Wales Pay the Penalty in Dublin

 I held my breath as the ball was put into the very first Welsh scrum. I let out a large sigh/curse as Carre was penalised and even that early in the game you felt the writing was on the wall for Wales. When it was closely followed by the Irish stealing a couple of Welsh lineouts and a couple of penalties against Wales at the breakdown, I knew that this was going to be a miserable evening. The same problems that Wales had against Scotland were clearly visible. It was no surprise then that Ireland dominated the first half with seventy odd percent of the possession and Wales did not show in attack. Ireland are a much stronger and more physical side than Scotland and it was only down to tremendous Welsh defence that the game was not over by half time. Wales were only 16-6 down and it certainly could have been a lot worse but all that tackling was sure to take its toll later. In the last minute of the half, thankfully Carre was replaced by Wyn Jones for a crucial scrum on the Welsh line. The Welsh scrum was solid and Wales escaped from what would have been a truer reflection of the balance of play on the scoreboard. The game was being playing at a higher pace than the Scotland game and the collisions were ferocious. Unfortunately, Wales seemed to come off worse in most of the impacts. On reflection, if you pick virtually the same team why would you expect the outcome to be any different when you play against tougher opposition?

Wales did enjoy better fortunes at the start of the second half as they won a few penalties and gained some reasonable possession. Lloyd Williams came on at scrum half and got the ball away quicker than Gareth Davies and the backs could stretch their legs. The highly motivated Irish defence was not going to let Wales back into the match and the Welsh period of dominance petered out as a 3-3 draw.

As the second half wore on, things went back to normal with the Irish regaining control. A series of penalties and a last minute try saw the home team stretch out to a comfortable 32-9 victory. Wales have now lost six matches on the bounce against European opposition. Hopefully they can beat Georgia to bring the grisly run to an end.

Winning in Dublin was probably not a realistic prospect for a Wales side lacking in self-belief but a losing bonus point must surely have been within their grasp. In the end, there were few positives to take away from the loss. The key areas that need to be fixed are still the set pieces and finding a way to contest the breakdown without being penalised. Selection has a big bearing on all these areas so the management team can expect justifiable criticism. Sweeping changes can be expected for the Georgia fixture but with a match against England looming we need to settle on our strongest team and a modus operandi quickly or it could be embarrassing.

It is, of course, easy for us armchair critics to criticise but the fall from grace by Wales has been spectacular since Gatland departed what was certainly not a sinking ship. Yes, there have been injuries to key players and there are no vociferous supporters, but that has been the case for all the other teams too. Do we need to do what the French did and give youth a chance while suffering the short-term consequences during their learning curve? The Welsh public will need to be understanding but it might be a good idea.

Come on Wales give us something to cheer!