Wales coach Warren Gatland pleased with win over Ireland
Sunday 30 August 2015 00:13, UK
Wales' victory over Ireland lifted them above England in the world rankings ahead of their World Cup clash, but head coach Warren Gatland dismissed any relevance.
Gatland's side atoned for their loss to Ireland in Cardiff earlier this month with a deserved 16-10 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
The excellent Justin Tipuric scored a first-half try while Leigh Halfpenny kicked a conversion and three penalties to clinch victory.
"It doesn't make any difference to us," said Gatland of Wales' rise up the rankings ahead of their Twickenham with England on September 26.
"We came here to play against the No 2 team in the world. We are the only side that have beaten Ireland in the last 15 games. We weren't speaking about the rankings or whatever.
"We just know how close teams can be. The way the game is at the moment, you can win by 15 or 20 points and the team you are playing against change their game-plan and do things differently and you can lose by the same margin the following week.
"So it (rankings) doesn't mean anything. It's just bragging rights, that's all it is."
Gatland reported that centre Jamie Roberts and lock Alun-Wyn Jones both suffered bumps and bruises during what was a high-octane clash, considering its pre-tournament warm-up status.
Ireland could have won it, and that would have been heartbreaking for us, but potentially it could have been a lot more comfortable for us as well.
"Alun-Wyn was precautionary really," Gatland said.
"We made a decision it wasn't worth him playing on and potentially picking up a tournament-ending injury, so it was just a case of getting him off the field and seeing if we could cope with that for the last few minutes, and we did that.
"Jamie just got a knock in the ribs. Hopefully, we are relatively unscathed, but those kind of things you don't really find out until the next morning."
Wales became the first team to beat Ireland in Dublin since world champions New Zealand toppled them in November 2013 and Gatland was pleased with his side's performance.
"We knew the whole focus of this campaign so far in preparation was to win a big game away from home, because we've got to go to Twickenham for a couple of big games (in the World Cup)," he said.
"So to beat the No 2 team in the world was good.
"I know it was close at the end. Ireland could have won it, and that would have been heartbreaking for us, but potentially it could have been a lot more comfortable for us as well."
