Six Nations 2024: 'It was a fitting score for us in the end' - Farrell on 31-7 win over Wales
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Jack Crowley and Ronan Kelleher celebrate after Ireland's win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium
Ireland coach Andy Farrell says his side's 31-7 win over Wales in Dublin represented "a fitting score" as they continued their march towards a second successive Six Nations Grand Slam.
Tries from Dan Sheehan and James Lowe helped Ireland to a 17-0 half-time lead and Ciaran Frawley and Tadhg Beirne scores ensured a bonus-point success.
"To punch like we did for that last 20 minutes with the power that we had coming off the bench, we were looking strong and fighting to get that bonus point," Farrell told ITV Sport.
Ireland have won their first three matches of the 2024 campaign and their victory over Warren Gatland's side saw them equal England's record of 11 championship wins in a row and extend their sequence of home Test match triumphs to 18.
They are aiming to become the first team of the Six Nations era to win back-to-back Grand Slams.
Wales fought back in the second half and were awarded a penalty try as Tadhg Beirne was shown a yellow card, but despite applying some late pressure on the Irish line they came up short.
"That game had a bit of everything really, from the sublime to the ridiculous," reflected Farrell.
"I thought in the first half we were a bit passive in attack, albeit I thought Wales were pretty tenacious in defence.
"We should have capitalised more on the dominance we had on the scrum.
"We had a good chat at half-time but it was a fitting score for us in the end I think.
"I think they [the crowd] appreciated us going down to 14 men and still playing. We didn't run down the clock to try and get the yellow card back on, we had proper intent and I think the subs coming on after that period gave us a right boost."
'A delight to score try'
Ciaran Frawley is congratulated after scoring Ireland's third try of the game
Full-back Frawley marked his first start for Ireland with a try as he deputised for the injured Hugo Keenan.
"It was a bit clunky in the first half, we came out and got a yellow [card]," said Frawley after the game.
"But it was a delight to get over in the second half, the boys just saw it and it was lovely.
"We had Bundee Aki's try disallowed as well, so it was brilliant to get over to give us a bit of momentum.
"The players and everyone knew we needed a bonus-point try, so we went for it.
"The players were unbelievable. We have gone through scenarios in training about what to do if we get a yellow card and we just stuck to that."