Wales will once again have to Stop BOD on Saturday.

It had been speculated that O'Sullivan would blood young Ulster wing Tommy Bowe in place of make shift wing Girvan Dempsey, however Bowe does not even make the bench. Gordon D'Arcy has failed to recover from a hamstring injury, jepordising his chances of gaining at least a Lions' squad spot, Anthony Horgan also remains sidelined with a thumb injury. Reggie Corrigan and Peter Stringer are slight doubts, having sat out today's training session.

Ireland: G Murphy; G Dempsey, B O'Driscoll, capt, K Maggs, D Hickie; R O'Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes, M O'Kelly, P O'Connell, S Easterby, J O'Connor, A Foley.
Replacements: F Sheahan, M Horan, D O'Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, G Duffy.

Mike Ruddock will name Wales's team live on the BBC's Wales Today news at around about half past one tomorrow afternoon with Rhys Williams likely to be declared fit following a calf strain. Gareth Cooper could return as replacement scrum half after the ankle injury that ruled him out of the Scottish match. Mefin Davies and Hal Luscombe are however doubts' due to a dead leg and hamstring strain respectively. Long term absentee Sonny Parker is unlikely to be risked, despite returning to training this week.

At under 21 level, Wales will also be having to cope with the pressure of claiming a grand slam, albeit on a slightly less pressured level against their Irish counterparts at the Gnoll. Cardiff's Dafydd Hewitt starts at inside centre in place of Gavin Evans, who is out with a shoulder injury. A win on Friday night would ensure Wales an unprecedented third grand slam in six years at this level.

Team: Ricky Williams (Newport); Aled Brew (Ospreys), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Dafydd Hewitt (Cardiff), Chris Czekaj (Cardiff); Matthew Jones (Ospreys), James Ireland (Newport); Scott Roberts (Bridgend), Duane Goodfield (Pontypridd), Cai Griffiths (Neath), Alun Wyn Jones (Swansea), Ian Evans (Neath), Chris Davies (Bridgend), James Merriman (Hartpury College/Gloucester), Jonathan Mills (Scarlets).

Replacements: Rhys James (UWIC), Phillip Osbourne (Cardiff), Ben Thomson (Newport), Tom Smith (Neath), Aled Thomas (Carmarthen Quins), Tom Riley (Pontypridd), Wayne Evans (Carmarthen Quins)

Neath-Swansea Ospreys could be crowned Celtic League champions on Friday night, should they defeat The Dragons in Swansea on Friday night, and Munster slip up at home to Ulster. The match is likely to be the final ever top class rugby match at St.Helens, and would be a superb send off should Lyn Jones's side clinch the title.

With a good few of Wales's front line players likely to be in New Zealand with the Lions, players on both sides have a good chance to force themselves into reckoning ahead of Wales's tour to North America in June.

Editorial Team

Lestyn - Paul French - paulfrench_2002@hotmail.com
Zippy -