2.“Neil Francis’ crass and offensive comment that Gatland had “the intellectual capacity of a tub of Flora” backfired deliciously for it was precisely the Welsh coach’s tactical expertise that gave Wales the edge.
“And while we’re on the subject of cheap-shots from former Irish internationals the Irish fans I spoke to found Francis’ comments an embarrassment. They weren’t too impressed with Keith Wood’s complacent predictions of a “comfortable” Irish victory either.
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“There are certain pundits who just have to Move On from Gatland’s third test Lions selection – especially as it was totally vindicated. The margarine barb was pathetic. We can’t believe you’re not better.”
3.“A humdinger, a classic, an absolute thriller but ultimately a horror show for Ireland as their shot at history and their ambitions of an unbeaten Six Nations went down in the flames of the Dragons. Yet another Welsh production of the Silence of the Slam.
“It was an absorbing, at times excruciating encounter which went contrary to all that we had expect. So much for all the talk of “boring” rugby, of “turgid” rugby. This was sport at its most raw.
“Certainly Ireland emotions fit that description. Essentially they lost this because of their lack of composure and their inability to establish even a semblance of control on their own line-out.”
4.“Despite all the possession they won, they did not work out a way of bringing the dangerous Tommy Bowe into the game – one indictment of them is that an outside back has only scored one try this Six Nations, and that involved catching a kick – and struggled to create space as they were suffocated by a blanket defence.
“Wales did to them what Ireland did to England, taking them on at their strongest points and disarming them.
“Wales were prepared in a way Ireland were not: play the same again this Saturday and it would almost certainly be a different contest, but Murrayfield should hold few alarms, even if they lost there two years ago.”
5.“[Ireland's] recent record at Murrayfield is dazzlingly good: a heavy defeat there in 2001 was succeeded by five victories, one of them by 30 points and another by 27. While they lost narrowly two years ago, their coach Joe Schmidt has surely filed the task ahead under the heading “eminently doable”.
“Their principal advantage is that they are conceding even fewer tries than they are scoring: like the French, they have leaked just two all tournament, and are unlikely to be cracked open at this late stage.
“Scotland have something about them in the attacking department these days, but they are struggling to field a second decent wing in the absence of Tim Visser and Sean Lamont and are also feeling the lack of Alex Dunbar in midfield.”
UK media says Ireland only have themselves to blame for missing out on the Grand Slam
1. “This was one of the greatest performances I have seen from a Welsh team in modern times.
“Yes, it was that good.
“I will go a stage further. It was a phenomenal Wales effort in one of the most incredible rugby matches I have seen.”
- Former Wales international Barry John was quite happy with the performance of Warren Gatland’s men for walesonline.
2. “Neil Francis’ crass and offensive comment that Gatland had “the intellectual capacity of a tub of Flora” backfired deliciously for it was precisely the Welsh coach’s tactical expertise that gave Wales the edge.
“And while we’re on the subject of cheap-shots from former Irish internationals the Irish fans I spoke to found Francis’ comments an embarrassment. They weren’t too impressed with Keith Wood’s complacent predictions of a “comfortable” Irish victory either.
“There are certain pundits who just have to Move On from Gatland’s third test Lions selection – especially as it was totally vindicated. The margarine barb was pathetic. We can’t believe you’re not better.”
- His colleague Carolyn Hitt, however, wanted to remind some Irish pundits about how cocky they were in the build up.
3. “A humdinger, a classic, an absolute thriller but ultimately a horror show for Ireland as their shot at history and their ambitions of an unbeaten Six Nations went down in the flames of the Dragons. Yet another Welsh production of the Silence of the Slam.
“It was an absorbing, at times excruciating encounter which went contrary to all that we had expect. So much for all the talk of “boring” rugby, of “turgid” rugby. This was sport at its most raw.
“Certainly Ireland emotions fit that description. Essentially they lost this because of their lack of composure and their inability to establish even a semblance of control on their own line-out.”
- James Corrigan in The Telegraph says Joe Schmidt’s men shot themselves in the foot with poor execution from set pieces.
4. “Despite all the possession they won, they did not work out a way of bringing the dangerous Tommy Bowe into the game – one indictment of them is that an outside back has only scored one try this Six Nations, and that involved catching a kick – and struggled to create space as they were suffocated by a blanket defence.
“Wales did to them what Ireland did to England, taking them on at their strongest points and disarming them.
“Wales were prepared in a way Ireland were not: play the same again this Saturday and it would almost certainly be a different contest, but Murrayfield should hold few alarms, even if they lost there two years ago.”
- An unnamed Guardian sportswriter says Ireland need to find the ‘spirit of adventure’ if they are to move on from Saturday’s defeat.
5. “[Ireland's] recent record at Murrayfield is dazzlingly good: a heavy defeat there in 2001 was succeeded by five victories, one of them by 30 points and another by 27. While they lost narrowly two years ago, their coach Joe Schmidt has surely filed the task ahead under the heading “eminently doable”.
“Their principal advantage is that they are conceding even fewer tries than they are scoring: like the French, they have leaked just two all tournament, and are unlikely to be cracked open at this late stage.
“Scotland have something about them in the attacking department these days, but they are struggling to field a second decent wing in the absence of Tim Visser and Sean Lamont and are also feeling the lack of Alex Dunbar in midfield.”
- It’s not all bad news as the Independent‘s Chris Hewett says Ireland could still win the championship thanks to their final day opponents.
‘I was close’ – Ireland’s Bowe agonisingly short of crucial try against Wales
Schmidt pushes Ireland to look towards Scotland after defeat in Wales
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