Ireland vs Wales preview:

This is going to be a mouth watering clash between two heavyweights of the game and am I looking forward to watching it. Picking my key mach ups was very hard because looking thru the lineups every single position is a key mach up, and I literally can’t wait for this game to kick off. Both of the teams pride them self on a solid defensive structure, and we can expect hard hitting rugby and one of the most physical games of the season. Wales did get one over Ireland last year, and Ireland will want to get things back on track. The Irish will want to establish scrum dominance again especially after losing the plot against Scotland. Wales came of a very good win against Italy and they will be on a high. They must just put that all behind them because beating the Irish is a completely different story. Squigerugby on youtube last year made a video saying that Wales just know how to win, and while that might be true. The Irish won’t lay down and just give them the win.

Key Mach ups:

James Ryan vs Alun Wyn Jones: These two will want to bring physical dominance to the game. They will be hitting rucks hard trying to get quick ball to their backline. They will want to take control of the line out, both of them is their teams main line out jumper and the set piece is going to a influential part of the game. If they are able to take all their balls or cause problems for the opposition it will help their team establish dominance in the set pieces.

Dan Biggar vs Johnny Sexton: These two will try and control the game by pinning the opposition back in their own half. There is nothing more demotivating for a forward pack than every time going back to your own half and having a set piece. Biggar for me is a better attacking flyhalf and he will run the ball and put his centers into gaps. Sexton is also a great flyhalf and he will try and get their very lively fullback Larmour into the game. Both of these will only be able to have a good game if their forward packs dominate and give them quick ball to work with.

Teams:

Ireland:

Starting XV: 1 Cian Healy, 2 Rob Herring, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 James Ryan, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 CJ Stabder, 9 Conor Murray, 10 Johnny Sexton, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Andrew Conway, 15 Jordan Larmour.

Bench: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Max Deegan, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ross Bryne, 23 Keith Earls.

Wales:

Starting XV: 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 9 Tomos Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 11 Josh Adams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 13 Nick Tompkins, 14 George North, 15 Leigh Halfpenny.

Bench: 16 Ryan Ellias, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Johnny McNicholl.

My Prediction: This whole week I have been bold and I think reading the team lineups I am going to be again. I think the Irish is going to upset the Wales team and play a better game than last week.