Two-try man-of-the-match Keiran Williams consigned the Ireland Under-20s to their first defeat of the season as Wales triumphed 41-27 in a pulsating eight-try contest.
The Under-20 Six Nations has mirrored the senior tournament in that England – thanks to their 33-5 bonus point win over Scotland – have secured the title with one round still to play.
Williams’ two tries took him to five for this year’s tournament and saw him secure a second successive man-of-the-match award.
In the process, Wales ended previously unbeaten Ireland’s Grand Slam bid as fly-half Ben Jones booted 14 points from the tee and replacement Jack Pope rumbled over for a late fifth.
An entertaining first period had ended 24-13 in favour of the home side with both teams committed to playing an expansive brand of running rugby.
Wales started with a bang through an early Jones penalty, before Ireland ran a poor home kick back with real intent. Full-back Jordan Larmour started the counterattack, sprinting towards the touchline and finding his captain Calvin Nash in support to waltz over the line.
Fly-half Bill Johnston converted, before Wales hit back with two quick scores.
First, hooker Tarrant cut a lovely line from a Jones pass to cross and then a Corey Baldwin breakaway ended with scrum-half Blacker scoring their second try.
Jones added both sets of extras, but there was no let-up in the drama. Johnston stuck the post with a shot at goal, but was then on the money with two further penalties to narrow the Irish deficit to just four points.
Wales, though, had the last laugh of the first half as captain Williams went over.
It was a sensational score too, the centre making up for conceding one of Johnston’s earlier penalties with a brilliant individual effort. The left-footed Jones converted.
As he had done at the start of the game, Jones began the second period with his second penalty of the day. But the see-saw nature of the encounter continued as Ireland levelled the scores within the next 10 minutes.
Two quick pushover tries from forwards Joey Conway and Paul Doyle and a pair of conversions from Johnston set up an eagerly anticipated final quarter.
Baldwin had also seen a potential try ruled out for a forward pass, but the game then swung back in Wales’ favour when Ireland’s Conor Fitzgerald saw yellow.
The replacement tackled Blacker without retreating five metres following a quick tap penalty from the scrum-half and in his absence, it was Williams who once again stood up to the plate.
The centre’s second try of the day was every bit as good as his first and although Jones was suffering with a leg knock, he again added the simple extras to what was the bonus-point score.
Fitzgerald returned to the field with his team up against it at 34-27 down, but there was still time for Pope to complete the scoring and bring an end a game which showed once again that Wales have plenty of young talent coming through the ranks.
