Ireland produced a controlled display as they made it back-to-back wins in the 2020 Six Nations against Wales at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
See below our star man from the 24-14 bonus-point victory for the Irish along with our run down of the best and worst players and finally our Ireland vs Wales player ratings.
RUCK’s Man of the Match – CJ STANDER (Ireland)
He was the man of the match against Scotland last weekend and the South African-born powerhouse was the standout performer once again. Another huge performance, player of the tournament thus far without doubt
Best Players
Tadhg Furlong (Ireland): His bullocking dart for the line for his sides second try delighted the Ireland fans. The best tighthead in the world without a doubt right now also made 11 tackles without missing.
Furlong with the 2nd try for Ireland #IREvSAM pic.twitter.com/Id2n0AWkFc
— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) October 12, 2019
Jordan Larmour (Ireland): Scored a wonderful opening try for the Irish. His step is like old age. You see it coming, but there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. 65 metres made from his 16 carries, beating four defenders.
James Ryan (Ireland): The Leinster lock is already a talisman for Ireland and ensured his team were dominant at the ruck, making 15 tackles.
Alun Wyn Jones (Wales): The inspirational skipper was a rock in defence, making a match high 19 tackles, while showing his skill in attack with a superb offload in the build-up to Tomas Williams try.
Alun Wyn Jones! A creaky second row in his mid 30s has no business doing one handed offloads off the deck! #IREvWAL pic.twitter.com/84rIraZtcn
— Richard Innes (@bigrichinnes) February 8, 2020
Underperformers
George North (Wales): Not for the first time I find myself struggling to remember seeing him touch the ball until he popped up with a knock on towards the end. Two missed tackles in defence and only four metres made in attack. Might as well have been watching from the stands.
Bundee Aki (Ireland): The least effective of the Ireland back-line. Considering the hosts had so much ball, we never got to see the centre really cut loose and scare the Welsh defence as we know he can.
Nick Tompkins (Wales): Following a try-scoring debut against Italy last weekend, the Saracens centre had a tougher week; missing five tackles, making three carries for one metre and conceding one turnover. Did make one huge hit in the second-half but he’ll have better days.
Nick Tompkins finding out playing Italy and playing Ireland very different things
— Mark Brandon (@Markbrandon09) February 8, 2020
Ireland vs Wales player ratings
The teams:
Ireland: Jordan Larmour 7, Andrew Conway 6, Robbie Henshaw 6, Bundee Aki 5.5, Jacob Stockdale 6, Jonathan Sexton (c) 6, Conor Murray 6.5, CJ Stander 8.5, Josh van der Flier 7, Peter O’Mahony 7, James Ryan 8, Iain Henderson 7, Tadhg Furlong 8, Rob Herring 7.5, Cian Healy 7
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny 4, George North 3, Nick Tompkins 4, Hadleigh Parkes 6, Josh Adams 4, Dan Biggar 5, Tomos Williams 6, Taulupe Faletau 6, Justin Tipuric 7, Aaron Wainwright 6, Alun Wyn Jones (c) 8, Jake Ball 6, Dillon Lewis 6, Ken Owens 6, Wyn Jones 5
Date: Saturday, February 8
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14:15 GMT
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)