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03/06 16:51 CST Ireland scrapes past Wales in Dublin to stay in Six Nations title race Ireland scrapes past Wales in Dublin to stay in Six Nations title race DUBLIN (AP) --- Ireland scraped past Wales 27-17 and stayed in the Six Nations title race on Friday for at least 24 hours. France can successfully retain the title by beating Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. While Ireland won its first-ever Friday home championship match with a four-try bonus point, Wales took most of the plaudits. Wales started as a 20-point underdog but was trailing by only two points as late as the 68th minute. Wales hadn't beaten Ireland in Dublin in the championship in 14 years but Irish flyhalf Jack Crowley was made to kick a 77th-minute penalty to avoid the chance of a humbling draw. Wales was second best in terms of territory and possession but backed up its three-point home loss to Scotland in the last round with magnificent defense, and an even better all-round show of commitment and progress. Wales' Six Nations losing streak was extended to 15 games and it may yet finish the tournament with a third consecutive wooden spoon, but it was more encouragingly competitive against Ireland than coach Steve Tandy hoped for. There was none of the fist-pumping joy by Ireland coach Andy Farrell that he showed during the record away win against England two weeks ago as his team failed to back up with the expected big win over Wales. For Farrell there was simply relief. His side was far more clinical but it was made to fight hard for every point. Wales didn't give Ireland the space on the outside that it enjoyed against England. Wales' rush defense, spearheaded by center Eddie James, frequently shut down Ireland attempts to go wide. Flankers Alex Mann and James Botham were also competitive in the breakdowns. Ireland started impressively. A scrum penalty put them on the attack and winger Jacob Stockdale ran a nice line off the shoulder of midfielder Stuart McCloskey, his Ulster clubmate, to score in the sixth minute. Ireland had two more attacks of at least a dozen phases in the first 20 minutes. But an Irish knock-on rubbed out a try for Jack Conan, and the second chance was turned over by Mann. Holding out Ireland galvanized Wales. Ireland took a half-hour to score again, through Crowley, who couldn't convert his own try. The Irish looked set to reach halftime up 12-3. But Wales prop Rhys Carre, who was prevented from adding another tap penalty try that he managed against France and Scotland, made like a winger from 35 meters out and blew past three Irish to score a brilliant try. Wales' leading try-scorer was even smiling before he scored. The Irish gave themselves breathing room on the scoreboard again when Conan scored from a tap penalty after halftime. But Wales refused to bow down. Josh Adams blew a try throwing a forward pass but Botham scored off a ruck and Dan Edwards converted for 19-17. It took a Joe McCarthy steal to launch a fourth Irish try walked in by fullback Jamie Osborne with 12 minutes to go, and Crowley, who missed two easy goalkicks, made the result safe with his only penalty. ___ AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

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