Ireland's Six Nations' campaign is back on track with a fourth successive home win over a Welsh team that by the end were as rudderless as they were Ruddockless.

The 31-5 scoreline underlined the increasing gulf between the teams as the match unfolded, although on a blustery day when you could have made ice cubes of your fingers it owed as much to artisanship as artistry.

"I'm very pleased with the win. It was a solid, workmanlike performance," ventured coach Eddie O'Sullivan, which was pretty much on the money.

In keeping with a non-vintage weekend in a non-vintage tournament - which for tempo, skill, creating space and attacking space has paled by comparison to the Super 14 - Ireland did more than enough to remain the only team in a position to capture the Triple Crown. And they have moved into a four-way tie on four points in the championship, albeit third on points difference.

"When you get to the third game there's usually one team who've won all three, which isn't the case this time around," commented captain Brian O'Driscoll.

"So it's still wide open, there for the taking, for the team that puts their hand up."

The Irish skipper, who led from the front as usual, maintained it was a good performance. He admitted there was room for improvement, although O'Sullivan wasn't inclined to highlight any areas in particular.

There was a balance to Ireland's game here which had been lacking in previous outings. Opting to maul off the first lineout was a clear signal that lessons had been learned from Paris. They also took on Wales as much through the maul and close-in runners as they did through their backs, mixing in one excellent pick-and-go drive nearing the interval.

The scrum creaked without too much damage being done, and the lineout was eminently secure on Jerry Flannery's throw, though you'd perhaps like to have seen Ireland compete a little better on Wales' throw, where they made only one steal.

There was also a lack of precision at times, and the old anxiety within 10 metres of the opposition line appears to remain.

And there could have been much more continuity. The natural instinct for many still seems to be to take the tackle and go to ground rather than look to offload.

In defence, Ireland mixed and matched the hold-the-line or blitz styles pretty well, although there were still glitches for Graham Steadman to work on, while they succeeded in slowing down Wales' recycling game effectively.

Ireland are also in reasonably good health - certainly much better than poor Wales - and not alone should Paul O'Connell be back, but to much relief afterwards O'Sullivan said Marcus Horan's visit to St Vincent's Hospital for an X-ray was purely precautionary. "He's fine," said the head coach.

For Ireland, next up Scotland, who reverted even more to basics in their remarkable upset over England on Saturday, with a grafting defence which was helped by England's lack of invention and variety from the staple diet of straight, hard running into contact, ferocious competitiveness at the breakdown and a solid kick-and-chase game allied to Chris Paterson taking his kicks.

They'll come with bucketloads of spirit, but, with a bit of Irish artistry to match the artisanship, are eminently beatable. Then again, so is everybody this season.

Ultimately, Ireland never scaled the heights of the last half-hour in Paris, although Wales, after a bright first quarter, did plummet to the depths of two and four years ago here.

Some of Wales' early rugby was eye-catching. Clearly adhering to the Scott Johnson dictum, they probed patiently, always willing to pass before or out of the tackle. But they lacked a point of reference in the middle, a la Tom Shanklin, and some hard grafting ball-carrying a la Ryan Jones, and once they lost their orchestrator-in-chief, Stephen Jones, they gradually lost all belief.

No, make that immediately.

After the soap opera of the last fortnight, there had to be some further melodrama and pathos, and the first quarter hadn't passed when Jones sustained a dead leg and made way for the celebrity centre Gavin Henson. The stage was set for him to score, as one Welsh colleague hoped at the time, 20 points and win the game. Or . . . and this was very much a case of or.

Virtually everything Henson did or touched went wrong, the ball seemingly destined to roll unkindly for him. But more than anything, Wales, already bearing only a skeletal impression of last season's Grand Slam champions in personnel, never mind all the self-destructive off-field events, needed a leader to replace Jones, not a rusty centre, reconverted into an outhalf, innately quiet and reserved, and who enjoyed the support of Mike Ruddock it seemed, more than his teammates.

Given the bird and a round of booing by the crowd, his and his team's body language was extraordinary. Far from welcoming him with pats on the back or high fives, they seemed almost to ignore him. Thereafter, he and they imploded, and this was only grist to the mill of a delighted Irish crowd, who have rarely given a visiting player such a tough time.

Long before the end, Henson didn't appear to have a friend in the ground, whether team-mate or foe, and afterwards felt obliged to run past the screaming autograph hunters. With just one game in eight weeks under his belt, and not having played outhalf for Wales since September 2001, it was a huge ask of Henson, which Johnson admitted afterwards was not ideal and that Stephen Jones was the last player he'd have wanted to lose.

"The best laid plans of men and mice," he intoned, having admitted good-naturedly "I hate this ground."

But after this performance Henson's mental strength is going to be tested even more.

Long before the end, Wales looked like a team who wanted to go home, except what awaits them at home won't be much fun either.

Things could get worse before they get better for the Red Dragonhood.