Match Centre: Six Nations - Ireland 31-7 Wales

Ireland 31-7 Wales, Aviva Stadium

Ireland maintained their perfect start in the ongoing Six Nations tournament as they defeated Wales 31-7 in the third round at crypto casino Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday.

Ireland had a 17-0 lead at the end of the opening half but Wales thought they had an opportunity when they were awarded a penalty try early in the second half with Ireland's Tadhg Beirne sin-binned.

Nevertheless, playing in front of their former skipper Johnny Sexton, who watched the game from the stands, Ireland have equalled England's Six Nations record of 11 consecutive victories and are on course for back to back Bitcasino - crypto casino Grand Slam triumph following their third consecutive victory.

The first points came in the 7th minute when Nick Tompkins was penalised for a high tackle and Jack Crowley made no mistake with the penalty goal to make it 3-0. Wales were impressive with their defence in the opening quarter but Ireland eventually managed to break it in the 20th minute when they kicked a scrum penalty to the corner and from the resulting maul Dan Sheehan went over and Crowley improved making it 10-0.

With the momentum on their side, Ireland extended their lead further as James Lowe collected a pass from Calvin Nash to complete his 14th try in the international arena and Crowley's conversion made it 17-0 at the end of the opening half.

Ireland were down to 14 players temporarily immediately after the break as Beirne was yellow carded for pulling after a line out push from Wales, who were awarded a penalty try after a consultation with the TMO as the gap came down to seven points. Ireland thought they got their third try at the end of the third quarter when Bundee Aki crossed over but it was turned down following a knock on the build up.

After a period of sustained pressure, Ireland finally managed to push forward as Ciaran Frawley went under the posts following a flat pass from Jamison Gibson-Park and Crowley's conversion made it 24-7. With four minutes left in the game, James Ryan became the second Ireland player to be yellow carded for repeated infringements despite which they managed to get the bonus point with Conor Murray finding Beirne as he dotted down in the closing stage to complete a 24-point victory.

Team line up:

Ireland: 15 Ciarán Frawley, 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 Tadhg Berine, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris

Reserves: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Oli Jager, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ryan Baird, 21 Jack Conan, 22 Conor Murray, 23 Stuart McCloskey

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Kieron Assiratti, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Alex Mann, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Aaron Wainwright

Reserves: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady