Luck wasn't on Ireland's side in their first Six Nations tournament outing today.
Ireland were beaten 21-16 by Wales in the first game of this year's Guinness Six Nations.
The game got off to a rocky start for Ireland, when Peter O'Mahony got into a bit of trouble.
RED CARD for Peter O'Mahony!
A massive moment in this game.#WALvIRE #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/ZIm4JqRttl
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 7, 2021
Peter O Mahony with head going in like a bullock in to a cattle crush
— Stephen Bambrick (@babsclio) February 7, 2021
The Munster man was deemed to have carried out a dangerous tackle with a rash shoulder charge on Welsh flanker Tomas Francis.
The teams traded penalties at 6-6 in the first half, until Ireland broke the deadlock with the first try of the game.
A lovely Robbie Henshaw sidestep amounted to a Tadhg Beirne try to make it 11-6 to Ireland.
Sexton made the conversion, and despite being down to 14 men, the team held on to a 13-6 lead at half-time.
The second-half wasn't to be for the visiting team.
George North and Rees-Zammitt capitalised on their man advantage to take the game to Wales territory.
A James Lowe error late in the game allowed Leigh Halfpenny to widen the gap even more with a penalty.
Billy Burns penalty 8 minutes out was to be Ireland's last score.
In the dying minutes of the game, the out-half failed to put a kick in touch, kicking the ball over the try line.
A lot of things went wrong for Ireland, but the performance was admirable given how early they went down to 14 men.
Let's hope for better days out in the Six Nations this year.
Oh no.
Billy Burns fails to find touch and with the clock in the red the game is over.
Ireland lose in Cardiff. #WALvIRE #GuinnessSixNations #VMTVRugby pic.twitter.com/icxFoHBiZj
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) February 7, 2021
