Wales showed plenty of fighting spirit in coming from behind to beat Ireland 23-21 in dramatic fashion in their tense Six Nations clash in Dublin on Sunday.

The home side got on the front foot early and were rewarded when flyhalf Jonathan Sexton kicked a penalty to give them an early lead, but Wales were next to strike after a sensational pass from their flyhalf Rhys Priestland put centre Jonathan Davies over in the left corner.

Wales began to dominate territory and possession but the hosts held them off before striking just before half-time. Right wing Tommy Bowe did well to draw a few defenders in before sending the ball out to hooker Rory Best who cruised over to give his team the lead again at 10-5.

Sexton added another penalty shortly after the break and it seemed as though Ireland were in control, but Wales fought back admirably and took the lead back themselves after a Leigh Halfpenny penalty and another well-taken try from Davies.

Ireland hit back after Welsh lock Bradley Davies was sent to the sin bin, with Bowe finishing off a period of pressure with a good try in the corner which gave his side a 21-15 lead with ten minutes left.

However, Wales refused to lie down and powerful wing George North forced his way over for a late try which brought them to within one point of the hosts before the result was settled in the final minute when Halfpenny slotted a vital penalty from in front of the poles after Ireland flank Stephen Ferris was shown a yellow card for a tip tackle.

More to follow...

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries: Best, Bowe
Cons: Sexton
Pens: Sexton 3

For Wales:
Tries: Davies 2, North
Cons: Halfpenny
Pens: Halfpenny 2

Teams:

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Fergus McFadden, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Tom Court, 17 Sean Cronin, 18 Peter O'Mahony, 19 Donnacha Ryan, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Dave Kearney.

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Michael Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Ryan Jones, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Andy Powell, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England), Stuart Terheege (England)
TMO: Geoff Warren (England)