IRELAND managed to bounce back from a dispiriting loss a week ago to throw cold water over head coach Warren Gatland’s final game in Wales.

It was a turgid game dominated by endless scrummages and handling errors that killed the game’s atmosphere.

A brace of tries for winger Jacob Stockdale in the first half saw the Irish flyer make a welcome return to scoring form.

Wales gave away nine set-piece penalties that saw referee Romain Poite send Welsh forward Leon Brown to the sin bin 11 minutes into the second half after losing patience at the frequent scrum transgressions.

Even worse for Wales followed minutes later as Poite awarded a penalty try to give the visitors a 19-point lead.

Superior fitness has always been a hallmark of Gatland’s sides and a tiring Ireland almost lost because of it as Wales mounted an improbable fightback.

That was a big plus for Gatland as Wales righted the ship in the second half.

Hooker Elliot Dee almost made the score as the line beckoned but knocked on just he was about to score his first try for Wales.

Gatland had cranked the pressure up on his two fly-halfs before the game, telling Jarrod Evans and Rhys Patchell they would get 40 minutes each to shoot out for a place in his final squad of 31 — ultimately it was Patchell who was chosen yesterday for the final World Cup squad.

Evans had a tough first half, slicing a sitter in front of the posts and missing touch with a penalty not long after.

Patchell put his hand up for Japan in some style, orchestrating a comeback that almost won the game, including a well-taken try with just five minutes to go and making some difficult kicks.

Gatland and his fellow New Zealand head coach of Ireland Joe Schmidt had agreed to try out their second strings to see which players could force their way into their final squad selections.

But this was still not a meaningless World Cup warm-up as the heat and humidity in Japan will be a crucial factor. 

The short turnaround between games in the group stages mean that squad depth will be vital to World Cup success as players will need resting.

Gatland admitted after the match that he was surprised at the emotion he felt and thanked the fans for their support over his years in charge.

“Some of our players put their hands up today and so some of my questions have been answered.

“I was not expecting that performance as we had trained really well this week,” Gatland said.

A relieved Schmidt said he had told his players that their performance against England a week ago was unacceptable and this game was much better.

“Our line out was much better this week and our performance put some pride back in the jersey.”

Schmidt also heaped praise on his fly-half, man of the match Jack Carty.

“Carty has done well as he did when we lost here in the Six Nations when he came on for a cameo performance.”

The two coaches have already agreed that they will be both fielding much stronger sides for the return fixture in Dublin next week. 

Wales will be desperate to win as another loss will mean a poor return of three losses from four games, while Ireland need to get their World Cup tilt back on track.