{"id":301588,"date":"2011-03-11T13:41:17","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T13:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/11\/wales-v-ireland\/"},"modified":"2011-03-11T13:41:17","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T13:41:17","slug":"wales-v-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/11\/wales-v-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales v Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n <\/p>\n

RBS 6 Nations Championship<\/b>
Venue:<\/b> Millennium Stadium Date:<\/b> Saturday, 12 March 2011 Kick-off:<\/b> 5pm GMT
Coverage:<\/b> Watch live on BBC One, BBC One HD and online from; listen on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Radio 5 Live; Text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles <\/span><\/p>\n

MATCH PREVIEW<\/b><\/p>\n

Wales and Ireland lost their opening Six Nations games but two subsequent victories for both teams mean there is still plenty to play for in this year’s championship. <\/p>\n

The Welsh are in pole position should leaders England slip up while Ireland are also still harbouring hopes of a Triple Crown. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"Wales<\/p>\n

Wales head coach Warren Gatland was in charge of Ireland from 1998 to 2001<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Wales are higher up the Six Nations table and have home advantage but have played well only in patches and Ireland will fancy their chances in Cardiff, where they have a phenomenal record, having lost just once there since 1983. <\/p>\n

In addition, Declan Kidney and his men have very happy memories of their most recent visit to the Millennium Stadium in 2009, when they completed their first Grand Slam for 61 years in a dramatic finale, with Ronan O’Gara kicking a late match-winning drop-goal. <\/p>\n

It was also the venue where Munster won the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2008 so has been a happy hunting and history-making ground for plenty of the men in green. <\/p>\n

History could be made again on Saturday with Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll (23 Six Nations tries) and Wales’ Shane Williams (22) both closing in on Ian Smith’s 78-year-old championship record of 24. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, O’Gara himself is just one well-judged kick away from reaching the 1,000-point mark in international rugby, which would see him join an elite quartet who have already achieved that feat. <\/p>\n

One man who will definitely be putting his name in the record books is Warren Gatland – the former Ireland head coach will be taking charge of Wales for a record 36th match on Saturday. <\/p>\n

MATCH FACTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Head-to-head<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ireland have only lost once in Cardiff since 1983 (W10, D1, L1). <\/p>\n

\u2022 Ireland have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the teams. <\/p>\n

Wales<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Wales haven’t won at the Millennium Stadium since March last year. Since then, they’ve lost five and drawn one at home. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Wales have scored 36 tries in 18 Six Nations matches under Warren Gatland and Ireland are the only team that have successfully defended their line in those games, having prevented Wales scoring a try in both 2009 and 2010. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Ryan Jones and Mike Phillips will be winning their 50th caps for Wales. <\/p>\n

Ireland<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Ireland have won six of their last seven away matches in the Six Nations <\/p>\n

\u2022 Ireland have failed to score a try just once in their last 14 matches (v Australia in November). They have scored at least one try in their last 14 Six Nations matches (since losing 16-12 to Wales in March 2008). <\/p>\n

\u2022 Ronan O’Gara is just two points short of the 1,000 points mark for Ireland. He would be the fifth man in international rugby to reach it. <\/p>\n

TEAM LINE-UPS<\/b><\/p>\n

Wales:<\/b> 15-Lee Byrne, 14-Leigh Halfpenny, 13-Jamie Roberts, 12-Jonathan Davies, 11-Shane Williams, 10-James Hook, 9-Mike Phillips; 8-Ryan Jones, 7-Sam Warburton, 6-Dan Lydiate, 5-Alun Wyn Jones, 4-Bradley Davies, 3-Craig Mitchell, 2-Matthew Rees (captain), 1-Paul James <\/p>\n

Replacements: 16-Richard Hibbard, 17-John Yapp, 18-Jonathan Thomas, 19-Rob McCusker, 20-Dwayne Peel, 21-Stephen Jones, 22-Morgan Stoddart <\/p>\n

Ireland: <\/b>15-Luke Fitzgerald, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Brian O’Driscoll (captain), 12-Gordon D’Arcy, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Ronan O’Gara, 9-Eoin Reddan; 8-Jamie Heaslip, 7-David Wallace, 6-Sean O’Brien, 5-Paul O’Connell, 4-Donncha O’Callaghan, 3-Mike Ross, 2-Rory Best, 1-Cian Healy. <\/p>\n

Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-Tom Court, 18-Leo Cullen, 19-Denis Leamy, 20-Peter Stringer, 21-Jonathan Sexton, 22-Paddy Wallace. <\/p>\n

MATCH OFFICIALS<\/b><\/p>\n

Referee:<\/b> Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa) <\/p>\n

Touch judges: <\/b>Craig Joubert (South Africa) & Peter Allan (Scotland) <\/p>\n

TV: <\/b>Geoff Warren (England) <\/p>\n

ONES TO WATCH<\/b><\/p>\n

\t\t\t <\/p>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td>\n\n

BRIAN O’DRISCOLL (Ireland)<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

Centre, age 32<\/p>\n

Has scored 23 tries in 53 Six Nations games<\/p>\n

Has scored 5 tries in his 12 matches against Wales<\/p>\n

Recently signed a new contract with Leinster until the end of 2012\/13 and says: “As long as I enjoy it and feel I still have the capabilities to perform to the level I want to, I’ll continue playing” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td>\n\n

SHANE WILLIAMS (Wales)
<\/b><\/p>\n

\n

Wing, age 34<\/p>\n

Has scored 22 tries in 40 Six Nations games<\/p>\n

His only try against Ireland came in Wales’s 2008 win at Croke Park<\/p>\n

This will be his last Six Nations as he is intending to retire from international rugby after the World Cup. He says: “I don’t want to finish playing for Wales, but I have got to be realistic”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Excerpt from:
\nWales v Ireland<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RBS 6 Nations Championship Venue: Millennium Stadium Date: Saturday, 12 March 2011 Kick-off: 5pm GMT Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC One HD and online from; listen on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Radio 5 Live; Text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles MATCH PREVIEW Wales and Ireland lost their opening Six Nations games but two subsequent victories for both teams mean there is still plenty to play for in this year’s championship. The Welsh are in pole position should leaders England slip up while Ireland are also still harbouring hopes of a Triple Crown. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWales v Ireland - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/11\/wales-v-ireland\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Wales v Ireland - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RBS 6 Nations Championship Venue: Millennium Stadium Date: Saturday, 12 March 2011 Kick-off: 5pm GMT Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC One HD and online from; listen on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Radio 5 Live; Text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles MATCH PREVIEW Wales and Ireland lost their opening Six Nations games but two subsequent victories for both teams mean there is still plenty to play for in this year's championship. 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