Sport

Ireland blow their RBS 6 Nations hopes as Wales win in Cardiff

Wales's George North celebrates scoring his first try at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Wales's George North celebrates scoring his first try at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff Wales's George North celebrates scoring his first try at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff

MAN of the match Rhys Webb admitted he was nervous in the closing stages as he watched from the sidelines while Wales completed a 22-9 RBS 6 Nations win in a brutal contest with Ireland in Cardiff.

Webb had put in a commanding display from scrum-half, having a hand in George North's tries in either half, before being substituted in the second period.

Yet with the match still in the balance late on, substitute Jamie Roberts crashed over to seal victory and give Wales their second win of this championship – and a first success in three fixtures.

Webb told the BBC: "I was pretty nervous at the end but I know from the last three games there have been fine margins from winning these games.

"We know we were only one performance away from winning a game. Credit to the boys. We played for a full 80 minutes this week and put in a hell of a shift against a quality Ireland side.

"We owe a lot to the coaches but in fairness they've been backing us to play and backing our ability. We've certainly shown today glimpses of what we can do and there's certainly a lot more to come from us.

"Everyone's looking at themselves week in, week out, but you don't become a bad team overnight, so this is just the start."

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said victory was foremost for the fans, who ensured the Principality Stadium was a cauldron of noise with the roof shut.

"With a large proportion of Welsh people in this stadium, we owed it to them firstly and then secondly to ourselves," he said.

"If we're honest we haven't done ourselves justice in the last two games. That was the priority and I think we've done that."