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• Ireland have won four and drawn one of their last five Six Nations home games against Wales.
• Their last three victories against Wales have come by 20 or more points.
• They could go six home matches unbeaten in this fixture for the first time in Five/Six Nations history.

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We have been together for a while as a squad but Wales are certainly more in transition.

They have lost a lot of senior players and Warren Gatland obviously picked a young squad to give some guys opportunities at this level.

In saying that, they have looked very cohesive to me, especially for a group of players who are still getting to know each other.

They've impressed in defence, and have made it difficult for teams to attack them while showing a lot of character.

Wales have an in-form back row, too. With guys like Tommy Reffell and Aaron Wainwright consistently among their best performers, I think that's going to be a fascinating battle, especially when you look at the pedigree of the players we have there at the moment.

If Wales had started stronger against Scotland, they could have easily been on the other side of the result. The same with the England game.

Read more here.

Wales have not won a Six Nations game in Dublin since 2012.

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New captain Dafydd Jenkins believes Wales can cause a Six Nations upset by defeating Ireland in Dublin.

Ireland are bidding to become the first side to win back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.

Wales have lost nine out of the past 10 games in the tournament.

"If we didn't think that there would be no point in going there in the first place," said Jenkins.

"We have full confidence we can win and do a job, although it is going to be tough.

"There is a lot of excitement. It's a massive challenge going to Ireland, who are probably the number one team in the world at the moment.

"It is exciting to challenge ourselves against the best with no fear and no pressure."

Read more here.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Aviva Stadium

Writing in today's match programme, Ireland captain Peter O'Mahony notes that "a lot has been said" about the Aviva Stadium atmosphere of late.

A fortnight ago, the Lansdowne Road crowd was fairly muted: Sunday game, one-sided affair etc.

But given the history of the Ireland-Wales rivalry, it's likely to be more intense this afternoon, even if the game follows a similar pattern to the Italy one.

O'Mahony says the Irish fans can make a difference by staying noisy during the ebbs and flows that are part and parcel of Test rugby.

Ireland are heavy favourites to win today. They may win comfortably, or they may pull away early on - like they did in Cardiff last year.

If that transpires, it will be interesting to see how engaged the crowd is.

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The visitors have made just one change to the starting XV who lost at Twickenham, with fly-half Sam Costelow replacing Scarlets team-mate Ioan Lloyd.

There are two further changes among the replacements: uncapped Cardiff number eight Mackenzie Mann is preferred to Taine Basham, while Harlequins prop Dillon Lewis comes in for the injured Archie Griffin.

Twelve of the visiting 23, including seven starters, will be playing their first Six Nations match in Dublin.

Wales: Winnett; Adams, North, Tompkins, Dyer; Costelow, Tomos Williams; G Thomas, Dee, Assiratti, Jenkins (capt), Beard, Mann, Reffell, Wainwright.

Replacements: Elias, Domachoswki, D Lewis, Rowlands, M Martin, Hardy, I Lloyd, Grady.

Favourite Ireland v Wales memory? The fixture has had some BIG moments...

Get your answers in.

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Last month Andy Farrell was announced head coach of the British and Irish Lions for the 2025 tour to Australia.

In 2013 he was also on the Lions tour to Australia as an assistant coach to Warren Gatland.

I doubt Gatland will be up for going as Farrell's assistant this time round...

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The hosts make seven changes, having used their formidable strength in depth to rest several key men for the rout of Italy in round two.

Leinster's Ciaran Frawley makes a first Test start in the place of injured full-back Hugo Keenan - his two previous caps have come as a replacement.

Captain Peter O'Mahony, prop Tadhg Furlong and centre Bundee Aki return following injuries, while lock Tadhg Beirne, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and flanker Josh van der Flier are also recalled.

Uncapped Munster prop Oli Jager is among the replacements, while Garry Ringrose remains out.

Ireland: Frawley; Nash, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe; Crowley, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong; McCarthy, Beirne; O'Mahony (capt), Van der Flier, Doris.

Replacements: Kelleher, Healy, Jager, Ryan, Baird, Conan, Murray, McCloskey.

Ireland have won a national record 17 successive Test matches on home soil and they have scored four or more tries in 13 of those games.

But Warren Gatland is not one bit bothered by that!

Shane Horgan
Former Ireland wing on BBC Radio 5 Live

Ireland are looking really formidable. They had the blip at the World Cup - a major blip - one that they will not get over anytime soon. But there doesn't seem to be a hangover.

They feel more accomplished and professional than at any point we have seen from this side.

This will be a bigger challenge than Italy. We don't know where Wales are. They are on a path and a different trajectory than Ireland in their cycle.

The expectations are very high for this Ireland team both internally and externally.

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England overturned another half-time deficit in the Six Nations to edge past a youthful and spirited Wales side at Twickenham.

This meant Wales suffered their second consecutive narrow loss.

Ireland maintained their push for successive Six Nations Grand Slams with a comfortable 36-0 win over Italy in Dublin.

The Six Nations is back!

The fallow week is a good opportunity for players and coaches to reset. For fans it is frustrating as the action is just getting started.

Defending champions Ireland have had the perfect start to their campaign. Youthful Wales, despite promising performances, lost their opening two fixtures.

On paper it is Ireland by a big number. History says though to never rule out Wales.

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