“When will some of us ever learn,” asks Gerry Thornley. “This was yet another reminder that away wins usually don’t come easy in the Six Nations.” It wasn’t, then, quite “the walk in the Principality some expected”, and the lack of a bonus point “has left the door slightly ajar for England and France in the title race”, but, writes Gerry, Ireland displayed admirable coolness in the Cardiff cauldron against an inspired Wales to win their 14th Triple Crown.
Simon Easterby was “pleased with the result”, but acknowledged there were “lots of things in the game that we feel we could have done better”, things that will need to be fixed before they take on a French side that put 73 points past Italy on Sunday. England kept their title hopes alive too with that 16-15 win over Scotland.
In need of fixing, says Johnny Watterson, is a misfiring scrum that put serious pressure on Ireland to dig out the win, Johnny also picking out five things we learnt from the game, among them that the “polarising” Sam Prendergast “is both enraging and enthralling” “as he learns his trade under the microscope”.
James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Conan fare best in Johnny Watterson’s player ratings, and he also salutes the impact of Ireland’s replacements on Saturday, while John O’Sullivan doffs his cap to Jamie Osborne’s contribution.
Jude Bellingham’s red card sparks debate on the intricacies of swearing
Shane Horgan’s Six Nations prediction almost comes true, while Off The Ball comments make BBC coverage
Sam Prendergast is both enthralling and enraging and everything else we learned from Ireland’s win over Wales
Death of a jockey: ‘Michael O’Sullivan was full of ambition, full of passion ... he was just a beautiful person’
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran heard president Jarlath Burns deliver a scathing appraisal of the DUP’s Northern Ireland Communities Minister Gordon Lyons for his failure to engage with the association, and for “the hostile environment” it has had to endure. Burns was speaking after this year’s annual congress, where he announced that the GAA is to launch a new streaming service to replace GAAGo, Seán taking you through the motions that were passed and rejected.
In Denis Walsh’s view, “the greatest challenge facing the GAA since its foundation” is rural depopulation. It is, of course, a wider societal issue for which the GAA “acts as a mirror”, but if it isn’t arrested, then many of the clubs around the country will no longer exist.
On the pitch, it was a busy weekend, David Clifford proving again that he’s quite useful with a hat-trick for Kerry against Tyrone. Malachy Clerkin concluded that Seán Bugler is a bit handy too after seeing his display for Dublin against Derry at Croke Park. Galway, meanwhile, put Donegal to the sword at Pearse Stadium, while Armagh and Mayo drew in a thriller at the Athletic Grounds.
In hurling, the return to action of Lee Chin helped Wexford to a six-point win over Clare, while Darragh McCarthy inspired Tipperary to an impressive victory over Cork and Waterford heaped further woes on Davy Fitzgerald’s Antrim with an 18-point triumph.
And in athletics, Ian O’Riordan rounds up the action from the National Indoor Championships, Bori Akinola having a Sunday to remember by beating Israel Olatunde for the first time in the 60m final - having lost to him in their previous 21 meetings.
TV Watch: It was a lively old weekend on the rugby and GAA fronts - and you can see the highlights of both this evening on TG4 and on RTÉ 2’s Against the Head (8.0).
