Wales head to Dublin to face Ireland in round four of the Six Nations
After a week’s break, the Six Nations is back and we have a Friday night game to look forward to.
Wales head to Dublin to take on Ireland this evening in round four of the competition and they travel across the Irish Sea with a bit more confidence than in recent times.
Last time out they put in a far more encouraging display against Scotland and although the match in Cardiff ended in another defeat – their third of this year’s tournament – there were signs of improvement for Steve Tandy and his coaches to build upon.
Unfortunately for the men in red they are facing a team still buzzing following their record-breaking win over England at Allianz Stadium Twickenham in round three.
Having lost to France on the opening night of the competition and then being pushed by an ever-improving Italy, Andy Farrell’s men had been written off in some quarters but they put their doubters in place against Steve Borthwick’s outfit.
Tonight promises to be an intriguing one. Here is everything you need to know.
Is Ireland v Wales on TV?
Yes, it is.
Kick-off is at 8.10pm on Friday. The match will be shown live on ITV1, with Welsh-language coverage on S4C.
Coverage starts at 7.20pm on ITV, while S4C’s broadcast begins at 7.30pm.
What about streaming?
Viewers will be able to stream the match on the ITVX app, S4C’s Clic app and BBC iPlayer.
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Team news
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Robert Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey; Jacob Stockdale; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Tom O’Toole, Ronan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Jack Conan, Nick Timoney, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Michael Milne, Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier, Nathan Doak, Tom Farrell, Ciaran Frawley.
Wales: 15. Louis Rees-Zammit, 14. Ellis Mee, 13. Eddie James, 12. Joe Hawkins, 11. Josh Adams, 10. Dan Edwards, 9. Tomos Williams; 1. Rhys Carre, 2. Dewi Lake (capt), 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Ben Carter, 6. Alex Mann, 7. James Botham, 8. Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: 16. Ryan Elias, 17. Nicky Smith, 18. Archie Griffin, 19. Adam Beard, 20. Olly Cracknell, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Jarrod Evans, 23. Louie Hennessey
Quotes corner
Andy Farrell: “The story has been written many times about their (Wales) decline and how unfortunate it has been, but at the same time we are playing them in a Test match on Friday and, from what I’ve seen, they’ve been getting better game on game.
“The last game was as close as it gets against a very good Scottish squad. We have heard the confidence in the Welsh camp that they are coming to Dublin with a spring in their step and they are familiar with how our lads play in the URC. I suppose that influences the result last year, so it’s up to us to show that we have moved on as well.”
Steve Tandy: “This week it’s about backing up the performance against Scotland. Going away from home is a different type of environment for our group, but the focus for us is really improving on what we did last game.
“I thought the defence against Scotland was much improved so we definitely want to double down on that going to Ireland. You see how they keep the ball in possession, they play lots of passes so we know we’re going to have to build and improve from the other week.”