Wales by tradition start campaigns slowly. They may consider in that case their tradition well and truly respected. All their secrets, bar two late tries that gave an inkling of the potential of Tyler Morgan, Matthew Morgan, Gareth Anscombe and the more proven skills of Justin Tipuric, remain safely concealed in cold storage. Wales were so out of sorts during the rest of the game that they invited Ireland to look so fluid and clinical that the visitors risk standing accused of peaking too soon.
It was purely an experimental affair, but on the day that Australia beat New Zealand to win the Rugby Championship, it was the best moment to come out of the laboratory coughing and spluttering. On the day when Australia had the edge at the scrum, Wales were shoved all over the pitch. As the Wales coach, Warren Gatland, ponders the trimming of his squad, the four props and two hookers on display did not exactly push themselves out of the danger zone.
Ireland looked as tight-knit and purposeful from the start as their front-row forwards. The entire pack were so much more efficient at the breakdown and lineout. They will have had harder work-outs in the set-piece department at their own summer sessions in Dublin. All their forwards have given Joe Schmidt a few problems as he too decides on the poor lads who will not make it to the real thing.
Richard Hibbard, a hooker so experienced that he will probably survive the aftermath of this video-nasty, did – to be fair – put in a couple of his trademark tackles. His second saved a try. But he was part of the lineout that was poor and the scrummage that was worse. And his successful tackles only showed up the porous properties of the Wales defence elsewhere.
Darren Cave’s try will not, it is fair to guess, have best pleased Shaun Edwards, the Wales defence coach. The tea cups of the dressing room will be in more danger of breakage than the centre.
And if the defence was far from solid, the attacking skills were even more ragged. Scott Williams and Tyler Morgan both dropped passes that they should catch in their sleep. It is to be hoped that Wales have spent the summer gazing at barbells rather than the rugby ball, because they looked strangers to the tool of their trade.
The most obvious casualties may be the best known. This was not the most auspicious Wales selection of which to be a part as a multi-capped player. Mike Phillips and James Hook, the chosen half-backs, must have known that to be picked for this one demanded a big performance for there to be a next one.
They both gave way, to Lloyd Williams and Anscombe, early in the second half and it was possible – not that it was ever entirely clear – to discern a sharper snap of pass and a more direct line of running. If it was farewell to Phillips and Hook, it was not a happy send-off.
From the wreckage, there were a few to escape. Amos could be excused an air-shot of a grubber late in the game because otherwise he played with forthright intent from full back. He is from the student-doctor-rugby-player school and has a similar disregard for his personal safety as Jamie Roberts and JPR Williams. He played a slip-pass part in the late try, a link between Tyler Morgan and Tipuric.
These were crumbs. The overall impression was that Ireland have summered prosperously, even adding a level of finesse to Schmidt’s emphasis on simple excellence. There were slippery skills from Simon Zebo and Paddy Jackson. But above all there was accuracy under pressure.
Early days. The earliest of days. There is time to put so much right. Nobody will be panicking. But in Ireland’s World Cup the single big threat to their domination of the group-stage is France. And if they maintain their error-free efficiency, they should come through that challenge – interestingly, to be played here in Cardiff, with the roof closed, as it was on this warm sunny day.
Wales have England and Australia in their pool. Play like this and they will not make it past Uruguay and Fiji. But they will improve, just as they did after warm-up defeat to England in 2011. Under Gatland they are well versed in the art of recovering from gloom. But it must have come as a rude shock to be this poor. The next week will be no place for the delicate of spirit in the training camp.
Gatland’s next selection will be different, presumably much closer to a team he will put out in one of the big pool games. That team too, may well start sluggishly. It is a Welsh tradition. But it is also a tradition to lose patience quickly. There is no panic, but there are rumblings.
