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RBS 6 Nations preview: Wales vs Ireland; Cardiff, Saturday, 17:30
According to you lot, this game is almost too close to call, with 56% of you voting that Ireland will win this match and thus their first Grand Slam since 1948, something that Keith Wood believes could be the trigger for the so-called "Golden Generation" to finally start winning consistently.
The bookies make Wales slight favourites at 5-4, with Ireland a shade behind on 10-11, but that is the odds equivalent of a cigarette paper, very much reflecting the views of the majority of the rugby public. On the one hand, unlike Wales, Ireland have never managed to deliver when it really matters and this game matters more than any match this squad have played in their international careers. But, on the other hand, Wales have been getting worse with every passing week in this championship, so it can be expected that they will play on a par with Gwent Dragons come Saturday. It must a great disappointment to their fans that it has taken about a fortnight of poor performances for Wales to lose confidence quicker than a cocky bloke in a French bar who realises he has just spilled beer all over Olivier Merle
There are few surprises in either team, and there are some fascinating individual match-ups: Shanklin vs O'Driscoll; Jones vs O'Gara; Kearney vs Byrne; O'Connell vs Wyn Jones. The results of some of these could very well decide Lions Test places. The key could be the subs, where Ireland, in the likes Stringer, Murphy and Leamy certainly look to have more experience and impact than Wales, which may prove decisive in the closing stages.
Ireland will give Wales a lot of ball, hoping they will kick. Wales will be more likely to keep it in hand at home than in their display with the boot last week vs Italy - that was as brainless as it was poorly executed - but their confidence is so shot that a couple of bungled attacks from deep could see them putting leather to leather pretty sharpish. Ireland will certainly hope so.
I think Ireland will have enough to finally reach the promised land, while Wales and Gatland will have to write this year off as simply one of those difficult second seasons.
b&m.com prediction: Ireland by 5
Spotter's badge: Camera lingers on an octogenarian former Ireland player in the crowd, closely followed by Eddie Butler saying, "It's been 60 years since he won that elusive Irish Grand Slam, how dearly he would love to see it again today"
Teams;
Wales: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson,
Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew
Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn
Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Warren Fury, James Hook, Jamie Roberts.
Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll
(capt), Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary;
Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul
O'Connell, Stephen Ferris, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best, Tom Court, M O'Driscoll, Denis Leamy, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Geordan Murphy.
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March 19, 2009 in Ireland, Six Nations 2009, Wales | Permalink
