Wales have slipped to a 15th straight defeat in a 27-18 home loss to Six Nations champions Ireland, but the hosts played with endeavour and ambition not seen in recent games.

The improved Wales effort, though, still couldn’t stop Ireland securing the ‘triple crown’ with victories over all three of the British Isles nations and topping the table with 14 points from three matches.

Wales are bottom of the standings with one point, but interim coach Matt Sherratt, who’s taken over from Warren Gatland, can have few complaints over the performance of his side on Saturday.

Ireland, who lost centre Garry Ringrose to a 20-minute red card in the first half, were under pressure for much of the game, especially in the scrum.

But their defence was excellent and they scored tries through No.8 Jack Conan and fullback Jamie Osborne, before the boot of flyhalf Sam Prendergast carried them to victory.

Wales were vastly improved from the side who slipped to dour defeats under Gatland, and scored tries through flanker Jac Morgan and winger Tom Rogers, before falling short of what would have been a sensational victory.

“That was exactly what we expected coming to Cardiff, it was a proper Test match,” Ireland captain Dan Sheehan said.

“We said all week that Wales will have their moments of strength and we have to stick to what we do, stay calm and not panic, and that is what we did.

“We rely heavily on our bench, they came on and made a huge impact to lift the boys with huge energy.”

The Wales players looked as though a weight had been lifted off their shoulders as they played with invention and the freedom to run the ball at every opportunity.

Ireland took an early lead thanks to a try from Conan, but Wales settled into the game and put pressure on the visitors.

Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne intercepts a high ball from Wales’ Ellis Mee. (Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)

Four scrum penalties and the red card for Ringrose helped their cause and having trailed by 10 points, Wales led 13-10 at halftime.

Ringrose received a yellow card, later upgraded to red on bunker review, for a dangerous tackle on Wales centre Ben Thomas that resulted in head-on-head contact.

Wales took the lead on the stroke of halftime when Morgan burrowed his way over the tryline under a pile of bodies.

The home side extended their lead early in the second period as they made their numerical advantage count when Rogers dotted down in the corner with a spectacular flying finish.

Ireland landed a penalty before Bundee Aki came on at the completion of the 20-minute red card and the visitors were restored to 15 players.

They scored a super second try as a cross-kick to the corner was athletically tapped back by winger James Lowe into the hands of Osborne who levelled the game at 18-18.

Trailing by six points, Wales thought they had scored a late try through winger Ellis Mee that was chalked off by the Television Match Official for a knock-on, and the unerring boot of Prendergast kept Ireland ticking over on the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Finn Russell has squandered a last-gasp conversion for victory as Scotland’s four-year stranglehold on the Calcutta Cup ended with a nail-biting 16-15 defeat to England.

Fly-half Russell, who has so often been the architect of England’s downfall, fired wide of the left post in the final minute at Twickenham following a dramatic touch down from Duhan van der Merwe. 

First-half tries from Ben White and Huw Jones, either side of a converted score from England’s Tommy Freeman, had put Gregor Townsend’s team en route for an unprecedented fifth consecutive win in this fixture on Saturday.

But the Scots paid a heavy price for failing to turn their early dominance into a greater lead as eight points from Marcus Smith and a long-range Fin Smith penalty turned the contest in the hosts’ favour, prior to the sensational finale. 

“Scotland played a lot in our half and we didn’t exit the way we wanted but we did fight and scrap,” England captain Maro Itoje said.

“There is loads for us to get better at but we are delighted to win.”

A fortnight on from a thrilling 26-25 victory over France, Steve Borthwick’s side overcame a dismal first-half display to keep alive their Six Nations title hopes by the finest of margins. 

England were installed as heavy favourites by bookmakers but it was Scotland who benefited from a blistering start as Tom Jordan’s burst down the left wing allowed scrum-half White to dive over.