Six Nations 2023 - Wales v Ireland, Sat 4th Feb, KO 2:15PM - TV: VM1, BBC1, S4C

After the loss to Georgia and the last year in general I think Wales needed a turn around performance they could build some momentum with. The opportunity to do that against Ireland (and I think there is a lot of animosity between Ireland and Wales) was huge and would have completely changed the narrative for them, beating the worlds number one team.

Instead they didn't look competitive at all and a lot of players looked passed it - which somewhat brings Gatland's early decision making into question. It was an emotion based selection, an attempted return to the good times and it fell flat. Saturday probably couldn't have gone worse for Wales and the scale of problem was etched onto Gatland's face at full time.

This weekend now becomes the chance for a reset but it presents two problems. Scotland aren't the same scalp, a lot of Welsh fans would be expecting them to beat Scotland (Wales have won 17 of the last 20 engagements) Whilst Wales are away - the last time Wales lost to Scotland in Cardiff was 2002 highlighting the dominance Wales have had for the last almost quarter century.

Secondly Scotland are playing pretty well. They were decent in the Autumn, a bit disappointing on their Summer tour but that performance against England will have given them a lot of belief. If Wales lose to Scotland I'd almost go so far as to say that Gatland is already under a bit of pressure - he didn't set the world alight in his time since leaving the Welsh job and he has absolutely no time before the World Cup. A poor six nations and Wales are going into the World cup probably talking about this being a transition period and a chance to get new players exposure to the biggest tournament in the game - that's going to be a difficult to sell to the Welsh public (in particular with everything else that is going on with the WRU).

I dunno. Most of the Scottish tries against England came from just outside or just inside the English 22 (and my god England's defence was so so poor).

I think it's a tough one - they won't want to kick to the Scottish backline too much as if Russell is on form they can open teams up and JVDM's absolute wonder try would concern any team (Dombrandt being almost as responsible for that try with the worst attempted tackle from a backrow in recent memory.)

England were really passive at the breakdown so it's hard to know how dominant Scotland were there but Wales struggled against us and there is a bit of a template there for Townsend to work on. I don't think Gatland can make too many changes with the limited time he has, it's going to be the same team accounting for injuries and all they can do is a generic 'be better'. Wales are going to have to do what they did against us for 20 minutes at the weekend and hold onto the ball, kick only when it's fully on their terms and reach some kind of parity at the breakdown to facilitate both.

Another fascinating weekend of rugby. Italy have some performances under their belt now that suggest improvement and England looked pretty apathetic after their loss. Borthwick has been making some pretty strong comments about Jones in the media but some of that comes across quite critically of the players. France Ireland is going to be a belter and Scotland Wales is a hugely consequential game for Wales but I think Scotland are going to be too much for them.

Christ I love the six nations.

I think that was massive heart over head stuff and I'd say a lot of those Welsh fans knew it. I've read many times at this stage that Welsh fans prefer beating Ireland than England at this stage and the Irish players have talked about the rivalry (and as I mentioned animosity).

Gatland returning, bringing in his tried and tested. It was a fairy-tale waiting to happen but as we've seen it was a pipe dream with only the uncertainty of change as a basis for optimism.

I agree with you about Edwards, France have improved into World beaters since his appointment having been nowhere for a decade. Gatland was DOR with chiefs before he left, how involved was he with coaching?

This weekend is a massive catch 22. I think the right thing to do is sacrifice the game, bring in some youth talent and starting building an environment before the World cup. I just don't think a week is enough to pull that off without seriously risking a drubbing next weekend which could really derail things.

Very tough place for Wales rugby.

Honestly, I don't know. Since 2017 their u20's have been either last or second last in the six nations (mostly last).

They could drop AWJ, Faletau, Owens, Halfpenny, Cutberth and ask who the next best player is but that's far too reductive an approach.

The question isn't so much who they drop, it's the next three questions after that-

how do they want to play the game?

What players can implement that style of play?

Can Gatland and his assistant coaches the right people for that?

Going by the weekend, Gatland picked a team to play how he wanted and they had no platform and couldn't deal with Ireland's attack. I honestly think he was a poor choice to come back but it seems generally that the WRU don't have a clue as to what they are doing. All gone a bit FAI under Delany for them.

I've had my tickets bought for over a year at this stage. I imagine it's down to making sure they're all sell outs. Still though it should be brought forward by some amount of time.