No need for an Irish fire drill as Welsh Dragon is easily extinguished

Reports of Welsh rugby's resurgence appear to have been exaggerated. The dragon came to Dublin with a recently-acquired fierce reputation. But the home side repelled the threat without even mounting a fire drill and, in so doing, recorded a record fifth consecutive victory over the team in red, this time by 36-15.

As a bright, bitterly cold afternoon at Lansdowne Road drew to a close, the only burning issue was which of Irish rugby's most controversial hairstyles would be first to cross the try- line three times.

Hooker Shane Byrne, whose head-covering dates from an era when Welsh rugby was still feared, scored in the left corner at either end of the first-half. In between, the bleached tresses of Brian O'Driscoll had dived over too. And when O'Driscoll added Ireland's sixth try early in the second-half, the unlikely competition between the Mullet and the Mop-top was the only tension left in the occasion.

The contrast in team performances was highlighted by the fate of Wales's 19-stone prop Adam Jones. Jones is famous not just for being substituted after 30 minutes of every match, but for a physique that combines the burly and the hairy in a form you wouldn't want to meet in the dark.

The Welsh win over Scotland last week was epitomised by the sight of Jones romping for the Scottish try-line, like a bear who'd stolen a chicken from a picnic and was legging it before the park rangers came. Yesterday, by the time of his customary early departure, the game was already beyond reach, with Ireland 19-3 ahead. It was 36-3 before Wales salvaged pride.

The plethora of late substitutions deprived us of a home hat-trick, as first Byrne and then O'Driscoll left the pitch to rousing applause. And as the visitors exploited Ireland's loss of focus, it was Tom Shanklin who almost snatched the accolade, with two tries that took the bad look off the scoreline.

The game had started with a minute's silence for the victims of Saturday's bus tragedy in Dublin. There was little enough to rouse the visitors from silence later on.

The half-time performance of the Dublin Welsh Male Voice Choir only emphasised the visiting fans' reticence. During the game itself, music was confined to the home fans as they sang yet again about how low the Fields of the Athenry are. The Welsh valleys are even lower, of course, but the visitors weren't in any humour to brag.