SIX NATIONS 2009 - WALES v IRELAND
Venue: Millennium Stadium Date: Saturday, 21 March Kick-off: 1730 GMT
Coverage: Live on BBC ONE Wales and online, full commentary on BBC Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and online plus score updates on BBC Radio 5 Live

Saturday is likely to see more bruising encounters between the centres

Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll has thrown down the gauntlet to Wales ahead of Saturday's Six Nations decider.

O'Driscoll was responding to Wales boss Warren Gatland's jibe about his players disliking their Irish Six Nations rivals more than any other.

"I'm sure they [Wales] can show their dislike on the pitch tomorrow and we'll show them the respect they deserve."

Since his original comment, Gatland had attempted to defuse any ill-feeling saying: "I meant it as a compliment."

On Tuesday Gatland said: "Probably, out of all the teams in the Six Nations, the Welsh players dislike the Irish the most."

Gatland has since told The Irish Times: "I knew when I said it that it was going to get headlines. It got more of a reaction than I wanted."

The Wales coach added: "People have reacted rather than just take it with a grain of salt and as a back-handed compliment.

"The Welsh players have had some defeats by Munster and Leinster over the last few years and also some heavy defeats by Ireland.

"They've had a few verbals and sometimes you can't say anything, you've got to take it and wait for your opportunity.

"Yes, of course, they want to beat England as well. Everybody wants to beat England, but when you're playing sides on a more regular basis, that's what builds up the rivalry.

"It's not that they dislike them as individuals, it's just that they're a bit more passionate about wanting to beat the Irish at the moment.

"If you go back over history there were often times when Wales had the edge in this fixture, but what I was saying was in recognition of what the Irish provinces have achieved in recent years and what Ireland have achieved in the last decade or so."

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Gatland later expanded on his thoughts, saying: "Maybe it had its desired effect. I mean, the great thing about this this week is that's been the issue.

"There's been no match-ups, there's been no feature articles on our players so there's been no pressure on our players this week.

"Perhaps my comments had the desired effect, but perhaps I should have been a little bit tempered and said out of all the teams in the Six Nations the team that the Welsh want to beat the most is the Irish.

"It's nothing personal against the Irish."

Asking if he believed Gatland's earlier comments were an attempt at winding up Ireland, O'Driscoll replied: "Absolutely no idea - you'd have to ask him that.

"It's a long time since I've been coached by Warren and he's his own man. That's a question you'd have to ask him."

Wales: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Warren Fury, James Hook, Jamie Roberts.

Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll (capt), Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell (capt), Stephen) Ferris, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best, Tom Court, M O'Driscoll, Denis Leamy, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Geordan Murphy.

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