| Venue: Aviva Stadium Date: Saturday, February 5, 2008 Kick-off:14:15 GMT |
| Coverage: Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC Radio Wales. Text commentary available on the BBC Sport app. |
Wales takes on an injured team to take on Ireland in their Six Nations title defense.
The hosts hope to defeat Wales in five consecutive Test matches, at home, for the first-ever time.
Wales won a 28th title in 2021 and just missed out on the Grand Slam because of an unexpected outcome. injury-time defeatParis, in their last match.
Captain Alun Wyn James is missing from the British and Irish Lions, a omission that nearly 700 caps.
Ireland, on their other hand, are a fit squad that has won eight of their past eight Tests. exhilarating victoryNew Zealand at the clean sweep of their fall fixtures.
News from the team
Connacht wing Mack Hansen, a Connacht player, will make his debut for Ireland. In the absence of James Lowe and Jacob Stockdale who are both injured, Johnny Sexton, 36 years old captains the team.
Leinster’s hooker Dan Sheehan will be joined by Ulster’s back James Hume for their first Six Nations appearances.
Because Wales is absentees, Cardiff wing Josh Adams will make his first Test start at centre and Nick Tompkins in the midfield.
Taine Basham, Newport Dragons flanker makes his Six Nations debut in row back alongside Ellis Jenkins & Aaron Wainwright
Dewi Lake, Ospreys’ hooker, could be making his first appearance in Wales as a substitute. Gareth Thomas will make his first appearance in this tournament as a teammate and replacement.
British and Irish Lion Ross Moriarty has been fit enough to take part in the match day 23. He stands to win his 50th cap while Dan Biggar is the fly-half.
Notes for commentators
Eddie Butler: “Ireland beat All Blacks in autumn. Enough to make them favourites without any further data input. But they are also at home. The Irish provinces are flying, and Iain Henderson’s injury is the only one that you have doubts about.
“Wales lack confidence at regional levels, appear to have injuries at every position and have not had much success at Aviva in recent times.” Ireland must win.
“But Six Nations has its own rhythm, and it takes some getting to know. Wales could surprise the world if they can keep the ball on play without any stoppages. Realism check: There will be restarts, line-outs, and scrums. Ireland is 34 and Wales is 28.
View from both camps
Andy Farrell, Ireland’s head coach: “Putting ourselves under tremendous pressure against great sides in the autumn is one thing. The next step is a competition with the trophy at the end that we want to win really well in.
“We are willing to feel under pressure. We want to see how that affects our ability to deal with it.”
“The Six Nations is always that. It’s the ultimate rugby competition test. And then, if you look at the results, it’s exactly what you want.”
Wayne Pivac is the Wales coach “History of Dublin is a difficult place to be. Ireland is a tough and very physical country. We know that we will have to improve in this area and do it for 80 minutes.
“We need to be very disciplined and persistent in our pursuit of the best result.”
Line-ups
Ireland: 15-Keenan, 14-Conway, 13-Ringrose, 12-Aki, 11-Hansen, 10-Sexton, 9-Gibson-Park; 1-Porter, 2-Kelleher, 3-Furlong, 4-Beirne, 5-Ryan, 6-Doris, 7-Van Der Flier, 8-Conan
Replacements: 16-Sheehan, 17-Healy, 18-Bealham, 19-Baird, 20-O’Mahony, 21-Murray, 22-Carbery, 23-Hume
Wales: 15-L. Williams, 14-McNicholl, 13-Adams, 12-Tompkins, 11-Rees-Zammit, 10-Biggar, 9-T. Williams; 1-W. Jones, 2-Elias, 3-Francis, 4-Rowlands, 5-Beard, 6-Jenkins, 7-Basham, 8-Wainwright
Replacements: 16-Lake, 17-G. Thomas, 18-Lewis, 19-S. Davies, 20-Moriarty, 21-G. Davies, 22-Sheedy, 23-Watkin
Match facts
Head-to-head
- For the first time ever, Ireland could win five consecutive home Test matches against Wales
- Wales’ victory in last year’s Six Nations was the end of a string of four defeats against Ireland.
- In the Six Nations era of Six Nations, Wales has won only three games in Ireland. The most recent was in 2012.
- Ireland won three of the four Six Nations meetings held at Aviva Stadium in the past by at least 10 point (D1)
Ireland
- Ireland have won 27 out of the 29 last home Tests they played, including the last six.
- They were defeated by the Six Nations in 2019 against England and France in 2021.
- Ireland’s 2021 Six Nations match saw them score 151 kicks and 871 passes, both of which were their highest totals.
- Tadhg Beinne and Iain Henderson were first and second, respectively, for the turnovers they won at last year’s championship.
- Captain Johnny Sexton, who kicked 25 of 26 goals at 96%, led the 2021 tournament. These kicks were worth 10 more points for Ireland, which was the highest differential of any player.
Wales
- Wales won two away matches at the Six Nations in 2013. They had started the tournament with six consecutive defeats in all Tests. But they lost their last match in Paris.
- Wales won the 2021 Six Nations with the highest points (164), and the most tries (20), despite having the least number of carries (511), the smallest metres (1,548), and the smallest number of defenders (58).
- Their average score of 3.7 points per 22-entry was the highest of any country.
- In 2021, Wales were the only nation to have a success rate of above 90% at both the scrum & line-out.
Match officials
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Touch judges Mathieu Raynal (France) & Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)