The last two teams to lift the Guinness Six Nations trophy meet in a mouth-watering opener to the second round, as Ireland look to banish memories of last year’s disappointing 25-7 defeat to Wales.
2020 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 8
IRELAND (3rd) v WALES (1st), Aviva Stadium, 2.15pm (live Virgin Media One/UTV/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/S4C/FR2/DMAX/NBC/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Robbie Henshaw and Peter O’Mahony come in as two enforced changes to the Ireland team to play table-topping Wales in this afternoon’s Guinness Six Nations match at the Aviva Stadium.
Caelan Doris, who suffered a head injury in the opening minutes of the Scotland game, makes way for O’Mahony who starts at blindside flanker with CJ Stander, the man-of-the-match last week, reverting to number 8.
Garry Ringrose’s hand injury is expected to keep him out until the fourth round of the Championship, so Henshaw slots in at outside centre alongside Bundee Aki, his former provincial colleague at Connacht.
Aki, James Ryan and Josh van der Flier will all win their 25th Ireland caps today, with replacement prop Andrew Porter poised to join them in hitting the quarter-century mark in the green jersey.
Captain Jonathan Sexton, the tournament’s leading scorer with 19 points, and his half-back partner Conor Murray will take their own appearance tallies to 90 and 80 caps respectively.
Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway, who makes his second Six Nations start, and Jacob Stockdale combine again in the back-three, the latter scoring four of his 16 tries to date against Wales.
Head coach Andy Farrell backs a tight five that will be looking to get more out of Ireland’s scrum and maul. Ulster’s Rob Herring is flanked by Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong in the front row, while Ryan and Iain Henderson pack down together in the engine room.
Uncapped 23-year-old back rower Max Deegan is included on a replacements bench which also sees the return of Keith Earls, who has recovered from a knee injury.
Farrell’s other bench options are Ronan Kelleher, Ireland’s second debutant against Scotland, Porter and Dave Kilcoyne, whose involvement is subject to him completing his return-to-play protocols this week, along with Devin Toner, John Cooney and Ross Byrne.
Commenting on the team selection, Farrell said: “I thought Robbie and Pete both did pretty well when they came off the bench against Scotland, and it was fine margins for selection for the game.
“They were outstanding all week, and that rolled into the performance as well. Will Addison unfortunately still has a calf injury and wasn’t available (to be considered). Dave (Kilcoyne) is going through his HIA protocols and is fine at the time, but Jack McGrath is standing by
“I think Max has got all the attributes of a great back rower. You’re going into the unknown in Test match rugby, but we feel he’s ready. He’s a great all-round footballer and we feel that he’s going to add a dimension, especially in attack.”
Meanwhile, Saracens’ Nick Tompkins, who enjoyed a try-scoring debut against Italy last week, comes in as the only change made by Wales head coach Wayne Pivac for the trip to Dublin.
The 24-year-old Tompkins starts at outside centre, partnering Scarlets’ Hadleigh Parkes, with George North reverting to the right wing. Leigh Halfpenny and Josh Adams complete the back-three, and Dan Biggar and Tomos Williams continue their half-back partnership.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones, the Player of the Championship in 2019, leads an unchanged pack, the tight five also featuring Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, who wins his 75th cap, Dillon Lewis and Jake Ball.
It will be a 20th appearance for Dragons flanker Aaron Wainwright, who combines with experienced duo Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in the loose forwards. Pivac is looking for the title holders to build on the obvious positives of their 42-0 opening victory over Italy.
“Nick comes into the side, I thought he played exceptionally well when he came on last week so he deserves the start,” he said. “George, who played really well last weekend at centre, moves back out to the wing.
“On the bench we have a few players back available. Rhys Carre impressed at the World Cup and he comes back in. Adam Beard comes in for Cory Hill who picked up a leg injury earlier this week, Gareth (Davies) is fully fit and Owen Williams comes onto the bench and gives us a bit more cover.
“Momentum is important in the Championship. It was nice to get a good winning start under our belts (against Italy in Cardiff) and hopefully we can build on that through the tournament.”
IRELAND: Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster), Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster).
WALES: Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets); George North (Ospreys), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues); Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints), Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues); Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (capt), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Bath).
Replacements: Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Rhys Carre (Saracens), Leon Brown (Dragons), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Dragons), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Owen Williams (Gloucester), Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets).
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
Television Match Official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Pre-Match Quotes: Jonathan Sexton (Ireland) –
Last year (in Cardiff) proved some of the worst conditions I’ve ever played in and it was like karma for keeping the roof open! But we’ll be prepared. Obviously the weather is changing a lot, one day (the forecast says) it was going to be horrific, now it’s clearing up a bit.
“So we’ll wait until Saturday morning and see. (Against Scotland) it felt like we needed to start well to get the crowd into it and we didn’t really do that. But I’m proud of the lads, the way we fought in there and bounced back.
“The start of the game is always important. Last year Wales took a seven-point lead and then a soft penalty from me for sealing off a ruck, 10-0, and then another soft penalty, 13-0, and suddenly…we had a couple of chances to score at the start as well.
“So yeah, that’s massive in the conditions and hopefully we can start well this time. The level of performance needs to go up this week if we’re going to win. We need to be a lot better in all areas and we’re preparing to be that, hopefully.”
Dan Biggar (Wales) –
Johnny has been almost Ireland’s best player for the last 10 to 12 years. It’s great to play against him, one of the best blokes around that you will meet. He knows their game inside out, he will be driving them around the field.
“It is up to us on Saturday to try and make life as uncomfortable for him as possible. If we give him a free ride and let him dictate play, we have seen over the years how good a player Johnny is. We need to try and force some errors out of him.
“But Johnny has been around the block long enough to know that any side playing Leinster or Ireland are going to try and make him make mistakes, but he has done okay over his career so far. It is really about which team can stop the momentum for the other team’s backs.
“With the weather as well, it looks as though it is going to be even more of an arm-wrestle – more than we initially thought it was going to be. I suppose it is probably going to be one for the purists.
“The weather is not going to be great by all accounts, so it’s certainly going to be a case of rolling your sleeves up. But it’s great, isn’t it? This is what the tournament is all about, going away from home and trying to pick up an away win.”
Pre-Match Links –
Eco Cups And Other New Features At Aviva Stadium
In Pics: Captain’s Run Ahead Of Ireland v Wales
Nine Lives: Conor Murray & John Cooney
Opta Match Facts Preview: Ireland v Wales
Head-To-Head: Ireland v Wales
Recent Meetings –
2017: RBS 6 Nations: Wales 22 Ireland 9, Principality Stadium
2018: NatWest 6 Nations: Ireland 37 Wales 27, Aviva Stadium
2019: Guinness Six Nations: Wales 25 Ireland 7, Principality Stadium; Rugby World Cup Warm-Up: Wales 17 Ireland 22, Principality Stadium; Guinness Summer Series: Ireland 19 Wales 10, Aviva Stadium
Support Ireland on www.facebook.com/irishrugby or search #IREvWAL, #ShouldertoShoulder and #TeamOfUs on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.