Wales beat Ireland 21-16 in Cardiff, with Andy Farrell's men suffering a bruising loss with just 14 men.
Andy Farrell's men came into the match as the overwhelming favourites, with very few pundits giving the hosts much of a chance based on their most recent form.
Off the back of a huge French win over Italy in Rome, and a major upset for Scotland over England in Twickenham, Ireland hoped to make it three away victories in the opening round of this year's Six Nations.
Wales were first on the scoreboard through the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, after Ireland gave away a penalty right in front of the posts.
With 13 minutes played in the match, Peter O'Mahony made life that much more difficult for the visitors as he was shown a red card for a high shot on Tomas Francis in the ruck.
Ireland v Wales
Halfpenny kept the scoreboard ticking over for Wales, bringing the hosts out to a six-point lead with just under a quarter of the match played.
It took just under half an hour for Ireland to get their first points of the match, as Jonathan Sexton was given a couple of shots at goal to bring the visitors back level with five minutes left in the first half.
Ireland looked to gain momentum late in the first half as Robbie Henshaw put Josh van der Flier into a gap to almost score for the visitors.
He cleverly did not attempt to reach for the line, instead allowing Tadhg Beirne to pick and go for the first try of the game. Sexton converted to take Ireland to a seven-point lead at half time.
Reaction
Speed dial Harry Byrne...
— Brian O'Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) February 7, 2021
Rhys Ruddock, Harry Byrne, David Kilcoyne, Caelan Doris, Will Connors...
Hugo Keenan, Robbie Henshaw#IrlvFra— Liam Toland (@LiamToland7) February 7, 2021
Shit shit shit #IrevWal
— alison curtis (@AlisonTodayFM) February 7, 2021
#IrevWal 🙁 that hurt. But some great performances💪
— David McWilliams (@davidmcw) February 7, 2021
Positive performance from Ireland despite being down to 14 men from early on. Also great to see @tadhgfurlong back and making a big impact. #IrevWal
— Peter Gordon (@PeterGordi99) February 7, 2021
Hard luck our rugby lads.... disappointing but you did your best. Billy Burns, don't worry about it. These things happen. #SixNations #WALvIRE #IrevWal 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
— Sue O'Neill🇮🇪🇺🇦 (@Suehi9) February 7, 2021
RIP our mentions
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 7, 2021
It was a heartbreaking final couple of minutes as Ireland fall short of a victory in Wales | 🏉@VodafoneIreland | #TeamOfUshttps://t.co/Pbi6JOa2Dy
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 7, 2021
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