Ireland may have beaten Wales 30 - 22 courtesy of a blistering first half but the Welsh came out on top in the possession and territorial stakes.

Wales racked up 63 per cent of possession and 65 per cent of territory on home soil. Wales also made more line breaks (5) than Ireland (2).

But defensively Ireland clearly came out on top as they resiliently repelled a second-half Welsh rally with Sean O'Brien particularly impressive. Ireland's rearguard made 176 tackles to Wales' 101 with Sean O'Brien leading the way on both sides with 23, ahead of Mike McCarthy's 18.

The Tullow Tank was also Ireland's best ball carrier with 12 ahead of Craig Gilroy on 10. The Ulster youngster made the most metres for Ireland (52), ahead of Peter O'Mahony and Simon Zebo who made the headlines with that flick in the lead up to the second try.

Statistics - Team

Possession: Wales 63 - 37 Ireland

Territory: Wales 65 - 35 Ireland

Metres Made: Wales 512 - 210 Ireland

Offloads: Wales 8 - 3 Ireland

Tackles Made: Wales 101 - 176 Ireland

Tackle Success: Wales 92% - 92% Ireland

Penalties conceded: Wales 8 - 13 Ireland

Lineout success rate: Wales 86% - 72% Ireland

Scrum success: Wales 100% - 67% Ireland

 

Individual (Ireland)

Ball carries: Sean O'Brien 12

Metres Made: Craig Gilroy 52

Lineouts won: Donncha Ryan 5

Tackles: Sean O'Brien 23

 

All match data is courtesy of Accenture - Official partner of the RBS Six Nations

 

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan