The statistics, the teams and the preview for Ireland vs. Wales, this Saturday at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Match Details

Date: August 16th 2003
Venue: Lansdowne Road, Dublin 6
Kick off time: 2.45pm
Type: World Cup warm up
Television Details: BBC1 coverage begins at 2.35pm. Also available on Network 2 in Ireland and Welsh channel SC4.

The Teams

Ireland Starting XV:
15. Geordan Murphy - Leicester [Zurich Premiership]
14. Tyrone Howe - Ulster 13. Brian O'Driscoll - Leinster
12. Kevin Maggs - Bath [Zurich Premiership]
11. Anthony Horgan - Munster
10. David Humphreys - Ulster
9. Peter Stringer - Munster

1. Reggie Corrigan - Leinster
2. Keith Wood (captain) - ???
3. Simon Best - Ulster
4. Malcolm O'Kelly - Leinster
5. Paul O'Connell - Munster
6. Victor Costello - Leinster
7. Keith Gleeson - Leinster
8. Anthony Foley - Munster

Wales Starting XV
15. Nicky Robinson - Cardiff Blues
14. Garen Evans - Llanelli Scarlets
13. Jamie Robinson - Cardiff Blues
12. Iestyn Harris - Cardiff Blues
11. Gareth Thomas (captain) - Celtic Warriors
10. Ceri Sweeney - Celtic Warriors
9. Dwayne Peel - Llanelli Scarlets

1. Duncan Jones - Neath-Swansea Ospreys
2. Mefin Davies - Celtic Warriors
3. Ben Evans - Cardiff Blues
4. Michael Owen - Gwent Dragons
5. Gareth Llewellyn - Neath-Swansea Ospreys
6. Rhys Oakley - Gwent Dragons
7. Richard Parks - Celtic Warriors
8. Alix Popham - Leeds Tykes [Zurich Premiership]

Replacements
Ireland: Shane Byrne (Leinster), Justin Fitzpatrick (Castres), Donncha O'Callahan (Munster), David Wallace (Munster), Guy Easterby (Rotherham), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster)
Wales: Huw Bennett (Neath-Swansea Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Celtic Warriors), Vernon Cooper (Llanelli Scarlets), Robin Sowden-Taylor (Cardiff Blues), Andy Williams (Neath-Swansea Ospreys), Andy Marinos (Gwent Dragons), Nathan Brew (Gwent Dragons).

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Although being named in the original starting XV, Leinster's Shane Horgan has had to withdraw due to injury. Ronan O'Gara and Paul Burke are also missing due to injury, begging the question - what happens if David Humphreys gets injured? It'll be interesting to say the least. Denis Hickie was also unavailable for selection.

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Match Preview

No two teams seem to be as far apart as Ireland and Wales at the moment.

Ireland are flying high, having lost only two matches in the 2002/2003 season, one of which was away to Australia with an unfamiliar looking teaming minus many a star name. They may not have won the Grand Slam, but they came pretty damn close, and by beating Australia in the Autumn and France during the Six Nations, as well as breaking their unfavourable 18-year losing record at Murrayfield, they are a team that are on the up. Alongside Argentina, they are the most improved side in international rugby over the past few seasons. With players of real class - some the best in the world in their positions - life for the Ireland rugby team and support is most definitely taking an upward swing.

Then we have Wales. Once such a huge, dominating force in World rugby - admittedly, most of their glory days coming before the onset of professionalism - they are now a team in the doldrums after more losses than last season than anyone wishes to tally up. Things are not all bad though, despite the Wooden Spoon and some embarrassing losses on the summer tour, the passion was there against England during the Six Nations and they gave New Zealand a good go in the Autumn Internationals too. However, no matter what - seldom - highlights you wish to pick up, Welsh rugby is in a period of change, with the new and somewhat controversial provincial system beginning next season, and things really can only get better for the Welsh. They can't get much worse after the humiliation in Rome.

So yes, two totally different sides, approaching the World Cup - for which this game is a warm up - with totally different mindsets. Surely Wales are hoping just to salvage a bit of pride and continue their rebuilding process, whereas Ireland are really aiming for a last 8 - or higher - finish, after the disappointment in Lens against Argentina in the 1999 competition.

This match doesn't actually mean anything, the result having nothing to do with how either team perform. However, if the Welsh do somehow manage to beat Ireland - the chances of which I will come to in a moment - it will be a huge moral booster for what is a young and inexperienced team. I do feel, though, that Ireland should not be approaching this match like an opposed training run - the Welsh ran them damned close at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff during last season's Six Nations, and if it weren't for a piece of brilliance from Ronan O'Gara, Ireland would have lost. Ireland should approach this match with caution, and Wales should approach it with a desire to win purely for pride's sake and as a boost to the team.

It also appears that Steve Hansen and Eddie O'Sullivan are approaching this match with different ideas in mind, and in all honesty I can understand Hansen's selection more readily. Hansen has selected a Welsh team that is young and inexperienced, and is basically using the game as a testing groud to see how they cope with international pressure. Not such a stupid idea. O'Sullivan, however, has selected what is almost - give or take a few players - his first team. I'm not entirely sure what he's going to learn from this match that he doesn't already know, or maybe his intention is just to give the first team a run. Surely victory can't be that important to him?

Well whatever the mechanics, Ireland vs. Wales is always entertaining and I expect Saturday to be the same. Yes, the game is without the fire of the Six Nations but it should be a good one. My prediction is an Irish win by 30 or 40 points, but for the sake of rugby as a whole I'd like to see the Welsh playing well and with a bit of fire. It'd be good for the Welsh if they ran Ireland close or even won, but I'm not quite giving enough to want that to happen!

NB: Apologies this wasn't loaded until the day before match day, I meant to load it on Friday morning but things offline didn't go according to plan!

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