Well if last weekend was a big weekend for both Wales and Ireland this weekend dwarves it in comparison. These two sides have produced some incredibly close Six Nation encounters and I can’t imagine there are too many of us who are expecting anything different. Ireland may have got all of the coverage for their win to Australia, yet if Wayne Barnes had felt the TMO worth the money he was being paid then Wales would have turned over the South Africans.
They didn’t though did they. So we have our mouth drowning contest for Saturday. For which Ireland have named their team, no great surprises, Rory Best faces a last fitness test and Kidney has gone for O’Gara and Murray as halfbacks. Team in full:
Ireland: R Kearney (Leinster); T Bowe (Ospreys), B O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D’Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster); R O’Gara (Munster), C Murray (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster) or S Cronin (Leinster), M Ross (Leinster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), S O’Brien (Leinster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster) or D Varley (Munster), T Court (Ulster), D Ryan (Munster), D Leamy (Munster), E Reddan (Leinster), J Sexton (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster).
The clocks are ticking, there will be some incredible match ups on the day, not least the Hadron Collider of a battle between back rows. Thankfully though, for those of us with an Irish persuasion, we have ROG on our side. Remember This: