Frank McNally: Nail-biting finish as Ireland hold on for draw

The four proud provinces of Ireland were "together standing tall", as is now usual. But in a twist unforeseen by Phil Coulter's rugby anthem, it was a Stander from a hitherto unknown fifth province – South Africa's Western Cape – who stood tallest against Wales, in the process winning the man of the match award.

This was in keeping with a strangely novel occasion, as Ireland's quest for an unprecedented third successive Six Nations title began with a result almost as rare: a home draw against Wales.

You had to go back to 1974 for the last time that happened, while the 16-16 scoreline was a first in the 134-year history of the fixture. And maybe this will yet prove to have been a good omen, as Joe Schmidt’s team try to go where no Irish team has gone before.

The pessimism

In the meantime, it was a result that left neither set of supporters entirely satisfied, although the home ones were definitely the happier, if only because expectations going into the game had been so low.

The pessimism that had settled over Ireland beforehand was matched only by the weather forecast, which predicted the arrival of Storm Imogen in Dublin 4 around kick-off time.

We were still bracing for the worst, on both fronts, as an umbrella-shielded Michael D Higgins greeted the teams: itself a sobering spectacle.

The President did not exactly tower over the Irish mascots, aged 9 and 13. So the contrast between him and the man-mountains of Wales only underlined the challenge that seemed to face the injury-ravaged home team.

But as the game got under way, neither of the expected onslaughts – from the weather or the opposition – materialised.

Instead it was Ireland who started ferociously, racing into a 13-0 lead before the half hour, as the wind, rain and evidence of Welsh superiority all failed to show. The sun even made a watery appearance at one point, making the half-time choice of U2's Beautiful Day on the stadium PA sound a lot less sarcastic than it might have done.

By then, however, the suspicions of the Irish supporters that this was all too good to be true had been justified, as the Welsh bullied the Irish scrum into submission and reduced the lead to 13-10 at the break.

Thereafter it was an increasingly tense Aviva Stadium that witnessed Wales edge in front late in the game, before another Jonny Sexton penalty equalised and the match clock ticked into the red.

Then it was heart-in-mouth time for two minutes as Ireland, unable to accept a draw, ran the ball from deep in their own half, before Wales briefly returned the favour.

When the final whistle belatedly intervened, oddly deflating as it was, nobody could dispute the fairness of the result.