Ireland clinched the Celtic Cup for the first time since 2015, and the first time since it became a three-nation event.

Wales needed a 24-point win to retain the trophy and they didn’t start well as Phil Roberts gave Ireland the lead in under two minutes.

Tries from James McCarthy, Joe Calcott and Pete Johnston soon followed, with Pete Johnston adding three goals to put them 22-0 up.

After a brief period where Wales went onto the attack, but to no avail, Johnston scored Ireland’s fifth try but couldn’t convert. 

Mark Williams got a try back for Wales on the half-hour with Scott Trigg-Turner converting.

Phillip Davies soon added another, as the Welsh confidence increased. Trigg-Turner converted.

But Ireland were soon back on the board when Cian Horgan scored in the corner. Johnston converted and then was back on the try scoring sheet, scoring in corner and adding another goal to make the score 38-12 at the break.

Calcott scored the first try of the half with Johnston converting. One try from Horgan and two for Oran Spain soon increased the Ireland lead with Johnston adding three more goals.

The young Wales side hadn’t given up. Martin Turner broke through to score his first international try, and then his second.

Trigg-Turner landed another goal, before zooming through for a try, which Turner converted.

Ireland got going again. Spain got onto the end of a good set of passes to complete his hat-trick. Calcott converted, but Wales got another try back, through Mark Williams.

Ireland played the final four minutes with an all Irish born line-up for the first time, that included Dubliner Mel Griffith.

By Ian Golden, Sporting Records Online Ltd.