Welsh defence. The men in red eventually got organised, however, and ended up winning a penalty when Ireland held on to the ball in the tackle.

Ireland won their own scrum after Rhys Webb knocked on, and then shortly after won Welsh lineout ball, but it was a similar story with ball in hand, the Irish finding it difficult to break down the Welsh defence, and eventually giving away a penalty.

Next time they had the ball in hand though, Ireland looked much more dangerous, making good ground before a superb crossfield kick from Sexton put George North under pressure right on his own try line, two Irishmen driving him into touch.

From the resulting lineout, Ireland drove towards the Welsh line and after conferring with touch judge Wayne Barnes and the TMO, Craig Joubert awarded a scrum to Wales after an Irish knock on forced by fantastic defensive work from Tipuric. They were relieved to win another penalty at the scrum after Ireland wheeled it illegally.

Wales then won their own lineout, and magnificent handling from Tipuric almost put Jamie Roberts through, Wales eventually losing the ball after Halfpenny's grubber kick for North went out of touch.

The game then started to break up, possession changing hands frequently, only a superb tackle from Earls stopping Alex Cuthbert from racing away to score.

The teams had chance for a breather in what was a match of incredibly high intensity after they were pulled back for a penalty by touch judge Luke Pierce for an Irish high tackle.

The match continued to get messier, and boos rang out around the stadium as play continued despite Kieth Earls being down injured, and after a chaotic passage of play, Wales were rewarded with another penalty inside the Irish half.

There was then a long pause, as Earls was stretchered off after a head knock, raising his hand to the crowd as he left the field, prompting hopes he would not be ruled out of the World Cup after a strong performance on the wing.

With Earls off the field, Halfpenny kicked the penalty to move Wales into a 13-10 lead.

Ireland then seemed to pick up the intensity further, and looked good going forward until an odd drop goal attempt from a poor position was charged down, where they were lucky Wales did not get away.

Another pause followed, as key Welshman Alun Wyn Jones had an injury seen to.

Wales then struggled to make ground against the Irish defence but got lucky to win a penalty, as Ireland strayed offside. As rain began pouring down, Halfpenny again kicked it over to extend the Welsh lead to six points.

Almost immediately, Wales nearly scored again, Hallam Amos looking to be through, before a misjudged kick gave away possession. The newly slippery conditions resulted in Rob Kearney making his first mistake under the high ball, giving a scrum to Wales.

A free kick from that scrum resulted in nothing for Wales, new scrum half Gareth Davies opting to run it, before a penalty went to Ireland for a Welsh defender failing to roll away from the tackle.

Justin Tipuric continued to be outstanding, winning another turnover with five minutes to go, but the slippery conditions continued to show, with Rhys Priestland lucky not to concede a try after spilling the ball in his own 22.

Moments later, Ireland had a penalty by the Welsh line with less than two minutes to go, and only six points behind.

Ireland opted for the catch and-drive, but the Welsh counterdrive was impressive, and Ireland were forced to move the ball out to their backs. With the clock in overtime, Ireland were hammering at the Welsh try line, but as they had all match, the Welsh defence held firm, although they did eventually give away a penalty.

With the clock red, and the noise of the crowd deafening, Ireland had no choice but to run the penalty, and they appeared to have scored under the posts in the 83rd minute. Television replays however, showed clearly that a superb tackle from Halfpenny had held the ball up, and the final whistle was blown.

Wales will be delighted with the win, particularly after a disappointing performance last time out. With almost all their regular players back, it was a win built on an incredibly solid defensive effort, in the same way as their win over the same opponents in the Six Nations.

Ireland will be disappointed not to win, but should take confidence from what was another good performance. They'll now face England at Twickenham next weekend, in a match that will pose no less tough a test than today's opponents.

This was an entertaining, and for the most part high quality match, which should leave both teams feeling good about where they are, three weeks out from the opening of the World Cup. It may have been tight at the end with a fairly narrow margin of victory, but this will be a very important win for Wales in their last match against top-quality opposition before their opening pool match on the September 20th.

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