O'Gara delivers the dream

Wales 24 Ireland 25

With a Hail Mary and a divine swing of his right boot, Ronan O'Gara kicked Ireland into dreamland. The Munster fly-half's dropped goal in added time, following in a blink of an eye after one by Stephen Jones had seemed to herald a Welsh victory, kept Ireland's Grand Slam quest on course. One point or a hundred: it matters not in pursuit of the Holy Grail.

Fifty-five years the men in green have been waiting for a second Slam. One more victory – against England, that's all – and Dr Karl Mullen's 1948 vintage will be relabelled with Brian O'Driscoll's class of 2003.

"We'll have to lift the ban now," said Eddie O'Sullivan, Ireland's coach, who had prohibited any mention of next Sunday's Dublin denouement in the run-up.

O'Gara's winning points were not pretty. The kick from about 30 metres out, when Ireland got straining fingers to the re-start after Jones's own 40-metre drop, fluttered rather than flew on a trajectory drawn from instinct rather than any eve-of-match dream about how the perfect finish might unfold. But as referee Steve Lander signalled the score, a smile as wide as the Irish Sea adorned the hollow-cheeked son of Cork, who had only been on the field a few minutes as a replacement for David Humphreys. And the decibel level from two kinds of Celts in the Millennium Stadium went off the scale.

Poor Wales, who had come so close to escaping what is now odds-on to be their third whitewash in 14 years. They thought they had it won when Jones struck with 81 minutes on the clock to steal ahead at 24-22. From a half-time deficit of 14-7, which quickly became 19-7 after Keith Gleeson's second try for Ireland, the Welsh had, almost to their own surprise, rediscovered the unfamiliar feeling of hope coursing through their veins. Tries by the magnificent Martyn Williams and Gareth Thomas, sandwiching a penalty from Humphreys, made it 22-21 in Ireland's favour.

And in the last knockings, with redemption so rudely snatched away, Wales piled forward again. Their solitary gameplan – keep ball in hand and drive up the middle – was not about to change.

Stephen Jones went for another drop, but it drooped way wide. Still the red jerseys came, driving on through replacements Martyn Madden and Iestyn Harris. Suddenly Wales were securing line-out ball, something previously foreign to them. The ball flashed into the midfield. Was there a deliberate knock-on by Ireland's wing, Justin Bishop? The London Irishman certainly batted a pass to the floor, though later Mr Lander confirmed it would have been only a Welsh scrum, not a penalty. But Colin Charvis battered on regardless and the ball was fed back to Jones on the 22. In a final, lung-bursting act, Denis Hickie charged him down.

Irish relief flooded the stadium. Having defeated Scotland, Italy and France they had been desperate not to let thoughts of England cloud their minds. Yet despite an unbeaten record in Cardiff stretching back to 1983, the nerve endings became steadily more frayed as the match wore on.

It began safely enough, with a penalty by David Humphreys after six minutes. The Ulsterman's namesake, Wales's captain Jonathan, struggled at the line-out from the outset, but inaccuracy in the tackle and at the breakdown by the usually merciless Irish back row often spared Wales. "We missed too many first-up tackles," admitted O'Sullivan. Somehow Stephen Jones fought through a thicket of Irishmen for the opening try after 16 minutes, and converted himself for 7-3.

Ireland undoubtedly got on top in the middle third of the match. Leo Cullen and Malcolm O'Kelly – winning his 50th cap – ruled the line-out, Humphreys put over penalties after 20 and 27 minutes and Gleeson scored right on half-time, finishing off a sweeping left-to-right move after Geordan Murphy had straightened the attack at the crucial moment.

When Gleeson, 74 seconds into the second half, profited from a Welsh fumble in their 22 and scored at the other end of the same touchline, the game looked up. But there were too many sniffs of the open spaces for the Welsh, and they fashioned a score at the posts for Williams, with Stephen Jones converting. After Humphreys' fourth penalty for Ireland Wales went in again when Stephen Jones was missed by Gleeson and combined with Harris to send Gareth Thomas over.

Cue the wonderfully frantic finish. "All credit to Ireland," said Wales's coach, Steve Hansen, adding "it's not worth talking about" of the Bishop penalty award which never was. And while the New Zealander went off to ponder the latest politics in Welsh rugby, all Ireland – with O'Sullivan's permission and the blessing of O'Gara – will be talking of nothing but England.

Wales 24

Tries: S Jones, M Williams, G Thomas Cons: S Jones 3 Drop: S Jones

Ireland 25

Tries: Gleeson 2 Pens: Humphreys 4 Drop: O'Gara

Half-time: 7-14 Attendance: 72,000

Wales: R Williams (Cardiff); Gareth Thomas (Bridgend), M Taylor (Swansea), T Shanklin (Saracens), M Jones (Llanelli); S Jones (Llanelli), G Cooper (Bath); I Thomas (Llanelli), J Humphreys (Bath, capt), G Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Sidoli (Pontypridd), G Llewellyn (Neath), C Charvis (Swansea), D Jones (Llanelli), M Williams (Cardiff). Replacements: M Watkins (Llanelli) for M Jones, 11; I Harris (Cardiff) for Taylor, 61; D Peel (Llanelli) for Cooper, 50; M Davies (Pontypridd) for J Humphreys, 43; M Madden (Llanelli) for Jenkins, 75

Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester); J Bishop (London Irish), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), K Maggs (Bath), D Hickie (Leinster); D Humphreys (Ulster), P Stringer (Munster); M Horan (Munster), S Byrne (Leinster), J Hayes (Munster), L Cullen (Leinster), M O'Kelly (Leinster), A Quinlan (Munster), A Foley (Munster), K Gleeson (Leinster). Replacements: E Miller (Leinster) for Foley, 31-39; R O'Gara (Munster) for D Humphreys, 70; J Fitzpatrick (Ulster) for Horan, 75; D O'Callaghan (Munster) for Cullen, 70; Miller for Quinlan, 75.

Referee: S Lander (England).