DRAMA, drama, drama, the Aviva Stadium echoed to the sound of the World Cup yesterday afternoon.

Just when you thought you had escaped all the talk and endless debate over the dreaded tip tackle, it returned with a vengeance in Dublin — in stereo.

When Bradley Davies upended Donnacha Ryan with 15 minutes remaining, the whole of Wales must have collectively shaken their head in disbelief.

Many Welsh fans still have the image of skipper Sam Warburton dumping French wing Vincent Clerc to the turf imbedded in their nightmares.

Here, with the game teetering precariously in the balance, was another tackle that looked to undo all the good work that had gone on for so much of this absorbing Six Nations contest.

How ironic then that this dramatic last-gasp triumph was delivered by the same offence by a man in green.

Boos

The boos that reverberated around the new Lansdowne Road said everything about what the home fans felt about Wayne Barnes's decision to penalise and then yellow card Stephen Ferris for his tackle on Ian Evans straight in front of the uprights.

And the general consensus, post match, was that Davies shouldn't have been allowed to come back onto the field, while Ferris was harshly dealt with by the Englishman.

Asked whether Davies should have seen red not yellow, Wales coach Warren Gatland's reply was a straight: "Yes.

"We have seen the replay of the incident and it doesn't look good," added the New Zealander, who admitted the coaching team are already preparing for life without Davies, who was expected to be cited yesterday evening.

As for Ireland coach Declan Kidney, he remained the epitome of diplomacy.

Asked about both incidents, he said: "These decisions have to be made, we will take a lot at what we can solve first. We will work on what we can work on and let the powers that be look after the rest."

The controversy, though, shouldn't, detract from a fine Welsh victory, even though Gatland later said his side got "reasonably lucky" and only played to about 70 per cent of their potential.

At one stage you wondered whether, just like that Auckland semi-final back in October, Wales were to rue those dreaded missed kicks.

Ten points went astray from the boot of Rhys Priestland, whose fine all-round game continues to be beset by the goal-kicking demons, while Leigh Halfpenny pushed a touchline conversion of George North's 76th-minute try.

But while there was despair at Eden Park as the Gorseinon speedster watched his long-range penalty dip agonisingly under the bar, here Halfpenny kept his nerve to deliver under huge pressure.

Other than the missed kicks Priestland picked up where he left off in Wellington with an accomplished performance in the No. 10 jersey.

It is amazing how, in a short space of time, the Scarlet has become such an integral cog in the Welsh machine.

During the World Cup he was seen as the man who made Wales tick, bringing Jamie Roberts into the game as a hugely effective midfield carrier. His ability to put others into space was also one of the reasons why Gatland was so keen to give him as much time as possible to prove his fitness.

There was little evidence of a dodgy knee in the opening exchanges as the Carmarthen product pulled the string as if he had been wearing the revered Wales No. 10 jersey for seven years not seven months.

And that sublime piece of skill that put his good friend Jonathan Davies over for the first of his two tries will take some beating during this championship.

Spotting Irish tight-head Mike Ross struggling to get across to cover in defence, Priestland sprinted to the home line then delivered a pass around the back of Tommy Bowe that would have had former Scarlets midfield maestro Regan King purring in Clermont. Behind the scrum Wales were as strong and menacing as they have been in a while, with George North's performance hailed as 'world class' by Gatland and Jonathan Davies unfortunate not to pick up the man-of-the-match award from his two-try display.

Wales have shown in the past the benefits of winning the opening game of a Six Nations campaign.

You suspect those unsold tickets for Sunday's Cardiff clash with Scotland won't be around for long.