Grand slam-chasing Ireland have made it three bonus-point Six Nations wins from three against Wales at the Aviva Stadium, racking up their 18th successive home win in the process with a 31-7 victory.
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The hosts dominated the first half and led by 17-0 at the break on Saturday thanks to tries from Dan Sheehan and James Lowe.
A penalty try for Wales and a yellow card for Ireland's Tadhg Beirne just after halftime threatened to make things interesting.
But Ireland mostly resumed control with 14 men, though a ragged second half remained competitive until Australian-born Ciaran Frawley marked his first Six Nations start with a debut try on 67 minutes.
Then Beirne added the bonus-point try at the death as Wales sank to their 10th defeat in their last 11 Six Nations games.
Ireland travel to England in two weeks before hoping to play for their second successive grand slam at home to Scotland on March 16.
Wales have back-to-back home games against France and Italy, with the latter now a potential wooden spoon decider.
Coach Andy Farrell felt his Irish charges still had a "bit of fixing to do" if they wanted to keep their slam bid on course against England.
He was critical of his team's passiveness in attack in the first half and failure to take advantage of their dominance in the scrum, but praised the huge impact of his forward-heavy pack in earning the bonus-point late on.
"I suppose the bottom line is we got there in the end by being really tenacious and tough. We wanted to be better today but the opposition always has a say in that and Wales certainly did today," Farrell said.
"We've a bit of fixing to do and hopefully we can get better for Twickenham."
Wales coach Warren Gatland said his inexperienced team could take a huge amount from the performance, likening it to his time as a player with Waikato in New Zealand when they suffered big losses to Auckland before turning the tables on their rivals.
"I can't question the effort of the players and just how hard they worked," Gatland said, saying the scoreline reflected the greater experience of the Irish side.
Australian Associated Press
