Wales v Ireland Match Thread

[Luckless Pedestrian]

Seeing as there isn't one yet, and the teams have been named:

Six Nations 2021: Wales v Ireland

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Sunday, 7 February Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Wales: Leigh Halfpenny; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Jonathan Davies, Hallam Amos; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Rhodri Jones, Leon Brown, Will Rowlands, Josh Navidi, Gareth Davies, Callum Sheedy, Nick Tompkins.

Ireland: Keenan, Earls, Ringrose; Henshaw, Lowe; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Herring, Porter, Beirne, Ryan, O'Mahony, Van der Flier, Stander.

Replacements: Kelleher, Kilcoyne, Furlong, Henderson, Connors, Gibson Park, Burns, Larmour.

[Oakdene]

Beirne, O'Mahony & Stander are going to have a field day jackalling!

[RiscaGame]

I am a little surprised he has gone for Brown on the bench. I didn't expect Beard to start, but he seemingly is playing well. Perhaps Ball is injured?

A pretty good bench for us though. Bit of impact on there. I know Ireland's 23 is pretty good too, but for some reason our 23 just seems a bit stronger than I expected.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

I hadn't realised Furlong was on the bench, that's pretty formidable. I have to admit I haven't seen too much of the Ospreys so I don't know how Rhodri Jones has been playing.

I'm happy Tomos Williams is starting, and Gareth Davies could cause a lot of problems off the bench.

[No9]

No Jon Davies.. is he injured. There's a gamble there in the 3/4 line up. Against Ireland it could be an elaborate way of Pivac signing his resignation letter.

[RiscaGame]

Davies is injured yeah.

[No9]

How's he injured and do you know that, as BBC Wales lunchtime news just said Jon Davies misses out, which implies he simply wasnt selected.

[chris_501]

He's still carrying an ankle injury he picked up against the Blues.

If Wales can maintain parity in the scrum, especially when the replacements come on, then I think it will be a close game. The difference in experience between the 2 pairs of centres does worry me a little, but the reason we lost so convincingly in the autumn was poor set piece and getting dominated physically.

[No9]

Thanks.

if he's carrying a knock to his ankle, probably best he's not selected then. Still unsure about North in centre. Ok as a backup, but starting there, especially when you have centre on the bench and other centres in the squad not even in the match day 23.

[hugehandoff]

Are you as excited for this match as in normal years or does the empty stadiums take something away? Are you expecting the quality to go up a notch from the Autumn? Do you think SCW will be correct in predicting a Wales resurgence? I am looking forward to the back row battle.

Good luck both teams.

[profitius]

Are you as excited for this match as in normal years or does the empty stadiums take something away? Are you expecting the quality to go up a notch from the Autumn? Do you think SCW will be correct in predicting a Wales resurgence? I am looking forward to the back row battle.

Good luck both teams.

I'm the least excited as I've ever been. It's not really due to the lack of attendances. It's more to do with how stale the Irish setup has become. I'm starting to think a Welsh win might not be a bad thing for Ireland.


Not sure Farrell has added anything and he looks to be going back to 'comfort blanket' players. Players he knows won't let him down but not necessarily those who are playing the best.

[Luckless Pedestrian]

For me, the poor quality of the rugby in the Welsh derbies has had a big impact on how excited / optimistic I am. Some of them were truly awful. If someone new to the sport had watched them, you wouldn't blame them if they didn't bother again.

[Pete330v2]

Are you as excited for this match as in normal years or does the empty stadiums take something away? Are you expecting the quality to go up a notch from the Autumn? Do you think SCW will be correct in predicting a Wales resurgence? I am looking forward to the back row battle.

Good luck both teams.

I'm the least excited as I've ever been. It's not really due to the lack of attendances. It's more to do with how stale the Irish setup has become. I'm starting to think a Welsh win might not be a bad thing for Ireland.


Not sure Farrell has added anything and he looks to be going back to 'comfort blanket' players. Players he knows won't let him down but not necessarily those who are playing the best.

Well that pretty well sums up my feelings and I'm certainly not alone. Ireland failed to evolve under Schmidt and were well worked out but we've regressed under Farrell. I'd love to be proven wrong on this by Ireland having an outstanding tournament but as nothing has changed including ignoring form players only to select the same tired old safe hands that are part of the problem, not the solution.

[Maine man]

Are you as excited for this match as in normal years or does the empty stadiums take something away? Are you expecting the quality to go up a notch from the Autumn? Do you think SCW will be correct in predicting a Wales resurgence? I am looking forward to the back row battle.

Good luck both teams.

I'm the least excited as I've ever been. It's not really due to the lack of attendances. It's more to do with how stale the Irish setup has become. I'm starting to think a Welsh win might not be a bad thing for Ireland.


Not sure Farrell has added anything and he looks to be going back to 'comfort blanket' players. Players he knows won't let him down but not necessarily those who are playing the best.

Well that pretty well sums up my feelings and I'm certainly not alone. Ireland failed to evolve under Schmidt and were well worked out but we've regressed under Farrell. I'd love to be proven wrong on this by Ireland having an outstanding tournament but as nothing has changed including ignoring form players only to select the same tired old safe hands that are part of the problem, not the solution.

Totally agree. I saw last autumn and this 6 nations as a chance to make some changes but to me its obvious that irfu dont like change. They remind me of a 75 year old Daily Mail reader.

[eirebilly]

Farrell was never going to add to the Ireland team for me. I always thought it was a backward step to appoint him as Ireland coach.

[RiscaGame]

Haha. This game could be decided by which set of fans talk their team down on here the most.

[westisbest]

Are you as excited for this match as in normal years or does the empty stadiums take something away? Are you expecting the quality to go up a notch from the Autumn? Do you think SCW will be correct in predicting a Wales resurgence? I am looking forward to the back row battle.

Good luck both teams.

Always excited to watch Ireland play. Not the same obviously with no fans.
Was at this fixture two years ago and despite the result was a great weekend. Would have been there again.

Wasn’t a massive fan of the autumn nations cup, but this is the six nations. With supporters would have been great. Without, will be there in spirit. Hoping for Ireland to get off to a good start.

Tricky game. Ireland by 10?

[mikey_dragon]

There’s a lot of crying over Stephen Ferris’ comments, but let’s be honest, he is absolutely spot on.

[eirebilly]

I still think that Ireland will win as Wales do not look comfortable under Pivac. Not that i think that Pivac is a bad coach, more that he needs a bit more time. Comin in after Gatland was never going to be easy.

Ireland, though, will struggle under Farrell as he does not seem to be able to adjust game plans.

[majesticimperialman]

I think Ireland will win because i think  Ireland are the better team, more settled team....then again i thought England would win against Scotland,especialy playing at home.

This will be the fist time Wales have played at home for almost a year, how will this effect the team( wales) with out any fans in the stadium? so far this week end we have had 1 decent game France against Italy. The game yesterday was a shambles in my opinion,

What ever the score who ever wins lets hope for a decent game.

[No 7&1/2]

Ball and jones fighting in training then.

[No 7&1/2]

They could dave some money not bothering with the fire.

[eirebilly]

Well, here goes.

[eirebilly]

Early signs are not positive for Ireland at all...

[eirebilly]

Should be a YC for POM...

[No 7&1/2]

Well that's a red then

[eirebilly]

On viewing in slow motion, definite Red Card. Very poor from POM, very poor indeed.

[RiscaGame]

Good enough for him. He has previous. Knows what he is doing. Absolute cheap shot merchant.

[Pete330v2]

POM is a class 1 pillock.

[Duty281]

Game over.

[TightHEAD]

POM what a plum.

[mikey_dragon]

POM always does that, not sure why Ireland still pick him. For what it’s worth I think he was committed to the clearout and couldn’t pull put of it, a bit unlucky in that regard, but head is head. Hope it doesn’t ruin the game.

[eirebilly]

mikey, he knew exactly what he was doing. He came from some distance and lined him up, the only thing POM was committed to was taking the player out.

[Gooseberry]

POM always does that, not sure why Ireland still pick him. For what it’s worth I think he was committed to the clearout and couldn’t pull put of it, a bit unlucky in that regard, but head is head. Hope it doesn’t ruin the game.

Charging into the ruck is foul play in itself so its not really mitigation

[eirebilly]

I wish Murray would concentrate more on the game than flapping his arms at every breakdown looking for a penalty...

[Gooseberry]

The amount of time between this and the last fixture that Ireland have spent in the Welsh 22 vs number of tries they've scored is an absolute embarrassment. As is Wales' inability to get the ball off them regardless of how few people they have on the pitch.

[TightHEAD]

Williams high tackle should have been looked at

[mikey_dragon]

POM always does that, not sure why Ireland still pick him. For what it’s worth I think he was committed to the clearout and couldn’t pull put of it, a bit unlucky in that regard, but head is head. Hope it doesn’t ruin the game.

Charging into the ruck is foul play in itself so its not really mitigation

Did you ever clear someone out? I was involved a lot on the occasions I played flanker and used to love trying to hurt people in the ruck. If you don’t go in 100% then you don’t generate quick ball. Admittedly, POM has history and should be able to manage it better, being a pro and all.

[mikey_dragon]

If Ryan stays off then that’s not good news, but Wales don’t look capable of scoring anyway. A shame for Lydiate as well.

[No 7&1/2]

Ireland have looked better with 14 men.

[No 7&1/2]

Tipuric playing some lovely link play.

[eirebilly]

This is poor enough from Wales with a man advantage...

[Gooseberry]

POM always does that, not sure why Ireland still pick him. For what it’s worth I think he was committed to the clearout and couldn’t pull put of it, a bit unlucky in that regard, but head is head. Hope it doesn’t ruin the game.

Charging into the ruck is foul play in itself so its not really mitigation

Did you ever clear someone out? I was involved a lot on the occasions I played flanker and used to love trying to hurt people in the ruck. If you don’t go in 100% then you don’t generate quick ball. Admittedly, POM has history and should be able to manage it better, being a pro and all.

I used to enjoy sticking my leg out when they opposition flash git back made me look like a goose but it doesn't make it legal. Do you still have a Free Bakies Botha armband?

[Gooseberry]

Ireland have looked better with 14 men.

Maybe England should drop Farrell and replace him with a red card

[No 7&1/2]

As long as we do the same with youngs and risk it with 13 I'm up for it.

[mikey_dragon]

POM always does that, not sure why Ireland still pick him. For what it’s worth I think he was committed to the clearout and couldn’t pull put of it, a bit unlucky in that regard, but head is head. Hope it doesn’t ruin the game.

Charging into the ruck is foul play in itself so its not really mitigation

Did you ever clear someone out? I was involved a lot on the occasions I played flanker and used to love trying to hurt people in the ruck. If you don’t go in 100% then you don’t generate quick ball. Admittedly, POM has history and should be able to manage it better, being a pro and all.

I used to enjoy sticking my leg out when they opposition flash git back made me look like a goose but it doesn't make it legal. Do you still have a Free Bakies Botha armband?

Well you said charging into the ruck as foul play when it isn’t, so long as you don’t dive off your feet. The foul play was head contact.

[eirebilly]

James Lowe's kicking is deflating Wales.

And it leads to a try for Ireland...

[No 7&1/2]

Interesting time for Jones here. What's he saying under the posts. Wales started great but perhaps relaxed a bit too much once a man up?

[mikey_dragon]

Good clearout from Healy charging into the ruck there, did you see it Goose legs ?

[RiscaGame]

It seems like Wales are playing a man down, to be honest. Ireland just seem a lot more powerful again.

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