Following Ireland’s 27-18 victory over Wales in round three of the Six Nations, here are our key winners and losers from the Principality Stadium.

Winners 

Wales front-row

Whilst they might not have been the changes many Wales fans were keeping an eye on, the front-row stole the headlines with an awesome display. The combination of Nicky Smith and WillGriff John just caused carnage for their Ireland counterparts, which had been firing this Championship, and they more than warranted their selection.

It just seemed like they had Ireland’s number in every scrum, with Smith giving Tom Clarkson a baptism of fire in his first start and John getting plenty of change out of Porter too. Elliot Dee also brought it all together nicely too.

Vindicated trio

They were THE big talking point from a squad perspective this week, but they certainly justified their call-ups with tidy displays. Max Llewellyn and Gareth Anscombe really added that spark Wales’ attack had been missing to date this Six Nations, and they just seemed to work so well off one another.

Jarrod Evans, who replaced Anscombe in the second-half, added a really nice dynamic too with his live-wire approach to the game. Their performances should leave Wales fans, and Matt Sherratt, with a huge smile on their face.

Tomos Williams

His best performance of the Six Nations yet, which is no coincidence considering he’s playing with clubmate Anscombe again. He just seemed like the shackles had been taken off him a bit, which is actually when you see the best of him. He played with this freedom we’ve yet to see this Championship, which came to the fore with his nice offloading and general decision-making around the ruck.

The combination with Anscombe probably made him feel a lot more confident too. He picked a good time to drop a performance like this, considering he went up against Lions favourite Jamison Gibson-Park and gave a pretty decent account of himself.

Matt Sherratt

Give him the job full-time. In a week of training, he’s already looked to bring a new sense of excitement around the whole game in Wales, let alone to the national team. The result might have been a loss, but Wales were arguably the better team for large parts of that game and for the first time in a while can actually feel pretty hard done by to come away from it with nothing.

There was also a new edge to the team, a sense of passion and desire that has been missing for a long time, and that is what made Wales the great side they were. He might not want the job full-time, but he’s certainly making himself the leading contender.

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Ireland bench

As mentioned above, Wales were actually the better side for large chunks yesterday, but Ireland’s bench managed to rectify the situation with a strong performance. The introduction of Bundee Aki added some serious punch to their attack, which has been the key to their success for so long, but around that Ryan Baird – a last-minute inclusion for Cian Prendergast – Jack Boyle and Finlay Bealham all made a difference up front.

This is also another sign of Simon Easterby’s continued development as a Test-level coach, as he made his substitutions at exactly the right time. Convenient too, given his links to the Wales job.

Jamison Gibson-Park

Already got his Lions shirt tailored to fit for the summer, but his performance against Wales was yet another sign of his class. He was just spellbinding at times, and really helped turn things around when Ireland were under pressure and got them back on track. Just another fantastic performance.

Losers

Garry Ringrose

The big loser from the Principality was Garry Ringrose, who became only the third-ever Irish player to cop a red card in the Six Nations. This could now put him in doubt for their two remaining Six Nations Tests, which could dent his Lions chances as a result.

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Outside centre is an especially competitive position from a Lions perspective, with the likes of Huw Jones, Robbie Henshaw, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade all gunning for a potential spot in the side, so missing the final chances to put himself in the shop window for the tour is a huge blow for him.

Andrew Porter

His scrummaging had taken some huge steps forward this Six Nations, but he was second-best to John at the Principality. When he first made the transition to loosehead, he conceded penalties for not holding his shape and driving square, and that cost him again this weekend.

This performance is likely a blip, though, given the way he has improved in the scrum.

Warren Gatland

With Wales’ dramatic improvement from their Rome humiliation and the fact all of Gatland’s key omissions made a marked difference, the iconic coach has been left with egg on his face. All of the changes Sherratt made to the squad seemed to work brilliantly. Yes the result was still the same, but it was clearly a performance that basically made a mockery of what Gatland had done in their two earlier Tests in the Six Nations.

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