Reigning Six Nations champions Wales were cast aside with ease in their tournament opener thanks to a fully-firing Ireland team in Dublin.
Wayne Pivac's men went down 29-7 and narrowly escaped failing to get a single point on the scoreboard since 1998, courtesy of a late Taine Basham consolation try.
Here is how the UK media and colleagues across the Irish Sea have been reacting:
The final scoreline does not nearly do justice to Ireland's superiority over a hapless and hopeless Welsh outfit. The only area of the game where you could say that Wales were competitive was in the quality of their scramble defence, for they denied several more tries with last-ditch tap-tackles and intercepts.
In every other area Ireland were superior and, worryingly for future opponents, they showed that they have developed the scope and ambition of their attacking game, with forwards and backs interlinking sumptuously at times.
We were in the second quarter before Wales had a set piece in the Irish 22 but their attacking moves were primitive at best.
Aside from not being more ruthless, the main [Ireland] blemish was failing to keep the champions scoreless, due to the concession of a soft try at the end, and in truth the final scoreline flattered Wales.
Ireland were superior in every department, the scrum winning penalties, their big guns (and that pretty much means everyone from Andrew Porter to Jack Conan in this powerful pack) bossing the collisions and the skillset and attacking shape and ambition was vastly superior.
In truth, the review will highlight how they let Wales escape relatively lightly as Ireland failed to fully translate their supremacy into more scores.
Ireland absolutely obliterated them. If 29-7 does not sound quite an obliteration, the truth is that 50 points would have not flattered the Irish. Wales are used to being underrated despite a record this century better than anyone’s, but they are without a host of points of reference. It showed. They looked lost by the end.
Such is Wales’s list of absentees, damage limitation was a respectable ambition against Ireland in this mood.
Easier to eulogise Ireland; not so easy to find anything positive for Wales. Taine Basham’s growing reputation was sort of enhanced in adversity. His intercept try with five minutes to go was the ugliest try of the day, but reward the flanker was well worth. Adams had his moment in attack in the first half, albeit down the wing, but his yellow card for a weird body check on Sexton helped those bewitching runners score Ireland’s third.
Owain Jones, The XV
"This isn’t even a surprise. Ireland a class above Wales domestically, and just transferring that quality to the Test arena. Questions have to be asked. Drifting into mediocrity."
If Ireland laid down a marker to their title rivals here with this destructive and dominant victory, then Wales produced a performance that was equally ominous.
From next week, the Principality Stadium bars will shut earlier and serve weaker beers to curb anti-social behaviour. In the pubs of Cardiff last night, they could have done worse than staying open and serving something rather stronger. Anything to help Wales supporters forget this as soon as possible. It was grim from start to finish.
Rather than being inspired by a video message from Usain Bolt, Pivac’s side never left the starting blocks. They lacked incision and imagination and the gamble to move Josh Adams to 13 backfired. His most telling involvement? A second-half sin bin that allowed Ireland to run riot.
Jonathan Bradley, Irish Independent
The crowds who packed the Aviva Stadium to the rafters for a Six Nations game for the first time in almost two years bore witness to one of Ireland's most one-sided victories over Wales for many a year.
Wales so often are viewed as more than the sum of the regional parts in this competition but the reigning champions simply could not cope with the loss of such vast swathes of their key figures.
Denied the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Justin Tipuric among many others, they never looked ready to upset the odds again this year with Ireland likely feeling they should have had victory secured even earlier than they did.
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