The Welsh snooker dragon breathed fire in Newcastle yesterday as Wales opened their Nations Cup campaign in explosive fashion with an 8-3 trouncing of the Republic of Ireland.

Having been runners-up to Scotland in the Bangkok World Cup of 1996, the Irish were considered tough nuts to crack. But Wales were always in command, as they guaranteed a winning start by prevailing in six of the first seven frames.

A couple of tight affairs went their way in the early stages: Mark Williams stole the opener from Fergal O'Brien on the blue, and Dominic Dale did the same to Stephen O'Connor in the fifth.

But it was by no means a flattering scoreline as Stephens, Mark Williams and Welsh skipper Darren Morgan were all in top gear.

Morgan led by example as a 104 break enabled him and doubles partner Dale to brush aside Ken Doherty and O'Connor, before a run of 65 gave him a singles win over O'Brien.

Stephens, beaten in the final of November's UK Championship, weighed in with a 100 break against the heavily punished O'Brien, and Williams won three of the four frames he was required to play.

"I'm extremely patriotic, so playing for my country can always be relied upon to get the competitive juices flowing," said Morgan. "At the World Cup in Thailand, I had to fly home early because my mother passed away. I'd like the chance to lift this trophy in memory of her, but, of course, there's a lot of snooker left."

Losing captain Doherty said: "It didn't help matters that we lost a couple of close frames early on, but the Welsh were all excellent.

"Now it's going to be tough for us to reach the final, but there's no way we'll be giving up and we'll be keen to beat Northern Ireland in our next match."

That is scheduled for Wednesday, while Wales return to action with what could well prove a crunch match against red-hot tournament favourites Scotland.