Ireland kept their quest for successive Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam titles on track by brushing aside spirited Wales with a dominant 31-7 victory in Dublin.
Andy Farrell’s men backed up crushing wins over France and Italy with a third consecutive bonus-point triumph to keep themselves in pole position for further championship glory.
First-half tries from Dan Sheehan and James Lowe paved the way for the reigning champions to equal England’s tournament record of 11 wins in a row.
Wales avoided embarrassment at the Aviva Stadium and briefly threatened an improbable fightback thanks to a second-half spell which brought a penalty try and a yellow card for Tadhg Beirne.
But a first Test try for stand-in Ireland full-back Ciaran Frawley broke their resolve before Beirne atoned for his earlier error by securing the bonus point at the death on an afternoon when flawless fly-half Jack Crowley kicked 11 points.
Ireland’s ominous march towards another clean sweep continues next month against England and Scotland, while winless Wales host France in round four ahead of a possible wooden spoon shoot-out with Italy.
A largely inexperienced Wales team crossed the Irish Sea as overwhelming underdogs on the back of narrow defeats to the Scots and Steve Borthwick’s side.
Visiting head coach Warren Gatland insisted he travelled with belief rather than hope and urged his players to make “everything uncomfortable” for the fancied hosts.
Wales’ bid to disrupt began with some colossal defending as the home team’s early dominance was initially rewarded only by a long-range Crowley penalty.
Yet Ireland’s well-oiled machine persisted with wave after wave of attack to break down the staunch resistance and take control of the scoreboard.
Hooker Sheehan powered over at the end of a line-out maul in the 21st minute to claim his fourth try of the tournament before Calvin Nash later teed up Lowe to touch down in the left corner.
Wales finally enjoyed some forays into Ireland’s 22 just before the break.
But Sam Costelow’s decision to kick a penalty to the corner failed to pay off, while a couple of costly fumbles ensured they went into half-time scoreless for a third match on the bounce, at 17-0 down.
Any potential fears Wales had of joining Italy in being nilled in Dublin were extinguished within three minutes of the restart as Tomos Williams’ quick tap penalty led to a momentum shift.
Italian referee Andrea Piardi awarded a penalty try at the end of a lengthy review of a collapsed maul on Ireland’s line, with Beirne sent to the sin bin for illegally changing his bind.
Fired-up Wales were well and truly in the ascendancy at that stage but failed to make further inroads on the scoreboard in Beirne’s absence before Ireland restored order.
After the bulldozing Bundee Aki was denied a try on review for Robbie Henshaw’s knock on, Frawley, deputising for the injured Hugo Keenan, gleefully dived under the posts to celebrate his first Test start in style.
Wales came close to a consolation score in the closing minutes, during which Ireland replacement James Ryan was sent to the sin bin.
Yet, with Beirne’s late finish compounding their misery, they ultimately slipped to a 10th defeat from their last 11 Six Nations fixtures as their wait for a first championship win in Dublin since 2012 goes on.
'World-class' Scotland will provide Wallabies' sternest test – Skelton
Australia will face their sternest test to date when they continue their autumn tour against a "world-class" Scotland team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
That is the view of forward Will Skelton, who believes the Wallabies' victories in England and Wales have brought a new energy and confidence to their camp.
Having crashed out in the pool stage at last year's World Cup in France before finishing last in the Rugby Championship, Australia have looked a team reborn in recent weeks.
A first victory at Twickenham since 2015 and a 52-20 rout of Wales – their biggest-ever away win in matches between the teams – have made it an excellent tour to date for Joe Schmidt's side.
But La Rochelle lock Skelton feels their toughest assignment is to come this week, saying: "We've won two games, we're very aware of that.
"The Test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet. We're excited about this weekend and we're looking forward to ripping into it.
"Physically they're up there with the top five in the world. I think set-piece wise they're really strong.
"You've got a guy like Finn Russell who's a maestro at the back there. I think it's going be a close one and we'll be up for it.
"There's some class players in the Scottish team and, when they're at it they're world-class, so we're going to have to be on top of our game."
Wales must 'show courage and front up' against South Africa, says Gatland
Warren Gatland has urged Wales to "show real courage and front up" in their final Autumn Nations clash against South Africa.
Gatland's side bring the curtain down on a disappointing year when they welcome the reigning world champions to the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales have lost an unprecedented 11 straight Tests, and could go an entire calendar year without tasting success for the first time since 1937.
Gatland has made four changes from last weekend's 52-20 defeat to Australia, with Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree all coming into the starting XV.
Gareth Anscombe, Aaron Wainwright and Cameron Winnett drop out of the squad, while Adam Beard misses out through injury.
And Gatland wants his players to demonstrate fighting spirit against the Springboks.
"Last week's result hurts, and we are just as disappointed by it as the fans," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
"Our focus now is on training and preparing well for our final game of this Autumn Nations Series.
"There were good elements that we can definitely build on going into Saturday, but we have to improve our accuracy.
"We know what a quality side South Africa are and the physicality they bring. This week, we need to show real courage and front up against the world champions."
Wales promotion 'hasn't sunk in' for Bellamy after 4-1 Iceland win
Wales secured promotion to League A after beating Iceland 4-1 at home in their final Nations League group match, having gone a goal down early on.
Their victory, alongside a 3-1 defeat for Turkiye away to Montenegro, means that Craig Bellamy's side topped their group by a point.
"The feeling hasn't quite sunk in yet, but it's been a real positive camp Whatever the result of this game, it's just been a positive camp," said Bellamy after the match.
"The targets we set right from the start, I feel we've been able to achieve."
Wales started the day knowing they needed to win and for results to go their way to top the group, but went a goal down after seven minutes after Andri Gudjohnsen followed up from a Danny Ward save.
It was the first goal Wales had conceded at home in 321 minutes and the first time they had been behind under Bellamy, but they responded well. The hosts managed to control the rest of the half, with Lewis Cullen scoring twice in the final 15 minutes of the first period.
The determination of his team to stick to the plan was something that pleased Bellamy immensely.
"There were one or two tests today that I feel we've been able to progress [through]. If they had happened one or two games ago, we might not have been able to.
"Where we're at, you go 1-0 down in the first few minutes and you get a performance like that.
"Then after that, when the crowd get a little bit edgy and try to force things for us... No, no. We keep the ball because we believe that's going to benefit us, and the players were able to do that."
In the second half, Wales were able to dominate and bagged goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson to make things more comfortable.
"I thought we took control of the tempo of the game and we're a good team if we're able to do that," said Bellamy.
On promotion itself, the Wales manager could not overstate the importance of being able to mix with the biggest teams in international football in Europe.
"For where we want to be and where we want to go, it's huge. It's so important for us," he said.
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