Josh van der Flier says Ireland will prepare to face a "different" Wales when the sides clash in Cardiff on Saturday week.
Simon Easterby's side are top of the Guinness Six Nations table with two wins from two, while Wales parted ways with head coach Warren Gatland on Tuesday following a 14th successive Test defeat against Italy.
Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt will take over for the remaining games, starting with the visit of the back-to-back champions on 22 February.
The Welsh Rugby Union said in a statement on Thursday that assistant Rob Howley remains under contract with them but will not be involved for the rest of the tournament.
"They are a very proud rugby nation and will be disappointed with how they've gone in the last while," Leinster forward Van der Flier told RTÉ Sport.
"Any time I've played any of their individuals, they've had a lot of quality throughout their team.
"It will be sad for them with Gatland going but Wales are always a tough team to play.
"The history and tradition and pride they take in playing for their country is huge so I'll be expecting nothing short of a big performance from them so we'll be prepping for that."
Ireland are massive favourites to beat Wales, who have won just one of the last eight meetings between the teams, but Van der Flier, who won his 70th cap in Sunday's 32-18 win over Scotland, stressed that talk of record winning margins are far from their minds.
Josh van der Flier isn't concerned that Simon Easterby would be interested in the vacant Wales job, while Beibhinn Parsons looks ahead to the upcoming Women's Six Nations which kicks off on 22 March #rterugby pic.twitter.com/KDxXuP7qD4
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 12, 2025
"We won't really get into that kind of thinking," said the 31-year-old flanker.
"I've played enough games now against teams where you don't expect much from them and they really put in a big performance.
"We're going to be expecting a different Wales to what we've seen recently. They've new coaching appointments as well so we'll be expecting a good Welsh team.
"There's a Triple Crown up for grabs, focus on the next game is a great thing, we've a possibility to win a trophy.
"You always try to focus on the here and now and if you do get distracted it can lead to a bit of complacency. There's a lot of work to put in this week."
Ireland interim head coach Easterby lives in Wales and there has been some speculation that he could be a contender to take the vacant position.
"I haven't heard anything about it, as far as we're concerned we're very lucky to have him here and hopefully it stays that way," said Van der Flier.
On Ireland's win over Scotland, he added it was a step up from the victory over England in round one and the Autumn Nations Series performances.
"Particularly the first 35 minutes was fairly clinical, we didn't let them into the game," he said, speaking at an An Post stamp launch.
"It was a good performance we can be quite pleased with. It's the position we wanted to be in at the start.
"It's been two pretty good performances and it sets us up well for Wales next week."
Meanwhile, Gloucester backs Gareth Anscombe (above) and Max Llewellyn, who were surprise omissions from Gatland's Six Nations squad, are now back in the fray.
And they will be joined by Harlequins’ former Cardiff fly-half Jarrod Evans, who made his last Wales appearance against Argentina in 2021.
Sherratt, though, will be without Saracens full-back Liam Williams due to a knee injury.
Williams, who has won 93 caps, was a late withdrawal from the team that faced Italy, and has now been released from the squad.
And Ospreys centre Owen Watkin, who suffered a serious knee injury during the 43-0 loss to France, has also been released. He will require surgery.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Munster v Scarlets in the URC on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Additional reporting: PA
