O'Gara drop-goal seals dramatic Grand Slam for Ireland
Ronan O'Gara's dramatic late kick put Irish fans in dreamland
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Saturday, 21, Mar 2009 09:36
A late drop-goal from Ronan O'Gara has given Ireland a 17-15 win over Wales and seen them claim their first Grand Slam in 61 years.
There were only six points scored in the first-half as Stephen Jones kicked two penalties for Wales. Ireland found their form at the start of the second-half as they scored two tries through Brian O'Driscoll and Tommy Bowe.
Wales stayed in the game with two more penalties from Jones and a drop-goal from the fly-half gave his side the lead with three minutes left. But O'Gara kept his nerve to snatch the game for Ireland and secure a precious Grand Slam.
The game started with a bang as the giant figures of Donncha O'Callaghan and Ryan Jones had their hands at each other's throats after Jones was penalised for tripping O'Gara. The Irish fly-half failed with the penalty attempt.
It took 33 minutes for the first points of the game to be scores as Denis Leamy gave away the penalty for not rolling away from the tackle and Jones gave Wales a 3-0 lead. That became 6-0 when Luke Fitzgerald was penalised for crossing and Jones kicked his second penalty.
Ireland looked to be buckling under the pressure of expectation as they failed to fire in the first-half. But it was a completely different story after the break as the Irish exploded into life and as ever it was the inspirational O'Driscoll who led the way.
Bowe started the move as his angled run saw him break though the Welsh defence, but O'Gara looked to have made the wrong decision to kick towards the left-wing for Rob Kearny to chase as Mark Jones grabbed hold of the ball and took into touch.
Paul O'Connell won the ball for Ireland from the line-out and after sustained phases of pressure on the Wales try-line, it was O'Driscoll who took the position of a forward and rigged though to touch the ball down. O'Gara added the extras to give Ireland the lead.
O'Gara was targeted by Wales in the first-half and was on the receiving end of a number of big tackles, which seem to throw him off his game.
But the fly-half showed his class as his dinked the ball behind the Wales defence, which allowed Bowe to take advantage of a hesitant Gavin Henson and grab the ball and sprint clear for the try. O'Gara added the conversion to give Ireland a 14-6 lead.
A moment of stupidity from O'Callaghan gifted Wales a penalty. The Munster lock pushed Mike Phillips in the chest for no reason and Jones kicked the resulting penalty. Ireland gave away another needless penalty when Leamy ran through a Wales line-out and Jones' successful kick saw Ireland's lead cut to two points.
Wales took the lead with only five minutes left. Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips suddenly became a rampaging forward and burst his way through the Ireland defence, brushing aside three Ireland players to give his side good attacking possession. Jones then slotted home a drop-goal.
But Ireland quickly moved into the Wales half and won a line-out. The forwards set the ball up for O'Gara who was relieved to see his slightly scuffed kick go in-between the posts.
The drama however wasn't over as Paddy Wallace gave away a penalty close to the halfway line. But with the last kick of the game, Jones was unable to deny Ireland a deserved Grand Slam.