Ireland’s recent streak against Wales set to continue

Adam Kyriacou
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Round One of the Six Nations concludes with a fascinating contest at the Principality Stadium as Wales look to end their recent drought against Ireland.

It has been four meetings since the Welsh got one over their Celtic rivals and a victory at home on Sunday would be the perfect start to their campaign.

Coming into this year’s Championship after finishing in fifth place in 2020 won’t have been forgotten by their passionate supporters so the pressure is most definitely on head coach Wayne Pivac, particularly after Warren Gatland set the bar so high on his departure with a run to the World Cup semi-finals in 2019.

Four victories in their last 11 games is simply not good enough for Welsh fans but it’s not just Pivac feeling the pressure as the international season gets underway, as Ireland boss Andy Farrell needs to turn third position finishes in the 2020 Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup into a serious title challenge.

Last time they met

The pair’s most recent meeting came late last year in the Autumn Nations Cup via the opening Pool A match at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Ireland won 32-9 on the day in a comfortable result that saw second-row Quinn Roux cross in the first period before wing James Lowe went over in the second to celebrate his international bow. Jonathan Sexton marked his 100th cap for his country with a win but came off injured early on while Wales lock Alun Wyn Jones made his 150th international appearance.

What they said

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac on how their preparations for the Six Nations were marred by Josh Adams breaking lockdown rules to visit his wider family for a ‘gender reveal party’.

“He has embarrassed himself, he has had to leave the team and he will do his penance at home,” he said, with Hallam Amos in his place on the wing.

“I think the message went out at the start of the competition as to how we would deal with any breaches. We’ve dealt with it exactly how we said we would. That should be a lesson to everybody.

“We have to treat these guys as adults, which they are. They are professional rugby players. It’s a very, very long time to lock people away in a hotel.”

Meanwhile, Ireland captain and fly-half Jonathan Sexton spoke of his team’s hopes for the Six Nations and how he believes the crown is up for grabs in 2021.

“Every team is sat in their different training centres setting targets to win the Six Nations, you’re not coming in here going, ‘I hope we finish third or second’,” he said.

“We’re here to try and win, that’s the name of the game in professional sport.

“We want to be up there with the best and that’s France and England at the moment.

“But you look at the Six Nations table and anyone can go out and win it, I think.”

Players to watch

A first start for Wales since November 2018 hands flanker Dan Lydiate an opportunity to reclaim the number six jersey as he links up with Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in the back-row on Sunday. Lydiate’s form for Ospreys has been rewarded and with ample international experience already in his locker we expect a determined performance from a formidable player, with fellow Ospreys duo, George North and Alun Wyn Jones, also crucial to Wales’ hopes of victory.

In green there is a first Six Nations start for James Lowe as he continues his still very young international journey for Ireland. Expect the New Zealand-born left wing to get through mountains of work for the cause – his battle with Louis Rees-Zammit likely to be one to savour – and if he sees plenty of ball, Ireland’s hopes of getting off on the right foot will increase significantly. We’re also looking forward to seeing Tadhg Beirne‘s unique impact all over the field in Cardiff.

Main head-to-head

Plenty of match-ups to choose from here but we settle on two experienced fly-halves in Dan Biggar and Jonathan Sexton. Despite their wealth of caps, both playmakers are under pressure to perform in 2021, with replacements Callum Sheedy and Billy Burns pushing to play the leading role heading into the 2023 Rugby World Cup. There’s also the Byrnes at Leinster breathing down Sexton’s neck so the captain simply must justify his place in the side in Cardiff. Yes, plenty is made of Sexton’s form on the Test stage but he’s not alone in struggling of late, with Biggar also not hitting his straps. Both need huge games in order to silence the doubters.

Prediction

A game that could easily go either way is set to be a wonderful watch, for the neutral at least. There is talent aplenty on both sides and with pressure on respective head coaches thrown in to boot, this makes for a fascinating opening round clash. The bookmakers have Ireland as slight favourites and we tend to agree, particularly with the Adams distraction in the Welsh camp earlier this week. The visiting Irish should continue their purple patch against Wales. Ireland by three.

Previous results

2020: Ireland won 32-9 in Dublin
2020: Ireland won 24-14 in Dublin
2019: Ireland won 19-10 in Dublin
2019: Ireland won 22-17 in Cardiff
2019: Wales won 25-7 in Cardiff
2018: Ireland won 37-27 in Dublin
2017: Wales won 22-9 in Cardiff
2016: The teams drew 16-16 in Dublin

The teams

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Adam Beard, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhodri Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Nick Tompkins

Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jonathan Sexton (c), 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Andrew Porter, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Will Connors, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Jordan Larmour

Date: Sunday, February 7
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Alex Ruiz (France)
TMO: Tom Foley (England)

 

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