Ireland
Rob kearney yesterday 6/season 7
Not one of his better games. Okay under the high ball but some of own his kicking was poor. Should have let ball out with three-man overlap.
tOMMY BOWE 7.5/7
Grown in stature with every game. Read O'Gara's cross-kick magnificently for his brilliant try. Stock continues to soar like an Osprey.
bRIAN O'DRISCOLL 9/9
And on the seventh day God created BOD. Scored a carbon copy of his try against England here and started off the move that led to Bowe's try.
Gordon d'arcy 7/6.5
Caught the eye with a great early break (below) but then turned the ball over with his next possession. Kept the legs pumping to go forward. Excellent in defence.
LUKE FITZGERALD 7/7.5
Brilliant hits on Lee Byrne ended the Welsh full-back's contribution. Showed his inexperience in overrun that led to Wales' second successful penalty before half-time.
RONAN O'GARA 7/7
Ouch! His body will be sore this morning. Targeted by the
Welsh but what a cool head to set up Bowe for a cracking try. And what about that history-making drop-goal.
tomÁs o'leary 7/7
Really got up the nose of the Welsh and kept them honest at the fringes. Poor kicking let his game down but never overawed by the occasion one bit.
Marcus horan 6.5/6.5
Brilliant tackle to halt Martyn Williams in full flight. Struggled in the scrum at times as did the rest of the pack but ran his heart out.
jerry flannery 7/6.5
Fantastic around the paddock. Put in some big hits and laid down a marker. Line-out excellent, apart from one dart going askew in the second half.
john hayes 7/7
Struggled a bit in the scrums but reinvented himself after half-time. Cleared all in front of him when needed. Living legend.
donncha o'callaghan 5/7
Fired up from the start after tussle with Ryan Jones. Can't be proud of his stupid act of childish petulance that let Wales back into game when Ireland were in the driving seat.
paul o'connell 8.5/8.5
They threw away the mould when Paulie was born. Lineout awesome and even managed to steal two from the Welsh. A colossus throughout.
stephen ferris -/8.5
Unlucky to leave the pitch injured after just six minutes but had a magnificent tournament. Was not on long enough to be rated.
david wallace 7/7.5
Strong ball carrier and magnificent in the lead up to O'Driscoll's try. Massive hits in the final nail-biting minutes. He will spend his summer in South Africa.
jamie heaslip 8/8
Old head on massive young shoulders. Work-rate immense and deserves all the plaudits that comes his way. Must learn to keep his discipline.
subs
denis leamy Got stuck in the minute he came on but won't be happy with handoff from Matthew Rees. Gave away some stupid penalties. 7
Rory Best, Geordan Murphy, Peter Stringer, Paddy
wallace
Came off the bench with 10 minutes to go to close out the game. Which they did but not after causing palpatations around the country with Murphy's knock-on and then in the last minute Paddy Wallace giving away a stupid penalty.
wales
lee byrne 7
mark jones 7
tom shanklin 7
gavin henson 7
shane williams 6.5
stephen jones 6.5
mike phillips 7
gethin jenkins 7
matthew rees 6.5
adam jones 6.5
ian gough 6
alun wyn jones 6.5
dafydd jones 6.5
martyn williams 7
ryan jones 6.5
subs
Jamie Roberts 7
huw bennett 6
luke charteris 6
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