Irish eyes on grand slam title

BBC Sports - Saturday, March 21, 2009 9:43 AM

IRELAND’S bid to claim their first Grand Slam for 61 years in what promises to be a memorable and dramatic Six Nations finale in Cardiff on Saturday.

Wales must win by 13 points to retain the Championship crown but victory by anything less would see them win the the Triple Crown but Ireland the title.

Gavin Henson partners Tom Shanklin at centre in a Wales side showing eight changes from the one that beat Italy.

Tomas O'Leary, Jamie Heaslip and Jerry Flannery all return for Ireland.

Ireland have lost just once in Cardiff in 11 visits and the last time the Welsh beat the Irish by a clear 13 points was a 23-9 win at Cardiff Arms Park in 1983.

Much of the pre-match debate as centred on Wales coach Warren Gatland's assertion that "out of all the teams in the Six Nations, the Welsh players dislike the Irish the most".

“Players' experiences against Ireland haven't always been the greatest, so they are very motivated," he added.

Ireland wing Tommy Bowe, who plays with many of the Wales squad at the Ospreys, was taken aback by Gatland's comments, saying his experience of Wales' players has been positive.

"They are a good bunch," Bowe said. "I'm looking forward to a bit of banter out on the pitch and hopefully a bit of fun after it."

Ireland have seen off the rest of their European rivals without earning rave reviews while Wales have struggled to reach the standards that won them the 2008 and 2005 Grand Slams.

Dubbed Ireland's golden generation, the likes of Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, John Hayes and Paul O'Connell are on the threshold of what could be their last crack at a Grand Slam.

O'Driscoll, however, has done his best to deflect the pressure on his side in the face of Irish expectations.

"What's the point of building it up to be bigger than it already is and putting more pressure on ourselves? There's no need for that," said O'Driscoll.

He added: "We're probably going to have to pull out our best performance of the Six Nations to date.

Wales will probably be a bit disappointed with their performance against Italy last week and certainly France of three weeks ago.

"So they'll want to put in their biggest performance, which builds the game up nicely for a titanic tussle."

Coach Declan Kidney, who could match Gatland's achievement of 12 months ago in winning the Six Nations at the first attempt, is also refusing to get carried away with the Grand Slam hype.

"All I know is we have a Test match on Saturday against a very good team, an extremely good team who have an awful lot to play for, so I suppose it's a bit like a final," he said.

"We are away from home, but we have no doubt about the size of the challenge ahead of us, but there is no point in getting insular about it. We just need to go out and enjoy ourselves and look forward to the day."

Gatland said: "I don't mind admitting we have left ourselves with a lot to do to win the Championship, but on the other hand the 13 point deficit is by no means insurmountable.

"There is also a Triple Crown at stake and we know only too well in Wales that Grand Slams don't come cheaply.

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

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