Wales lost Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb to injuries in its final warm-up game before the 2015 tournament, but a bang on the head for Rhys Patchell, who was able to walk off the pitch unaided, was the only notable issue for Warren Gatland on Sunday (AEST).

Perhaps less superstitious about such situations, Ireland — welcoming Johnny Sexton back into the team — looked far more ruthless and was able to give Best a victorious send-off, with the 37-year-old withdrawn in the 53rd minute.

An evenly contested opening resulted in neither side adding points to the board until the 21st minute, when Rob Kearney received Conor Murray's quick offload before touching down in the corner before Sexton added the extras.

Wales did lose Patchell, making his first Test start since June 2018, after he sustained a knock to the head in a collision with CJ Stander, although he walked off and the visitors' initial response was impressive.

After seeing one opportunity for their first try go begging when Dan Biggar was just about held up, the resulting five-metre scrum came to Hadleigh Parkes to charge over, with Halfpenny converting after a successful earlier penalty.

Ireland stepped things up after the interval and went back in front when Tadhg Furlong burrowed his way over after another scrum.

James Ryan followed suit 10 minutes later, touching down despite Aaron Wainwright's best efforts, leaving coach Joe Schmidt, like Best, triumphant in his final match in Ireland.