Ireland vs Wales: Six Nations preview

Ireland will field an unchanged side when they take on Wales at the Principality (formerly the Millennium) Stadium in Cardiff this weekend.

It’s largely the same Irish team that beat France 19-9 two weeks ago in Paris, the only change being Tommy Bowe coming in for his injured Ulster teammate Andrew Trimble, who has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

Bowe made his return to Test rugby as a replacement in Ireland’s defeat to Scotland at the start of the Six Nations, and he looked well off his usual form in what was his first Test for Ireland since the 2015 World Cup. Joe Schmidt has been impressed with Bowe’s performance in training since returning from the long injury lay-off.

Rob Kearney was another injury concern but he has been declared fully fit.

Jonny Sexton returned from injury to play against the French and, after a slow start, marshalled the game well.

The Welsh squad have admitted to being wary of Sexton and his halfback partner, Conor Murray, who may be the best halves partnership in the Six Nations.

They had a tough Test against a resurgent French side last time out, but it was the Irish team’s best performance since last year’s Autumn series win against Australia, putting to rest the ghost of the poor performance against Scotland.

Wales also field an unchanged side from the one that lost to Scotland 29-13. The Welsh put in one or two nice passages, but overall it was a poor performance.

If the home side lose, it will be their third successive defeat in this year’s tournament, having already lost to Scotland and England. Wales have not lost three Six Nations’ Tests in a row since 2007. Nor have they lost successive home internationals since 2003. However, Wales have won only one of their last four meetings against Ireland, coming up trumps 23-16 in Cardiff in 2015.

Individually,t here are some intriguing contests to look out for, especially in terms of Lions selection.

Kearney will want to put in his best game against Leigh Halfpenny, while George North has been quiet so far this season and will want to put in a strong performance, as both Keith Earls and Simon Zebo lack his size but are more versatile. Liam Williams is an attacking force.

Jonathan Davies has lost an edge and will want to try to halt the progress of Robbie Henshaw and Gary Ringrose. Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb have a tough ask to try to contain Sexton and Murray.

Ireland have the superior front row, while Alun Wyn Jones dominated the much vaunted Gray brothers in the Test against Scotland.

In the back row, Sam Warburton has reinvented himself as a blindside but is still behind CJ Stander in the pecking order. Sean O’Brien is ahead of Justin Tipuric, though only just.

Ireland have the better team and still have a chance of winning the Six Nations, while Wales will only be looking to scupper that dream.

I believe Ireland will win but Wales will get a losing bonus point.

There have been seven Friday night matches since the Six Nations introduced the fixture in 2009, all involving Wales, with six in Cardiff and one in Paris. This will be Ireland’s first Friday night Six Nations game.

Also in Six Nations action this weekend, Scotland are looking to win their first Triple Crown since 1990 when they take on England at Twickenham.