Ireland versus Wales does not need further inflammation. Though they share the familiarity of common foes, each is adept at harnessing Celtic fire and fury against one another, and superiority has fluctuated over the decades of the Six Nations. But while the physicality of the contests is there for all to see, it is the psychological landscape where each coach will look to plant their flag - according to former Wales winger Shane Williams.
Speaking to Ger and Eoin on OTB AM, he gave us an insight into the mindset that players need to foster and protect prior to the Saturday’s conflagration at the Aviva.
Shane’s experience for Wales leaves him in rarefied air, internationally-speaking. Since 2000, he was capped 91 times by a country that extends a regard to rugby players arguably only matched by New Zealand. So, when he talks about what Ireland should be wary of prior to a Six Nations clash, coaches, players and fans would do well to take out a pad and pen. This time around, he feels that Ireland can expect a repeat of 2017 Warren Gatland’s pinpointing CJ Stander as a weak link – but that 2018's iteration may pick a different target. Similarly, Eddie Jones’ verbal banana skin tossed in the path of Rhys Patchell is still fresh in Williams’ mind.
“[Warren Gatland] knows CJ Stander is a great player. But it’s always great to get in his head a little bit, so he’s going into the game thinking ‘They’re targeting me today – perhaps I’ve got to do this a little bit different - perhaps I do this instead of that.’
“It was a tough game for Patchell last week, having Eddie Jones say that – the whole of Wales make a massive hoo-hah about it, and the next thing you know you’re playing against England and you’re thinking ‘Oh my god – I remember Eddie Jones saying that this was going to happen.’ It does play a part, and Patchell didn’t have his best game. So the coaches throwing a little grenade there – it sometimes works, sometimes backfires, but also what it does is take the pressure off the players as well. It puts pressure on them, but it takes a little bit of pressure off your own players as well... I’m sure we’ll have a couple of little grenades popping out this week, but that’s what the Six Nations is all about!”
On more familiar terrain, Williams feels that Gatland’s charges will prove a worthy match for the Irish, particularly given the coach’s 'previous'. However, it is as much a surfeit of respect than a lack of it that motivates the Welsh coach to succeed on these shores.
“It’s always a big game, especially when you’re coming to somewhere you have a bit of history with – of course it is. Any coach always takes it personally, whether you leave on good terms or bad terms. Warren has enjoyed his time coming over here and winning games here– he certainly has a smile on his face when he’s playing the Irish. But I think one of the reasons is because Ireland are always the good team. They’re always the most consistent team in the Six Nations. If you come and beat Ireland, especially in Dublin, you’re doing something right.”
“Definitely within Warren Gatland’s reign, it hasn’t been quite as daunting to come here. I think sometimes that the style of rugby that Wales play suits us against Ireland, and we often seem to be the underdogs but come up trumps.”
Theirs is a style of play that gives as good as it gets. Identifying and exploiting weakness
“I think whenever I’ve been part of a team that’s been successful against Ireland, you put them under pressure. They can be very comfortable when [Johnny] Sexton and [Conor] Murray are on top, when they’ve got time on ball and the pack’s going forward – when the likes of Sean O’Brien are getting forward with their ball carries.
“When Wales have done well, we’ve stopped these big players get over the gain line – we’ve had players like Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones smashing them there, stopping Sexton getting quick ball. Making the breakdowns a little bit messier for Murray because he has an armchair! He’s one of the best nines out there and when he’s got an armchair, it’s a very easy day for Ireland so we just compete. I think of World Cup 2011 when we knew we were up against a big pack and we just tackled everything that came down the channel –we got on top in that respect.
But Ireland are a better team now: tactically, they are one of the best out there; their kicking game from Sexton and Murray is incredibly accurate, and that is something that Wales are going to have to improve on because they were quite poor against England. There are areas [of weakness] but they’re good in other areas as well.”
We await to see what kind of Wales burns themselves into the national psyche on Saturday.
But you can’t say we weren’t warned.
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