It is only the second time in 28 years that Wales have beaten Ireland on home soil as the boot of man-of-the-match James Hook, who finished with 11 points, helped them come from behind.

There were just three minutes on the clock when Brian O'Driscoll equalled Ian Smith's Championship record of 24 tries and from the subsequent conversion O'Gara broke the four-figure barrier for international Test points.

But their historical achievements were overshadowed by the contribution of touch judge Peter Allan who allowed Wales to take a quick lineout from which Mike Phillips' try put the home side in front for the first time.

Allan incorrectly told referee Jonathan Kaplan that Matthew Rees' quick throw in had been taken with the same ball kicked out by Jonathan Sexton, a necessary criterion for a quick lineout, which led to the South African referee awarding the try.

A further Hook penalty sealed the win but the main talking point in a stop-start game revolved around Phillips' try.

Despite losing scrum-half Eoin Reddan to injury inside the opening moments, Ireland took the lead through O'Driscoll's third minute try.

After several phases of possession, winger Tommy Bowe danced his way past second row Alun Wyn Jones to give his skipper probably the easiest of his 44 Test tries.

The history didn't end there as O'Gara's conversion saw him become only the fifth player in rugby history to amass 1,000 Test points.

In a frenetic opening prop Craig Mitchell joined Reddan on the casualty list as he went off with a suspected dislocated shoulder to be replaced by John Yapp.

Hook, after hitting the post with an earlier penalty attempt, was on target 20 minutes as Wales started to take a foothold in the game.

Despite carving out several promising positions, they could not find the killer touch although another Hook penalty on 27 minutes made it a one-point game.

O'Gara responded with his first penalty when Paul James infringed at a scrum and there was still time for further exchange of kicks between O'Gara and Leigh Halfpenny to make the halftime score 13-9 to the visitors.

A cagey opening to the second half saw both teams content to kick away possession although Shane Williams nearly pounced on Keith Earls' knock-on but could not outpace O'Driscoll and Bowe after sending a kick to the corner.

Declan Kidney opted to replace O'Gara with Jonathan Sexton on 50 minutes to inject some more flair into proceedings but his first act was to kick the ball out on the full.

Despite the ball going into the crowd, Wales hooker Rees sent Phillips away down the left to the fury of the Ireland players.

Hook converted to give Wales the lead for the first time but it was very nearly a short-lived advantage as Luke Fitzgerald had a try ruled out for a forward pass before Sexton missed a very kickable penalty.

A further Hook penalty on 69 minutes took Wales six points clear and despite some ferocious late pressure the home side held out to keep their RBS 6 Nations title hopes alive.