Ireland 27-12 Wales, Six Nations, March 13
Kidney hails ruthless display
Scrum.com
March 13, 2010
Ireland's Keith Earls celebrates scoring the game's opening try, Ireland v Wales, Six Nations, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, March 13, 2010
Ireland's Keith Earls celebrates his first score © Getty Images
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Ireland head coach Declan Kidney was a satisfied man after watching his side claim a 27-12 victory over Wales at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon to move within one victory over a Triple Crown triumph.

Fresh from their thrilling victory over England at Twickenham, the home side proved far too strong for their Celtic rivals, outscoring their visitors by three tries to nil, with Keith Earls crossing either side of Tomas O'Leary's touchdown.

As a result, Ireland now just need to defeat Scotland in Dublin next weekend to end their campaign with some silverware.

"I'm thrilled," Kidney told RTE immediately after his side's win over Wales. "We managed to score three tries and didn't cough up any, so it's always a good day when that happens. But I just thought the boys showed an awful lot of resilience during the game and they never got frustrated.

"We said that we'd go for the 80 minutes and we were still trying things there at the end. Against Wales, the best way to defend against them, particularly late on given that they've been scoring tries in the final quarter of a lot of their games, was to attack them. But obviously by that stage we had the few points leverage to do that."

Ireland, as expected, ruled supreme in the air, decimating the Welsh lineout, but they also proved competitive in the scrum, much to Kidney's delight.

"I thought a big turning point in the game was about five or ten minutes into the second half when they put the pressure on in a scrum close to our line but didn't manage to get the pushover try. We hung in well there," he said.

"But overall we held our discipline wel. I know we had a large penalty count against us but we didn't get frustrated at any point. I thought we defended very well. We switched from attack to defence fairly seamlessly and also counter-attacked well at times."

Kidney wasted little time in looking ahead to next weekend's clash with Scotland, a game which will mark the end of Ireland's temporary stay at Croke Park, ahead of their autumnal return to the redeveloped Lansdowne Road.

"Croke Park's a great venue and one which deserves a final - and that's what next is for us because there'll be a Triple Crown on the line. So, for the players now it'll be a case of just resting up because we've only a seven-day turnaround. But we're looking forward to it. It'll be a different challenge. I think that's what makes this tournament so special: no two matches are the same and we'll have to prepare as well for that game as we did for this one."

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll, meanwhile, was overjoyed after marking his 100 th appearance in a green shirt with a hard-fought victory.

"It was always going to be tough against Wales. They won a Slam the year before us. They're a quality outfit. They'd a few injuries. But we played well today. We played clinically. We probably kicked a few too many balls out on the full. That was the one disappointing thing for us. But we took our chances well and played a high pressure game," the centre said.

"Also, Croke Park's been absolutely brilliant for us to play in and we felt a little sore after the loss at home to them a few years ago, so it was good to put that right."

O'Driscoll, like his head coach, is now hoping that Ireland can end their Six Nations campaign on a high by seeing off Scotland next weekend, pointing out that his side could yet retain their Championship crown, depending on how France fare in their two remaining fixtures.

"I'm really looking forward to it. There's silverware on the line in the shape of the Triple Crown and we also have to keep ourselves in the hunt for the Championship. We're where we want to be after our defeat in Paris. The way we've bounced back in the last two games is a credit to the squad," he said.

Meanwhile, Wales boss Warren Gatland was once again left counting the cost of his side's ill-discipline. Just as they had done in their tournament-opening defeat by England, the Welsh conceded two tries whilst down to 14 men after a needless sin-binning. At Twickenham, Alun-Wyn Jones had been the culprit, the lock picking up a yellow card for a trip on Danny Care; at Croke Park, Lee Byrne earned himself ten minutes in the bin for cynically killing the ball.

"We are very disappointed," Gatland said. "The yellow card was very costly in the game. We haven't learned our lesson from England, and from a coaching point of view that is very frustrating.

"We did create some chances and opportunities, but we tried to force things a little too much. We need to keep our patience and work on accuracy. But Ireland were very good and very clinical. We had more territory and possession, but turnovers were costly for us."

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