Ireland battle past Wales
Title favourites Ireland survived a major scare at the Millennium Stadium before launching their RBS 6 Nations Championship campaign in successful fashion with a 19-9 victory.
First-half tries from hooker Rory Best - he touched down after just 47 seconds - and captain Brian O'Driscoll gave Ireland a winning platform. But they were pushed to the limit by a resilient Wales side who stayed in contention through three Stephen Jones penalties.
A scoreless third quarter emphasised a distinctly average contest, and although Wales occasionally flickered through scrum-half Dwayne Peel and full-back Kevin Morgan, the game proved a pale shadow of their 2005 Grand Slam-clinching success against the same opponents.
Wales went into battle without injured backs Shane Williams, Tom Shanklin and Mark Jones, while Gareth Thomas' four-week suspension meant coach Gareth Jenkins had limited resources behind the scrum.
It took Ireland until the 72nd minute to finally grind Wales down, when fly-half Ronan O'Gara squeezed over in the corner despite a despairing James Hook tackle.
O'Gara slotted his second successful conversion to open up a 10-point gap, yet Ireland will need to show a considerable improvement when they face France at Croke Park in Dublin next Sunday.
