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Ireland's close call

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• Jim Stokes - 大象传媒 Northern Ireland Sport
• 5 Feb 07, 09:33 AM

Belfast - Jeepers, ! Somebody hadn鈥檛 read the original script at the Millennium Stadium.

Shame on those darn Welshmen trying to spoil Ireland鈥檚 party before it even started. Do they not realise that Ireland have not won the Grand Slam for nearly 60 years!

Okay, the Irish did win in the end, and I suppose you could not argue about chalking up three tries to zilch. But let鈥檚 be honest, it was a fairly ugly, dog-day victory only punctuated by sublime performances by Gordon D鈥橝rcy and Denis Leamy.

While D鈥橝rcy and Welsh scrum-half Dwayne Peel were the apple of the pundit鈥檚 eyes, I have to say that for me Leamy was the outstanding player on the field.

When Ireland were struggling to keep a finger off the self-destruct button in the first half, it was the Munster number eight that gave them some stability as they struggled to get out of neutral.

In harness with his forward momentum, he snaffled at least three turnovers to kill Welsh momentum when Ireland were stuck on the back foot in the face of some excellent Welsh advances. His defensive work in the opening 40 minutes was incredible.

As usual, though, it was the piano players that were highlighted as they are out in open field while the piano movers go unnoticed in the dark tunnels of the combat zone.

D鈥橝rcy again confirmed that he is the form midfield player in Europe at present. For one of such small stature, he sure does punch his weight in both attack and defence.

He has overshadowed his centre partner Brian O鈥橠riscoll, who because of being Brian O鈥橠riscoll, enables D鈥橝rcy to use the space created by opposition fear.

Peel, meanwhile, was the inspiration for Wales to keep nibbling at Ireland, particularly in that first half. He had a superb game.

How Ireland managed to turn around at half-time in the lead is still a mystery. Undoubtedly, the referee will come under some focus in the post-mortem. They always do.

Mr Bleaker will be criticised for a couple of calls, most notably when he pulled up James Hook for an imaginary free-kick.

That call kept Ireland down in the Welsh 22 and a few minutes later, Ronan O鈥橤ara slid in for try number three. Game over.

Some may also have felt that his yellow card was glued to his pocket after Ireland did slow down ruck ball. Simon Easterby, who is so exquisite in that department, was smiling all day.

But at least Wales were not completely stitched up the way Scotland were when Jonny Wilkinson dived over with his leg trailing in touch, as the video showed afterwards when it went 鈥渦pstairs鈥�.

The TMO was an Irishman too. Giving England a try like that could get him excommunicated!

Anyway back to the harum-scarum game in Cardiff. The biggest disappointment from Ireland鈥檚 point of view was the .

I always said that if Ireland are to win anything this season, it will not be down to the twinkle toes out in the backs but the grunters up front, with O鈥機onnell leading the charge.

But the Munsterman just did not etch his normally robust play on the game.

However, he did at least lend his considerable weight to an Irish scrum that against all the odds, dominated the Welsh.

His line-out steal near the end of the game was also straight out of his normal locker of goodies.

It was a delight to see Geordan Murphy apply a neat little 10-minute cameo when he came on for Denis Hickie, who shed more than a little blood for the cause.

Murphy was not too amused at being left on the bench for the game, but his typically brilliant piece of individualism enabled his captain to score the second try.

That鈥檚 the best way to give the coach a little nudge.

Ireland are notably bad starters in the championship, but for all of 46 seconds that notion looked to be put to bed when Rory Best (where did he appear from?) scored.

However, that only proved to be a hindrance as Wales appeared to be spurred on by that early error by Stephen Jones.

But a win is a win. To play well below normal standards, and commit an unusual amount of errors, says a lot, and winning in Cardiff could be the start of something special.

But alas, there could be a sting in the tail (or tale) from Cardiff. The injury to Ireland鈥檚 two most potent attackers (or defenders, take your pick) cannot be overlooked.

We will have to wait until the ice on the injuries melt later in the week to ascertain the extent of the .

Anything more serious than a twinge, and it looks as if O鈥橠riscoll鈥檚 is, and it could change the whole nature of Ireland鈥檚 history-making game against next week at Croke Park.

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