A big year for Irish rugby begins in Cardiff on Saturday as Andy Farrell's side kick off the 2023 Guinness Six Nations against Wales.
Ireland are strong favourites to get their campaign off to a winning start but they have tasted defeat on their last four Six Nations visits to the Principality Stadium, and there is a familiar face back in the Wales coaching box.
Warren Gatland has returned for a second stint as Wales head coach and the last of his three Grand Slam successes was sealed with a one-sided victory over Ireland in 2019.
Gatland has been tasked with transforming a struggling Welsh side that suffered home defeats to Italy and Georgia during a dreadful 2022, where they lost nine of their 12 matches and sacked Wayne Pivac.
One of those reverses came in Dublin on the opening weekend of last year’s Six Nations as Ireland cantered to a 29-7 victory, tries from Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose sandwiching a brace from Andrew Conway.
Ireland finished second in last year's championship behind Grand Slam-winning France but they did claim the Triple Crown for a record sixth time since 2000. They were also the last team to win back-to-back Triple Crowns in 2006 and 2007.
Having beaten New Zealand (twice), South Africa and Australia during the second half of 2022, Ireland travel to Wales seeking a sixth consecutive victory. And with defending champions France visiting Dublin next weekend, they need to hit the ground running as they bid to win their first Six Nations title since 2018.
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TV
Wales v Ireland is live on Virgin Media One and BBC One. Coverage on Virgin begins at 1pm with BBC on air at 1.15pm.
RADIO
RTÉ Radio 1 will have live commentary from the Principality Stadium.
ONLINE
Follow a live blog on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by a match report, player ratings and post-match reaction from Cardiff.
WEATHER
Ireland agreed to Wales’ request to close the Principality Stadium roof so conditions will be perfect. There will be some morning rain in Cardiff with temperatures of around 10C forecast for the afternoon.
Johnny Sexton has recovered from a facial injury and will captain Ireland but Tadhg Furlong misses the trip to Cardiff because of the calf injury that has sidelined him for Leinster over the past couple of months.
A late injury for Jamison Gibson-Park sees Conor Murray come in to win his 101st cap at scrum-half.
Finlay Bealham replaces Furlong at tighthead in what will be his first Six Nations start. The Connacht prop wins his 28th cap and has impressed for Ireland during last summer’s series win in New Zealand as well as the autumn internationals, where he came on at half-time against South Africa and held his own at scrum time against the world champions.
Stuart McCloskey continues at inside centre in Robbie Henshaw’s absence, the Ulsterman getting the nod ahead of Bundee Aki, who will provide impact from the bench.
James Lowe is named on the left wing after missing the November Tests with a calf injury.
Craig Casey and Ross Byrne are the back-up half-backs, with Ulster trio Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole and Iain Henderson also among the replacements.
Warren Gatland has named six Ospreys in his pack, including Alun Wyn Jones who wins his 156th cap.
One-cap centre Joe Hawkins partners George North in midfield while Dan Biggar is paired with Tomos Williams at half-back.
Gatland was forced into a change on Thursday after Leigh Halfpenny suffered a back spasm. Liam Williams replaces him at full-back.
Wales: Liam Williams; Josh Adams, George North, Joe Hawkins, Rio Dyer; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Ken Owens (capt), Tomas Francis; Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones; Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Rhys Carre, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Rhys Webb, Owen Williams, Alex Cuthbert.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Finlay Bealham; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Jack Conan, Craig Casey, Ross Byrne, Bundee Aki.
Referee: Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
AR1: Angus Gardner (RA)
AR2: Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO: Tom Foley (RFU)
Warren Gatland: "I suppose the free hit for us is that the expectation and pressure is on [Ireland] to win as favourites.
"It hasn’t always been the easiest tag for Irish and Welsh teams in the past to carry going in as the favourites.
"You can get an upset because there is a huge amount of history and rivalry between those two nations and there has been a lot of close games."
Andy Farrell: "A free shot in Test match rugby? Where do you get them from?
"We’d love to be able to buy one of those. Maybe I’ll buy him a free shot after the game.
"But there’s absolutely no doubt that Warren will expect his side to win… and so do I. I expect our side to win.
"His past record shows what he’s about in this competition. Finding a way to win has always been key to those teams, and we’re very aware of that."
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Ireland 29-7 Wales – Aviva Stadium (5 February 2022, Six Nations)
Wales 21-16 Ireland – Millennium Stadium (7 February 2021, Six Nations)
Ireland 32-9 Wales – Aviva Stadium (13 November 2020, Autumn Nations Cup)
Ireland 24-14 Wales – Aviva Stadium (8 February 2020, Six Nations)
Ireland 19-10 Wales – Aviva Stadium (31 August 2019, World Cup warm-up)
Ireland’s trip Wales is the first of three games on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.
The game in Cardiff is followed by the England’s meeting with Scotland at Twickenham (4.45pm), live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, while Italy face defending champions France at Stadio Olimpico on Sunday (3pm Irish time).
Follow our live blog of Wales v Ireland (Saturday 2.15pm) on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app, or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
Watch live coverage of England v Scotland (Saturday 4.45pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
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