Wales v Ireland Feb 4 ‘23 6 Nation

Welsh rugby has some hard days ahead of it (and remember georgia its already started)

The age of many key figures on that welsh team doesnt bode well for the 6 nations.

Im aure they are capable of getting a result on their day, but a team like that is likely to be humbled in the last 20 minutes against an organised fast side.

Ireland by 9.

Not as bad as "There's a match going on" from afew years ago!

I wouldnt even put it past Gatland picking Louis Rees-Zammit...

Unless Ireland have issues with injuries I would expect the line to move out to -8 to -10 for kicking off, where im at the game has already moved out to -7

If it was in the aviva you would be expecting a 12 point win.

In reality wales are going to get a bounce from gatlands return, and as old as some of their players are their milage this season so far is pretty low so they will be freshest on saturday.

Its their visit to france in the last round that could be brutal especially if points are needed to win a championship.

My concerns would be as follows:

Garland factor. He always seems to get the most out of players that don't excel at club level.

Wales at home in front of a passionate crowd overperform.

Ireland scrum struggling and giving away penalties.

Furlong, Aki and Lowe haven't played much.

Sexton also hasn't played much and is slowing down. Not sure about his goal kicking now.

Ireland's performances in the Autumn internationals were underwhelming.

Please allay my fears.

Injured

With Wales only fielding 5 players (v) I'd expect even my club's Alickadoo squad to edge it and I'll be fooked if you are ruining our day of glory ☺️😂

A poor winter? Ireland beat South Africa, Fiji and Australia, coming off a winning tour in New Zealand. Sexton kicked 10/12 in the summer and 3/5 against South Africa, his sole winter test. That's 13/17, a 70% return. It's not too bad for a near 38 year old fly half.

I can't see Wales performing well for 80 minutes, especially with the team selected. Gatland will gee them up but Dr Nicholson up in the Beacon is an Orthopaedic Consultant and he can't cure Arthritis and if he can't then Warren G certainty can't!