Stat breakdown - Wales vs Ireland

This was a very tight game for the most part, but Wales were just able to remain strong enough in defence to hold Ireland out in the final 15/20 minutes to secure a much-needed victory for themselves. The symmetry between their total line-breaks, both sides with 7 gives a clear indication of the closeness of this fixture. Ireland edged Wales in terms of metres made, 398 to 387 and played a majority of the game inside the Welsh half but were unable to convert this territorial dominance into points on the scoreboard.

Wales dominated the lineout recording 100% success rate compared to the disappointing 77% rate of the Irish lineout. The battle at the breakdown was immense, both sides winning 99% of rucks on their own ball. The Irish dominated the kicking statistics with Jonathan Sexton and Paddy Jackson both recording a perfect 100% success rate compared to Halfpenny’s 75%.

First half possession statistics were dominated by Wales, 58% to 42%. In the second half however, when Ireland began to mount the pressure, they started to enjoy a larger share of the ball. They had 62% in the second half to Wales’ 38%.

Both sides were very impressive in defence with Wales recording a tackle success rate of 88% and Ireland 89%. The Welsh discipline was quite poor throughout this fixture. They conceded 10 penalties, 7 of which were inside their own half. This is in stark contrast to Ireland’s low penalty count of just 4. However, despite the larger number of penalties won, Ireland were unable to convert the opportunities into points.

Despite the similarity in the stats, Wales just had a bit too much in defence for this Irish outfit today and were able to edge their way to a crucial Six Nations victory.