IRELAND interim boss Simon Easterby admitted that Ireland dug themselves out of a hole during the Six Nations win over Wales.

The 27-18 win sealed Ireland’s 14th Triple Crown title on Saturday afternoon.

But the visiting tournament champions had to do it the hard way after trailing to their under-fire Welsh hosts in Cardiff.

And they managed to show their grit at Principality Stadium to turn the result on its head.

Easterby, who is in charge of Ireland due to Andy Farrell taking the Lions job later this year, says his team should have performed better against the winless Welsh side.

He said: “Pleased with the result but lots of things in the game that we feel we could have done better.

“We go down in the game, we go down a man and then we go down on the scoreboard.

“We came in at half-time and felt like if we played in the right way and did things better our way then we felt we could dominate them.

“We had a lot of possession and territory for 30 minutes, just didn’t quite get our accuracy right in terms of scoring the points that we needed.

“We knew that Wales would come back into it if we gave them an opportunity and we did that.

“I was pleased that we responded to being in a bit of a hole and we dug ourselves out and took the game away from them in the last 20.”

Meanwhile, fans hailed Bundee Aki after his display during Ireland’s win over Wales.

The Connacht centre was immense in the narrow win over their Welsh counterparts after coming on at the break.

Centre Aki replaced Garry Ringrose after his yellow card was upgraded to a 20 minute red.

Ringrose saw red towards the end of the first half at The Principality Stadium after making contact with the head of centre counterpart Ben Thomas.

Aki, who had blood trickling down his nose – which looked broken -epitomised the Irish grit and determination as they fought back despite being nowhere near their best.

One said: “James Lowe, Josh Van Der Fleer, Tadhg Beirne, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Bundee Aki, Dan Sheehan, James Gibson Park and Robbie Henshaw put in heroic performances today against a brave Wales Team. What a belter of a game from two heroic Teams.”

Another commented: “How good was Bundee Aki off the bench?! Absolutely immense.”

One said: “Bundee Aki a lock for the Lions tour, especially if the tour involved wrestling with literal lions. He changed the game.”

A third wrote: “What a performance by Bundee Aki!”

FOREVER YOUNG denied Romantic Warrior in a battle for the ages in the world’s richest horse race, the Saudi Cup.

It was a two-horse race on paper and the £16 million duel in the desert went all the way to the line.

The race was won, or lost, on the final bend, where James McDonald made a sweeping five-wide move to take the lead into the straight.

Ryusei Sakai and Forever Young were left trailing, and it looked as though 10-time Group 1 superstar Romantic Warrior would prove the naysayers wrong on his first dirt start.

But Sakai never panicked and galvanised Forever Young to motor down the outside of Romantic Warrior, getting up in the final strides.

It was heartbreak for Hong Kong’s hero but for Japan’s leading light, he got his deserved day in the sun after sickening places in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Kentucky Derby.

Forever Young’s trainer Yoshito Yahagi said: “This is my second win in The Saudi Cup, but no matter how many wins you have in The Saudi Cup, it is still a great feeling.

“I didn’t have confidence; I believed in him.”

Jockey Sakai added: “He jumped very well from the wide gate in 14 and got into a nice position without a problem. It was my tactics to be in that situation.

“I believe in Forever Young, I never thought I’d lose the race. This is the best moment in my life.”

For Romantic Warrior, it’ll be back on the turf for the Dubai Turf at Meydan, though this run proved a World Cup run wouldn’t be misplaced.

McDonald said: “”He ran incredibly well. I was very proud of him. He flowed into the race well and used his momentum nicely, so it was a terrific effort.

“He was gallant in defeat, the race worked out perfectly for us, he got a little bit of kickback, sidled round just beautifully.

“I can safely say I wasn’t stopping, I didn’t alter my stride pace at all. It just shows what great horse Forever Young is and what a race was.”

It was a remarkable day for Japan, who won all four big races.

Shin Emperor won the Neom Turf Cup, beating Sir Alex Ferguson’s Spirit Dancer into sixth, before Ascoli Piceno beat countryman Win Marvel in the 1351 Turf Sprint.

Byzantine Dream, ridden by Oisin Murphy, got the third leg up easily, beating David O’Meara’s Epic Poet in the process.

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