Ireland defeated Wales last night 27-17 in a game that saw Wales discover there battling qualities and there work both at the breakdown and in defence kept them in the game until the last moments.
Ireland produced a performance more in line with the French game and in round 2 at home to Italy. They mixed the good with the bad and the inaccuracy of those first 2 games was on show at times over the 80 minutes last night.
Goal kicking was an issue last night with Jack Crowley missing 2 conversions that he would normally stick over. Those 4 points could have been critical given there was only 7 points between the sides with only 5 minutes left.
Ireland dominated the opening exchanges and were only 7-3 up after they had a try chalked off that could have put them 12-3 up but they steadied the ship and Ireland did lead 12-10 even after Rhys Carre steam rolled his way to the try line with the clock in the red at the end of the opening 40.
Defence and the set piece have been ongoing issues over the campaign and last night when Wales made a number of changes with Nicky Smith replacing Rhys Carre, the Welsh scrum continued to put real pressure on Ireland and gained a number of penalties and they never took full advantage of.
There are certainly bright sparks for Steve Tandy and his staff to be pleased with as the weeks have gone by but they will have to work hard to find that first win in 29 games now with only victories over Japan a bright note over the past few seasons.
They certainly have a base to work from going into a home game with Italy next weekend. You can be sure given the small incremental improvement of recent weeks they will see the final game vs Italy as a big opportunity to get that first win in a while.
For Ireland, they go into next weekend in search of a Triple Crown and if results go a certain way this afternoon (March 7th) they could be still be in the hunt for a title with France and Scotland heading into Super Saturday.
Team selection will be watched keenly next week, there is an argument for keeping faith with a number of guys but a few others may be looking over their shoulder.
Nathan Doak did enough to keep his spot on the bench by not missing a beat while Jamison Gibson Park was in the blood bin getting a cut on his knee looked after, while Tommy O Brien will sense a chance to steal a march on Jacob Stockdale in the race for the left wing slot.
There is at the very least 1 bit of silverware up for grabs next weekend and that is the Triple Crown and while in 2026, the aspirations of the vast majority of supporters would not think of a Triple Crown as something special just ask anyone who grew up or watched rugby through the 70s, 80s and 90s how much those special days of 1982, 1985 were and how much those Triple Crowns wins meant to people.
Here is the team I would select to take Scotland on next Saturday at 2.10pm.
15 Jamie Osbourne
14 Robert Baloucounne
13 Garry Ringrose
12 Stuart Mc Closkey
11 Tommy O Brien
10 Jack Crowley
9 Jamison Gibnson Park
8 Caelan Doris
7 Josh Van Der Flier
6 Jack Conan
5 Joe Mc Carthy
4 Tadgh Beirne
3 Thomas Clarkson
2 Dan Sheehan
1 Michael Milne
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16 Ronan Kelleher
17 Tom O Toole
18 Tadgh Furlong
19 James Ryan
20 Nick Timoney
21 Nathan Doak
22 Ciaran Frawley
23 Jimmy O Brien