Live text – Ireland v Wales

32 min: Ire 3-10 Wal Bennett finds his jumper and Priestland’s kick narrowly clears the outstretched palms of the onrushing O’Brien.

31 mins: Ire 3-10 Wal A sweeping Irish counter as the ball bounces out the side of a ruck. Ferris rumbles, Kearney juggles and holds before O’Gara pokes a grubber into the corner. Pressure on Huw Bennett’s line-out throw within five metres of his own line.

27 mins: Ire 3-10 Wal Leigh Halfpenny, big boot for a small lad, hits it long, staright and true off the tee. The flags flick upwards as it creeps over the crossbar.

PENALTY – IRELAND 3-10 WALES

25 mins: Ire 3-7 Wal As predicted, the breakdown has been fiercely contested and Sam Warburton is in the middle of it all. The Cardiff Blue crabs over the top of the tackled Paul O’Connell and Ireland can’t blast him clear. A penalty on the half-way line for Wales.

24 min: Ire 3-7 Wal This time Ireland opt for the easy points and O’Gara slots a regulation three points from almost dead in front.

PENALTY – IRELAND 3-7 WALES

23 min: Ire 0-7 Wal O’Driscoll gathers a steepling kick from Priestland and Kearney up from full-back takes the ball on the burst as the Welsh defence opens up in front of him. Wales look to have repelled the Irish as they turn the ball over, but Shane Williams opts to pick and go from the base and is pinged by referee Craig Joubert for holding on. Very kickable penalty for Ireland.

17 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Will Ireland regret these missed opportunities? They come away from the Welsh 22 without any points again as O’Gara fumbles under pressure from Jonathan Davies. Priestland’s boot sends the ball back downfield.

16 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Sean O’Brien almost burrows over from the line-out but the unlikely figure of Shane Williams gets his diminutive frame underneath the flanker to hold him up.

15 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Absorbing, hectic stuff as Ireland opt to kick a penalty into the corner rather than allow O’Gara a go at the sticks.

14 min: Ire 0-7 Wal A probing run from George North almost prises open the Ireland defence as Heaslip gets across to haul him down. O’Driscoll snaffles an intercept on the next phase and Ireland roll downfield through D’Arcy before Wales scramble back.

11 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Jamie Roberts has made a storming start, cantering through green shirts and over the gain line every time he gets his hands on the ball.

10 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Finally the pressure lifts for Wales. O’Gara throws a dummy and steps straight into a big, upending hit from Warbuton robbing Ireland’s siege of the tryline of momentum. Priestland smacks a kick long to the relief of his forwards and the fans in the stands.

8 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Desperate Welsh defence as they mob O’Callaghan and then Bowe within five metres of their own line.

6 min: Ire 0-7 Wal Ireland’s back row lead their response as Stephen Ferris bowls over Priestland inside the Welsh 22. The red shirts infringe and O’Driscoll turns down a shot at the posts to opts for a kick into the corner.

CONVERSION – IRELAND 0-7 WALES

TRY – IRELAND 0-5 WALES

2 min: Ire 0-0 Wal Wales pin Ireland back on their own five-metre line as Roberts takes a towering up-and-under from Priestland. Great start from Gatland’s side.

1 min: Ire 0-0 Wal Keith Earls spills the ball as he takes a short pass from O’Gara, but the hopes of a swift Welsh counter are ended by a big hit on Halfpenny by O’Driscoll.

0600 BST: Quick check on the full line-ups as Land of my Fathers blasts out.
Ireland: Rob Kearney (Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Gordan D’Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster); Ronan O’Gara (Munster), Conor Murray (Munster); Cian Healy (Leinster), Rory Best (Ulster) Mike Ross (Leinster), Donnacha O’Callaghan (Munster), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Stephen Ferris (Ulster), Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).
Wales: Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues); George North (Scarlets), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Bayonne); Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Luke Charteris (Dragons), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Dragons) Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt), Toby Faletau (Dragons).

0558 BST: Brow furrowed in concentration, Brian O’Driscoll leads out Ireland. This golden generation of Ireland players, the likes of O’Driscoll (32), Donnacha O’Callaghan (32), Paul O’Connell (31), Gordon D’Arcy (31) and Ronan O’Gara (34), are supping in the last-chance saloon in terms of making an impact at the World Cup. For the hip, ng gunslingers of Wales, this may the first of many promising campaigns.

0549 BST: My two picks for where the game will be won and lose though are: openside where the blood, thunder and big carries of Ireland’s Sean O’Brien goes up against streetwise turnover merchant Sam Warburton. And at fly-half where the sometimes-flakey Ronan O’Gara will likely face a barrage of heavy Welsh traffic and the inexperienced Rhys Priestland will hope justify Warren Gatland’s faith. Thoughts?

0542 BST: There are intriguing personal duels all over the field today. How will Ireland’s pocket battleship Cian Healy fare against Adam Jones in the front row? In midfield, can the the th and power of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies ruffle Ireland’s silky smooth centres Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll? And on the wing, can Osprey Tommy Bowe contain “the Welsh Lomu” George North?

0530 BST: The whiff of deep heat and adrenalin, the sound of studs clattering on dressing room floors – a mouth-watering weekend of Rugby World Cup quarter-finals is so close can almost feel it. And what a way to start: Ireland v Wales kicks off in 30 minutes in Wellington and if one match deserved the hype…