Kickoff: 2:15pm, Millenium Stadium. Saturday 22nd February on BBC ONE
Team news
Wales
1.N.Smith 2.E.Dee 3.W.John 4.W.Rowlands 5.D.Jenkins
6.J.Morgan(C) 7.T.Reffell 8.T.Faletau 9.T.Williams 10.G.Anscombe
11.E.Mee 12.B.Thomas 13.M.Llewellyn 14.T.Rogers 15.B.Murray
16.E.Lloyd 17.G.Thomas 18.H.Thomas 19.T.Williams
20.A.Wainwright 21.R.Williams 22.J.Evans 23.J.Roberts
Ireland
1.A.Porter 2.D.Sheehan(C) 3.T.Clarkson 4.J.McCarthy 5.T.Beirne
6.P.O'Mahony 7.J.van der Flier 8.J.Conan 9.J.Gibson-Park 10.S.Prendergast
11.J.Lowe 12.R.Henshaw 13.G.Ringrose 14.M.Hansen 15.J.Osborne
16.G.McCarthy 17.J.Boyle 18.F.Bealham 19.J.Ryan
20.C.Prendergast 21.C.Murray 22.J.Crowley 23.B.Aki
New Wales head coach, Matt Sherratt, makes eight changes from the side that lost in Rome. The front row has changed with Lloyd and the Thomas's drop to the bench with Smith, Dee and John making up the front three. He has also opted to play two openside flankers in the back row in order to counter the pace of the Irish ruck. This means that Morgan (still captain) moves to blindside with Reffell starting ahead of Wainwright.
In the backs, Wales are now going into a game with players starting in their actual positions. Gareth Anscombe is in the squad and starting; he will partner his club teammate Tomos Williams. Another Gloucester player, Max Llewellyn, starts at outside centre next to Ben Thomas who moves to his natural position of inside centre. Sherratt coaches Thomas at Cardiff where he plays inside centre almost all the time so this sensible move was inevitable. Eddie James is somewhat unlucky to miss out but this centre partnership is one with serious potential.
There are more interesting selections in the back three: Adams and Williams have both been dropped entirely and replaced by Mee (for his debut debut) and Blair Murray. It is notable that Cam Winnett was not selected despite being a key player for Sherratt at Cardiff, perhaps it is becoming consensus that he is too small for test rugby. That would be a shame given his talent but there is no doubt that this Wales team is in a better place to compete than it has been for the past year or more.
Ireland are struggling with a few injuries. Tadgh Furlong, Ronan Kelleher, Caelen Doris and Hugo Keenan are all missing. This means that Dan Sheehan starts and captains the side. Osborne also gets a rare start in place of Keenan, Wales may well look to target him early on in the game. It's interesting that Osborne seems to have moved ahead of Frawley in the pecking order for that position. Bundee AKi is on the bench with Henshaw and Ringrose starting in midifield. Sam Prendergast continues to start ahead of Jack Crowley at fly-half.
Score Prediction
Wales 16 vs 26 Ireland
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