Friday night lights in Cardiff needs little more spark, but the decision by Ireland and Wales to close the roof at the Principality Stadium will ratchet emotions up another notch. And captain Rory Best can’t wait.
When the 2017 fixtures were announced, two things immediately jumped out from an Irish perspective.
Firstly, the finale with England, with both teams going for the Championship, couldn’t have been scripted any better.
Minus a few bumps, that eventuality remains on course, though Ireland’s opening-day defeat at Murrayfield leaves little margin for error going into round four.
The other intriguing aspect was the inclusion of a Friday night kick-off in Wales (KO 8.05pm, live on RTÉ Two and live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1), the only one in this year’s tournament.
Wales are looking to atone for their recent reversal to the Scots, and will hope to give the home crowd something to cheer about after Eddie Jones and England left town with the win, spoiling the party last last month.
A sub-plot to that match was England’s refusal to adhere to the Welsh request to have the roof closed, which many opponents feel hands the advantage to the home side because the atmosphere it generates.
Speaking in Ireland camp this week, Joe Schmidt indicated that if the weather forecast was positive, “there wouldn’t really seem too much point in closing the stadium”.
Despite the fact the weather forecast for Friday evening is clear – scattered showers are expected during the day – Ireland sprang somewhat of a surprise by opting for the closure at the Principality Stadium for the 74,500 sell-out.
The Irish players got their first taste of the pitch today with the roof closed and Best told RTÉ Sport that it won’t be a new experience for the players, insisting the closure will help implement their attacking game.
“We’ve done our captain’s run with the roof closed before and it gives you a false sense of what time of day it is,” he said. “It does no harm when you are playing tomorrow night.”
“A lot’s been made of it, we know how loud it’s going to be. This place with the roof open is very loud anyway.
“We’ve played here with the roof closed in the World Cup...The atmosphere is going to be electric.”
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, the captain revealed his input, along with that of Johnny Sexton, was crucial in opting for the closure.
“We got the weather forecast and at the start of the week and it said it would be dry in the morning but wet in the afternoon and evening.
"If the weather forecast had been dry all week, we’d probably have left it open. It was purely a rugby decision"
“We want to play a bit of rugby.
"And when you ask kickers and throwers if they want to take the weather out of the equation, I wouldn't say it was an easy decision, but that was the real reason for us as players."
“If the weather forecast had been dry all week, we’d probably have left it open. It was purely a rugby decision.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge and the atmosphere.”
And even when the crowd hits its decibel peak on Friday night, Best is confident Ireland will be able to cope.
"We have a plan in place to adapt if we can't hear each other," said Best, with Ireland ready to adopt hand signals to replace calls where required.
"When you come to the Principality Stadium you know it's going to be loud regardless of the roof"
"But ultimately we feel we can communicate with each other. We can adapt one way or the other. Even at the Aviva Stadium when it gets really loud it's hard to hear each other.
"And when you get through 10 to 12 phases it's really hard to speak sometimes.
"So sometimes communication goes out the window anyway, and you have to rely on instinct, and how well you know the person beside you.
"When you come to the Principality Stadium you know it's going to be loud regardless of the roof.
Another talking point is that of match-day referee Wayne Barnes and his reading of the breakdown.
He was the man in the middle in the last Six Nations visit to Cardiff, with Wales’ 23-16 win built on the foundation of an early 12-0 lead as Leigh Halfpenny profited from Barnes’ strict interpretation of tacklers not rolling away.
Ireland have won just four times in 13 games under his watch, and discipline will be again the top of the agenda.
Just 11 penalties were coughed up in the three Novembers Tests against New Zealand and Australia, and Best believes that the most efficient way of keeping their potent back-line at bay is not giving them cheap penalties to find territory inside Ireland’s half.
“It’s something we pride ourselves is on our discipline,” he said when asked about the influence of the referee. “We want to try to play the game the way it should be played.”
“We want to try and not give them easy access into our half.
“One of the easiest ways to do that is to not give them penalties to kick in to get set-plays.
“If we don’t give away penalties, they can’t get set-piece in our half and that is the way we are looking at it.
“Wayne Barnes is a quality ref and we will try to paint as clean a picture as we can.”
Live Six Nations coverage of Wales v Ireland on RTÉ Two and RTÉ Player from 7pm on Friday (KO 8.05pm), live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 from 7.45pm and live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News Now app.
Live coverage of Wales v Ireland (KO 11.30am) in the Women’s Six Nations on RTÉ Two and RTÉ Player from 11.15am on Saturday.
Live Six Nations coverage of Italy v France (KO 1.30pm) and England v Scotland (KO 4pm) on RTÉ Two and RTÉ Player from 1.20pm on Saturday.
Live coverage of Wales v Ireland in the Under-20 Six Nations on RTÉ Two from 6.15pm (KO 6.30pm) on Saturday.
