Wales head coach Warren Gatland lost his last home Test in Cardiff as Ireland bounced back from their thrashing by England last week to edge the hosts 22-17 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
The Irish, beaten 57-15 by England, won in Cardiff for the first time since August 2015 after scoring three tries in the Rugby World Cup warm-up match, two for Jacob Stockdale and a penalty try bringing Wales' 11-game home winning streak stretching back to November 2017 to an end.
The two teams meet again next Saturday in Dublin and the defeat will rankle more with Gatland as he remains bitter about the manner in which he was dismissed as head coach by the Irish in 2001.
"It was massive for us," man of the match Jack Carty told Channel 4.
"We were all hurting during the week but we came together. It wasn't perfect at times but our defence was good against a quality Welsh outfit."
The consolation for Gatland -- who according to team members was a bit 'choked up' when he spoke to them at the team hotel -- was the performance of Rhys Patchell.
He looks sure to be the back-up fly-half to Dan Biggar when the squad is announced on Sunday after having come on at half-time he almost propelled the hosts to an unlikely win having trailed 22-3.
Full Time score - WALES 17-22 IRELAND #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/H8f1xkR9qZ
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) August 31, 2019
Irish flyhalf Carty opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a sweetly-struck penalty from 40 metres out.
Jarrod Evans levelled with a penalty on the quarter-hour mark.
However, the visitors regained the advantage with a superb team try in the 18th minute.
Prop Dave Kilcoyne brushed aside Josh Navidi, Carty offloaded to Conway who made huge inroads breezing past several Welsh defenders.
The 28-year-old wing could have gone for glory on his own but unselfishly passed to Stockdale who ran in to touch down -- the wing let out some of the pent up emotion from heavy criticism of his defence last weekend by beating his chest and pulled on the Irish badge.
Stockdale grabbed his second when he showed his poaching qualities shortly before the half hour mark.
Aaron Shingler over elaborated with a backhand pass which went to ground and the Ulster star pounced to kick ahead handed off Hallam Amos and touched down -- Carty this time was unable to convert.
The Irish put a lot of pressure on the Welsh scrum in the second-half and replacement prop Leon Brown got sin-binned in the 52nd minute.
The Irish camped in the Welsh five metres and referee Romain Poite eventually lost patience and awarded the Irish a penalty try to give the visitors a 22-3 lead.
The Welsh got back into the game or at least offered themselves some hope as Owen Lane -- who had a rough time in the first-half with Stockdale -- side-stepped two tacklers and touched down.
Patchell converted brilliantly from the touchline for 22-10 with 15 minutes remaining.
Ireland had Luke McGrath -- nick-named 'The Ferret' -- to thank for denying Elliot Dee his first Test try as he dislodged the ball from the replacement hooker's hand as he stretched to touch down.
Patchell had transformed the Welsh side in the second-half and he deservedly got a try himself with less than five minutes remaining sidestepping Ringrose to touch down and converting for good measure.
However, the Irish forced one more turnover and secured a much-needed victory.
RESULT
Wales 17
Tries: Lane, Patchell
Cons: Patchell
Pens: J Evans, Patchell
Ireland 22
Tries: Stockdale 2, Penalty
Cons: Carty
Pens: Carty
FRANCE vs ITALY
🏉 Une victoire 4️⃣7️⃣-1️⃣9️⃣ qui fait du bien avant le départ dans quelques semaines au Japon 🤩
— Assurement Rugby (@assurementrugby) August 30, 2019
B.R.A.V.O le #XVdeFrance 🇫🇷 : nous sommes fiers de vous, continuez comme ça !!! 💪#FRAITA #NeFaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/1JoOOCg2zL
Winger Yoann Huget starred as France thumped Italy 47-19 in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up Test on Friday.
Huget, 32, scored a try and was a threatening presence as the home side crossed seven time in front of a sparse crowd at the Stade de France.
Azzurri captain Sergio Parisse made his 140th international appearance, behind only former Ireland centre Brian O'Driscoll and ex-New Zealand flanker Richie McCaw.
The hosts raced into an early lead as Huget crossed after less than two minutes for his fourth try in as many Tests.
The Toulouse finisher was on the end of a simple backline move sparked by Wesley Fofana's attacking line off the shoulder of Romain Ntamack.
France were reduced to 14 men when No 8 Louis Picamoles was shown a yellow card by referee Matthew Carley for playing the ball on the ground.
Italy took the lead three minutes later. Parisse played a tap penalty quickly and off-loaded for winger Mattia Bellini to score unopposed as the Stade de France began to whistle.
Tommaso Allan, on his 50th Test appearance, converted for a 7-5 lead.
The home side were down to 13 almost immediately after the restart as Rabah Slimani was punished after conceding the 10th French penalty of the opening 23 minutes.
Bellini was the villain two minutes later, shown a yellow card for pulling back Huget as the Toulouse winger chased his own kick.
Carley also awarded a penalty try and les Bleus led 12-7.
Hooker Camille Chat, starting instead of regular captain Guilhem Guirado, extended the hosts' advantage when he scored following a rolling maul.
Huget was involved in both his side's next two tries.
The winger was high-tackled and the penalty led to a rolling maul from which Antoine Dupont scored after 44 minutes.
Huget then broke down the left. French forwards recycled before finding lock Arthur Iturria free on the right.
Ntamack slotted both conversions for a 33-7 lead with 33 minutes to play.
The Azzurri closed the gap to 33-14 as flanker Jake Polledri caught his own chip kick to charge over.
Wenceslas Lauret crossed with the help of lock Romain Taofifenua for France's sixth try.
Bellini replied with less than 15 minutes remaining and the visitors trailed 40-19.
The victory was assured when substitute Thomas Ramos crossed with five minutes remaining.
RESULT
France 47
Tries: Huget, Chat, Dupont, Iturria, Lauret, Ramos-
Cons: Ntamack 5
Italy 19
Tries: Bellini 2, Polledri
Cons: Allan 2
GEORGIA vs SCOTLAND
FULL TIME | A confident performance in defence and attack from Scotland in a historic match against Georgia, to give us the win in Tbilisi! 🏴#AsOne pic.twitter.com/i4NsIKX9Zq
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) August 31, 2019
Fly-half Finn Russell starred as Scotland hammered Georgia 44-10 in a Rugby World Cup warm-up Test in Tbilisi on Saturday.
Russell played a part in all but one of the visitors' five tries in a fixture which marked the first time a country from the top table of international rugby played a game in the former Soviet state.
Centre Rory Hutchinson crossed twice to secure Gregor Townsend's second straight victory after losing to France a fortnight ago.
Prop Kakha Asieshvili claimed his sixth try in 35 Tests for the 'Lelos', ranked 12th in the world rankings, who beat South African provincial side the Southern Kings on Tuesday.
"You want the players to play well and they did that tonight. The more players that are training well and playing well, the harder it will be for us to get it down to 31 players," Townsend told BBC Radio Scotland ahead of naming his final World Cup squad on Tuesday.
"In the first 20 minutes I thought we were accurate, we chased kicks well, we cleared contact well and held up in our set-piece."
"That got us pulled into the game and we chipped away at the scoreboard through pressure and getting penalties," he added.
The visitors raced into a 6-0 lead after 12 minutes with two Laidlaw penalty goals.
Scotland made the most of their early dominance as Russell showed his quality against a sluggish defensive line.
His break after 14 minutes ended with second-row Ben Toolis scoring.
The Racing 92 fly-half then set up Hutchinson five minutes later for the centre's first Test try and Scotland led 20-0 after 19 minutes.
The home side claimed their first points of proceedings with a 40-metre penalty from full-back Soso Matiashvili.
Laidlaw then re-established the 20-point lead just before the break with an simple effort of his own.
Northampton midfielder Hutchinson, starting his first international, scored his second of the game eight minutes into the second half.
Georgia's crossed through substitute Kakha Asiseshvili with the prop's first touch after 58 minutes.
Flyhalf Tedo Abzhandadze added the extras but Scotland led 30-10 with a quarter of the game to play.
Russell was key in the away side's fourth try.
His neat grubber kick was collected by Darcy Graham for the winger's fourth try in six Tests and Russell was substituted after slotting the touchline conversion with 15 minutes remaining.
Scotland's fifth try came as substitute scrum-half Ali Price took a quick penalty and Scott Cummings crashed over from short range on the 74-minute mark.
The two sides face each other once again next Friday in their final warm-up game ahead of the start of the World Cup.
Georgia 10
Tries: Asieshvili
Cons: Abzhandadze
Pens: Matiashvili
Scotland 44
Tries: Hutchinson 2, Toolis, Graham, Cummings
Cons: Laidlaw 3, Russell, Hastings
Pens: Laidlaw 3
FIJI vs TONGA
Fiji tuned up for the rugby World Cup with a hard-fought win over Tonga at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday, while Samoa overcame a New Zealand Heartland XV at the same venue.
The Fijians scored five tries to three as they combined trademark counterattacking prowess with stalwart defence to down their Pacific rivals 29-19 despite Tonga dominating possession.
"We were trying to put together our phases and work as a team," Fiji captain Dominiko Waqaniburotu said. "I think we've done pretty well given that Tonga threw everything at us."
Tonga coach Toutai Kefu said before the match that it was the strongest side he had fielded in his four years in charge.
They had the ball for much of the first half and were rewarded with tries to Siale Piutau and Paula Nagauamo.
But Fiji hit back each time with intercept tries to Jousa Tuisova and Vereneki Goneva, then took a 17-12 lead into the break when Semi Kunatani scored after their first period of sustained pressure.
Tonga continued to graft in the second half but skipper Piutau said mistakes allowed Fijian flair to prevail.
"I'm proud of the effort the boys put in but obviously they made too many errors and they capitalised on it," he said. "You can't do that against a quality side like Fiji."
Both sides ended with 14 men after Fiji number eight Peceli Yato and his Tonga counterpart Maama Vaipulu were sinbinned over an exchange of punches in the final minutes.
It was Fiji's final match before the World Cup in Japan, while Tonga will face a stern Test next week when they face defending World Cup champions New Zealand in Auckland.
Earlier, Samoa finished strongly in a 36-19 win over a New Zealand Heartland XV made up of provincial players, after leading 15-14 at half time.
Captain Jack Lam said his side needed to improve to be competitive in their final warm-up against Australia in Sydney next week.
"We're happy to get the win in the end but they scored 19 points and there's a lot to work on this week before the Wallabies because they're on a different level at the moment," he said.
Samoa are in Pool A at the World Cup, a group that also includes Ireland, Scotland, Japan and Russia.
RESULT
Fiji 29
Tonga 19
