Eire are, nearly, in with an opportunity of the title after overcoming a gutsy Wales with a 27-17 victory in Dublin.
However their title hopes hinge on them beating Scotland and counting on out-of-form England beating France in Paris.
Eire didn’t hit the heights that they had reached in dismantling England two weeks earlier, digging deep for the bonus-point win they wanted to maintain them within the title dialog.
Wales gave an excellent account of themselves, and Rhys Carre can look again with pleasure after a spectacular solo strive that noticed the prop rumble over the road after a run that began exterior the Eire 22.
“Defensively, Wales have been so a lot better and a lot extra bodily in comparison with spherical one,” Sam Warburton instructed Rugby Particular. “They have been blown away in opposition to England however now they’re aggressive. They haven’t gained in Dublin since 2012, it was all the time a tall order however they did effectively.
“They’ve discovered their centre mixture, and the entrance 5 supplied a lot of a platform with their ball carrying and hits in defence.
“I used to be nervous they have been going to develop into the 30-point whipping boys however they’ve turned it round after spherical one, and I’m very happy.”
Improved performances since the 48-7 defeat by England in spherical one give Wales some hope of ending their run of 15 consecutive Six Nations losses of their closing fixture, though they’ll host an Italy facet buoyed by its historic win over England.
