Preview: Wales primed to derail Ireland's Grand Slam hopes
24 Feb 2018
Ireland’s Grand Slam hopefuls face their toughest test to date as Wales – a side that always sets itself up as one with something to prove – come to town. Joe Schmidt’s men top the NatWest 6 Nations standings with two wins from two and while the table doesn’t lie, it tells something of a porky when the hapless Italy are one of the notches.
A yard or so from defeat against France, and the concession of three tries against the Azzurri, which left defence coach Andy Farrell "fuming", it’s safe to say that Ireland have not played near their best. Wales, who Ireland have only beaten once in their last five meetings, will arrive in Dublin on the back of an impressive win over Scotland, a game that saw them overcome a lengthy injury list, and a one-score defeat away to back-to-back champions England.
The lack of a slight, perceived or real, around this fixture might tempt one into thinking that we’re all great pals again but Warren Gatland knows exactly how to prime his side for these games and whether that consists of highlighting the injured Sean O’Brien’s Lions comments, the Welsh will arrive at Lansdowne Road pumped up.
Ireland’s 56-19 win over Conor O’Shea’s Italy came at quite a cost and they lose 93 Test caps worth of experience by the absence of Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson and Robbie Henshaw. That’s a lot of power to lose out in the forwards and incoming tighthead Andrew Porter, winning just his fifth cap, will find out very quickly that Wales are not Italy, against whom he excelled. Expect the 22-year-old Leinster man to be targeted.
Captain Rory Best has already got one warning shot off in advance, a dog whistle to referee Glen Jackson. "We scrum legally," said the hooker, who will become Ireland’s most capped forward (109) when the game kicks off at 2.15pm. "And all we ask is for that to be respected, and, I suppose, protected. Henshaw’s place goes to Chris Farrell, while Devin Toner comes in for the Ulster lock. There are also two tactical switches with Cian Healy back in ahead of Jack McGrath on the other side of the front row, and CJ Stander getting his number 8 shirt back from Jack Conan. The loss through injury of three Lions for Ireland is underlined by three Lions coming back for Wales as Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny all return from injury.
Ireland’s ability to deal with the favourites tag has been a notable weakness over the years. Simply put they’re better underdogs. But any sense that Schmidt's charges would coast into this game under the impression that the 11-point favourites tag offered by some bookmakers early in the week was anyway accurate would have been dispelled by the loss of those key men. And now ex-players and coaches are lining up to say that anything less than a perfect performance will result in a Welsh win, some going so far as to say that this game will see Schmidt's first home Six Nations loss. Ireland are still seven-point favourites but few can see past a margin bigger than a single kick, it looks that close. It could be another draw.
