Ireland fly-half Jonny Sexton kicks one of his four penalties during the Six Nations win over Wales in Dublin. Photograph: Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty Images  That record third title in a row is looking a long shot now. If there had been mere grumbles over Wales's lacklustre performance against Italy last week, there are some big, ugly questions hanging over them now. As two-tries-to-nil defeats go, this was a rout – not dissimilar, in fact, to the defeat Wales inflicted on England to win their title last year. If we were looking at Celtic Six Nations champions here, it was surely the men in green.  Wales have recovered from a hiding by Ireland to win the title before, of course, but there was a whiff of finality about this particular defeat. A year ago, Ireland devastated Wales for 50 minutes, but Wales responded thrillingly in the final 30. No such revival this time, even if a similar stage had been set, with Ireland leading 16-0 early in the first half.  Instead, Wales's game deteriorated further, as the rain started to fall in the second half. Peter O'Mahony won the plaudits as the most possessed yet precise Irishman out there, but there was much competition for that title among Ireland's forwards.  Jonny Sexton tortured Wales with some of his kicking from hand, ably supported by his half-back partner, Conor Murray, and their uncomplicated gameplan was complemented by some fine aerial work by Ireland's wingers and full-back. Both tries stemmed from a dominant lineout, and the number of penalties Ireland forced the visitors into conceding proved terminal to Welsh hopes.  Warren Gatland has spent much of his time of late assiduously playing down the hype over this encounter between two teams whose players he knows only too well. As a policy it was uncharacteristically defensive; as a policy it proved uncharacteristically ineffective. A gracious but subdued Gatland would go on to describe this afterwards as "one of the most disappointing performances" he had been involved in as Wales coach.  Ireland had bought into the hype, bursting into this with the kind of aggression we used to know as their principal stock in trade. More recently that primeval fury has given way a little to a more sophisticated method – a transition from the Munster way to the Leinster, you might say. Here the precision remained, but the old fury was re-stoked. They were comprehensive victors at the breakdown and benefitted from a stream of penalties in a first-half performance that was enough to break the champions.  Having profited from those penalties to the tune of 6-0, Jonny Sexton then worked a series of delicious kicks to Wales's corner in the second quarter, and Ireland would score the game's decisive try when Rhys Priestland was forced to carry one of them into touch. The Ireland lineout was secure to Devin Toner at the front, and the subsequent drive to the line devastating. Jamie Heaslip and Rory Best ushered it on through the disintegrating Welsh, and Chris Henry touched down for a 13-0 lead just past the half-hour. As a roll-call of some of Ireland's best performers it was an apposite passage of play.  Wales seemed as diffident as their head coach in the buildup – almost sheepish. Their defence was organised enough – bar that one lineout – but there was little in the way of intensity. And the casual error count was alarming. They were disrupted by the loss of Scott Williams, who clattered Brian O'Driscoll with a shoulder challenge and was fortunate to escape further scrutiny. Williams emerged from the collision the worse for wear, even if O'Driscoll needed treatment himself. George North moved in one to outside-centre, where many would like to see him more often, but this will not form exhibit A in support of the idea. Wales's midfield could find no rhythm. A few of their players – Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate – looked what they are, players short of recent game time. And Richard Hibbard, such a key performer, was having a horrible day, fumbling and missing his jumpers.  Half-time made little difference. A lineout won by another man playing with the precision and intensity of yore, the captain Paul O'Connell, was driven and pulled down. Sexton made it 16-0. Only then did we see anything in the way of fluency from Wales, Jamie Roberts breaking past O'Driscoll for one spell. But it came to nothing when O'Mahony, once more, won the turnover.  Wales's first points were to arrive soon, though, from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny just before the hour, but it said something about their performance that they owed them to a penalty for a scrum-engagement offence. There were a few of those throughout the match, each smacking of guesswork by the referee. It was another depressing day for enthusiasts of the scrum. Immediately afterwards, though, Priestland spilled an up-and-under, and O'Mahony forced a penalty, so Ireland's 16-point margin was restored.  The Welsh error count was exacerbated still further, if that were possible, by a squall in the final quarter. Wales were now winning the requisite amount of possession, but, a Rhodri Jones double-movement for the line aside, Ireland remained comfortable. Then they cranked it up one more time at the death. Another lineout, another drive, and Conor Murray fed Paddy Jackson for a second try. As a gloss on the scoreline, it was far from undeserved.  Fisticuffs broke out in the aftermath. Welsh aggression, at last, but it was far too late.
Tries from Chris Henry and Paddy Jackson helped Ireland to a convincing 26-3 victory over Six Nations champions Wales in Dublin