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Wales over Ireland
Donnacha Ryan of Ireland wins the ball from a line out during the RBS Six
Nations match between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium on February 5, 2012
in Dublin, Ireland.
(
February 4, 2012 - Photos by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Europe)
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Leigh Halfpenny kicked a last-minute penalty to earn Wales a 23-21 victory over Ireland in a dramatic and incident-packed RBS 6 Nations match at the Aviva Stadium
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Rory Best of Ireland is tackled by Ian Evans of Wales
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Revenge was on the menu for Ireland following their World Cup exit against the Welsh, but defeat is what they were served at the Aviva Stadium where they have now lost three games on the trot.
At 21-15, it looked like Ireland's game for the taking with five minutes left on the clock and Wales lock Bradley Davies in the bin. However, the visitors had other ideas and cut the deficit to a one-point ball game through a George North try.
Halfpenny missed the conversion to take the lead, but held his nerve to slot over a last-gasp penalty four minutes later - after Stephen Ferris was sin-binned for a tip tackle on Ian Evans - to deny the Irish and help open his team's Six Nations account with an upset win.
Man of the match: For Ireland, Tommy Bowe created one and scored one, while Jamie Heaslip was the pick of the Irish forwards. For Wales, Ryan Jones ran hard and offered Wales leadership when Sam Warburton had left the pitch through injury and Jonathan Davies richly deserved his two-try haul. However, wing George North was undoubtedly Wales' star man. He bullied Ireland's backline at will, showing superb skill setting up Davies's second try and tremendous strength for his own five-pointer. Who needs Shane Williams when you got this guy out wide?
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