For a moment, Ireland threatened to run off into the night.
After Jacob Stockdale ended his five-year wait for an international try, Ireland celebrated a second try against Wales just 10 minutes into Friday’s Six Nations game when Jack Conan crashed over.
But the home support’s excitement at the possibility of a thumping turned to frustration when the try was ruled out for Tom O’Toole’s knock on.
It set up a nervy night for Ireland when their post-England euphoria was quickly forgotten as they set about keeping a stubborn and spirited Wales side quiet.
In their record away win over England, Ireland ruthlessly built up a 22-0 lead before the hosts replied.
On Friday, though, a hard-hitting Welsh defence stopped the hosts from building an insurmountable advantage.
And when asked for his observations, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell was quick to both praise Wales after they provided his side a more uncomfortable examination than England last time out.
“I actually thought Wales did fantastically well to stay in the game,” he said.
“Like Caelan [Doris, Ireland captain] said, if it goes to 14 points, it’s a different game you’re looking at, but they played tough, they hung on in there and kept it close on the scoreboard. I thought they were tremendous tonight.
“It was a proper Test match and for us to come away with a bonus-point win, we’d certainly take that with how the game unfolded, because it was a different game to the game that we played last time round.
“In regards to, we weren’t playing rugby on the front foot because of how well they defended, I thought they were excellent in contact and set-piece.”
