Trailing 7-3 at the break, three second half penalties from Davies and a Dion Jones try were enough to hand the hosts victory.

Wales dominated the opening exchanges and had a chance to take the lead with a penalty, but Davies failed to convert.

Five minutes in, Wales flanker Sion Bennett made a scintillating break from his own five metre line and offloaded to his fellow back row Dan Thomas. Thomas failed to find support that would have led to a try.

Davies then missed another two penalties, meaning that after 12 minutes Wales could have found themselves 16-0 up yet the score remained 0-0.

The Irish forwards struggled to cope in the scrum and Davies finally punished them with a penalty in front of the posts, making it 3-0.

But Ireland scrum-half Luke McGrath provided some spark for the visitors with a smart break from around the fringes of the ruck which galvanised his team.

The Irish went through some good phase play, and it was McGrath again who eventually dived over from the base of the ruck after 20 minutes. Tom Daly converted and Ireland led 3-7.

With half an hour gone the Irish defence impressed by soaking up Welsh pressure and moving play back up-field patiently towards the Welsh line, but the killer blow never came.

Both sides made line breaks just before half-time but neither protected the ball well in contact. Davies' miserable first half with the boot continued as a penalty attempt hooked it's way wide of the posts and the half finished 3-7.

Davies ditched his first-half kicking woes after 44 minutes to bring the Welsh back to 6-7 with a penalty.

And soon after, Wales finally began to click, showing good handling to make their way toward the try line.

Irish prop Chris Taylor was sin-binned and the extra numbers eventually told - full-back Jones going over after a set-piece scrum. Davies' conversion came back off the crossbar but Wales led 11-7.

With Taylor still in the bin, Wales knew they had to capitalise on every scoring opportunity and Davies extended their lead further to 14-7 after a penalty.

The men in green came back and battered the Wales try line and after one too many penalties, Ospreys prop Nicky Thomas was sin binned as Taylor returned for Ireland.

Suddenly Ireland had a one man advantage and they eventually got their try through centre Daly who could not convert his score, meaning Wales still led by two.

Davies then provided Wales with a bit of breathing space after another penalty made it 17-12 before Ireland went through 20 phases, only to find the Welsh defence impenetrable.

Daly had to settle for another penalty to make it 17-15 with five minutes of the game left, believing his side had enough time to get back up the field and win the game.

And despite having possession for the last few minutes, Wales continued to defend well and closed the game out to start their RBS 6 Nations campaign with a win.