Ireland v Wales

RBS Six Nations
Venue: Croke Park Date: Saturday, 13 March 2010 Kick-off: 1430 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC HD channel and the BBC Sport website; listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

MATCH PREVIEW

As Stephen Jones's last-minute penalty attempt dropped short of the posts to hand Ireland their first Grand Slam win for 61 years, unbridled Irish joy led to huge expectations that the feat would be repeated again this year.

Alas, all thoughts of successive Grand Slams bit the dust in the biting cold of the Stade de France, but Ireland at least got their championship bid back on track with a stirring win over England. It was a bristling encounter at Twickenham that took no prisoners as an all-Lions back row of Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace excelled.

Brian O'Driscoll made his Ireland debut in 1999

The spotlight at Croke Park though will centre on the legendary Brian O'Driscoll as he follows Ireland team-mate John Hayes into the 100-cap club for his country.

O'Driscoll made his Test debut as a raw 20-year-old back in 1999 before he had even played for Leinster.

The man who threw him in to face Australia in Brisbane that day was none other than current Wales coach Warren Gatland.

The pair linked up again last summer with the Lions and Gatland's admiration for Ireland's record try scorer is immense. "He deserves all the accolades and I will be one of the first to stand up in the coaching box on Saturday and clap him," he said.

Gatland's tenure at the Ireland helm brought mixed results with 18 wins, 19 defeats and one draw between 1998 and 2001. But his greatest legacy was arguably introducing O'Driscoll, as well as other stalwarts such as Ronan O'Gara and David Wallace, to international rugby.

But his popularity in the Emerald Isle sunk last year following comments before the crucial Grand Slam match when he proclaimed that his Wales players disliked the Irish team more than any other nation.

Tensions still run high with one Irish columnist claiming this week that Gatland is 'as snappy as a menopausal warthog' thanks to the 'toxic, personal agenda' he still holds against Ireland after he was replaced by Eddie O'Sullivan in 2001.

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Strong words indeed, and ones that are sure to be used as a motivational tool in the Welsh dressing room. Gatland's team talk is likely to be loud and powerful to wake up his side, who seem to spend the first half of a match in a daze, content to allow opponents to race into a lead before playing a frantic game of catch-up.

Powerhouse Gareth Delve and beanpole Luke Charteris have been brought in to beef up a Welsh pack that will have to deal with Irish forwards that have contributed some pretty impressive stats so far.

They have stolen 14 opposition balls at the line-out compared with just one by Wales and put in some ferocious work in the loose; against England they completed 99 out of 100 attempted tackles.

But one stat that will have had Ireland's coaching staff working overtime is a penalty count that reached 14 at Twickenham, the highest of Declan Kidney's reign.

And there must also be concern at how their front row were given such a working-over against England. All of which leaves much for Gatland to ponder.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Ireland have beaten Wales in eight of their last 10 meetings including the 17-15 win last season to seal the Grand Slam.

• Wales won 16-12 two years ago in Dublin - the only match at Croke Park in which the Irish have failed to score.

• The Welsh have scored a try in every Five or Six Nations match in Ireland since losing 14-0 in 1970 - a run of 40 years.

Ireland

• Ireland have only lost five times in 26 matches at home since 2000.

• A win would keep alive Ireland's bid for a fifth Triple Crown in the last seven seasons.

• Brian O'Driscoll becomes the second Irishman to 100 caps. He is the 13th player in international rugby to reach the milestone for their country. He also has six Test caps for the British and Irish Lions.

Wales

• Wales have scored at least 15 points in their last 16 Six Nations matches - since losing 21-9 to Scotland in February 2007.

• Martyn Williams overtakes Colin Charvis as Wales' most capped forward, winning his 95th cap. Only Gareth Thomas (100) has won more for Wales.

• Luke Charteris and Bradley Davies are their fourth different second-row partnership in as many matches in this year's Six Nations.

TEAM LINE-UPS

Ireland: 15-Geordan Murphy, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12-Gordon D'Arcy, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Tomas O'Leary; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rory Best, 3-John Hayes, 4-Donncha O'Callaghan, 5-Paul O'Connell, 6-Stephen Ferris, 7-David Wallace, 8-Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Tony Buckley, 18-Leo Cullen, 19-Shane Jennings, 20-Eoin Reddan, 21-Ronan O'Gara, 22-Rob Kearney.

Wales: 15-Lee Byrne, 14-Leigh Halfpenny, 13-James Hook, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Shane Williams, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Richard Rees; 1-Paul James, 2-Matthew Rees, 3-Adam Jones, 4-Bradley Davies, 5-Luke Charteris, 6-Jonathan Thomas, 7-Martyn Williams (captain), 8-Gareth Delve.

Replacements: 16-Huw Bennett, 17-Rhys Gill, 18-Ian Gough, 19-Sam Warburton, 20-Dwayne Peel, 21-Andrew Bishop, 22-Tom Shanklin.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Touch judges: Chris White (England) & Peter Allan (Scotland)

TV: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

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