Six Nations 2021: Wales v Ireland preview, team news & key stats

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac is under pressure to improve results in the Six Nations

Wales face Ireland in the Six Nations in Cardiff on Sunday bidding to overcome their worst performance in 13 years in the 2020 edition.

Wayne Pivac's side entered that tournament as Grand Slam champions before losing four matches and eventually finishing fifth.

Ireland, under new head coach Andy Farrell, improved as the disrupted 2020 tournament went on.

But a 35-27 defeat by France in Paris ended their title hopes.

Wales head coach Pivac blooded 11 new caps last year and while that may partly explain the downturn in performance, the former Scarlets boss is under pressure heading into this tournament.

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After a period of experimentation, Pivac has returned to some tried-and-tested men.

Ospreys flanker Dan Lydiate earns a first cap since the win against Australia in November 2018, while Scarlets' Ken Owens returns at hooker.

Six Nations debutant Johnny Williams starts at centre alongside Ospreys' George North, while suspension for Liam Williams and Josh Adams, the latter due to a Covid-19 breach, means Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit makes his Six Nations debut.

Ireland's improvements continued into the autumn, including a convincing win against Wales in Dublin in the Autumn Nations Cup, although Ireland are yet to win away from home during the tenure of head coach Andy Farrell and have issues to address in the set-piece.

Ireland captain Johnny Sexton wins a 96th cap after recovering from a hamstring injury to take part in a 12th Six Nations campaign.

Leinster wing James Lowe is available following a groin injury and makes his Six Nations debut, club team-mate Hugo Keenan starts at full-back in place of the injured Jacob Stockdale, while Leinster flanker Josh van der Flier replaces Caelan Doris, who is recovering from concussion.

Ulster captain Iain Henderson and Leinster prop Tadhg Furlong are among the replacements following injury.

Commentator's notes

Eddie Butler: Alun Wyn Jones has more caps on his own than Saturday's Italian starting team combined. And he's not the only player of vast experience in this Wales-Ireland Sunday special. Dan Lydiate, restored and going toe-to-toe with Peter O'Mahony, for instance.

It's going to be cagey and cautious and yet bristling with that Celtic spikiness, that doesn't seem to have evaporated with the departure of Warren Gatland. Who could ask for more?

A cavalcade it is not going to be. Tense and brutal, certainly. It's a bit of a twist on the old question: who wants it more? As in, who wants to lose less? Wales 18 Ireland 16.

View from both camps

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac: "We made strides forward through the autumn, and we are looking to take that into Sunday and into this tournament.

"The Six Nations is a fantastic tournament and is important for us rugby-wise, but it is important for so much more this year.

"It is important for communities across the country, and we want to play our part and give everyone something to look forward to and to get excited about on the weekend."

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell: "Our boys are very familiar with everyone in the Welsh squad, they play against them all of the time, some of them are good friends," he said.

"We know what top performers they can be when they're under pressure. This is the start of a new competition and they will be wanting to right some wrongs.

"I suppose the slate is going to wiped clean at the start of a competition and this is a huge game for both teams. In the two camps, we know the truth that it's going to be a war of attrition."

Line-ups

Wales: 15-Leigh Halfpenny; 14-Louis Rees-Zammit, 13-George North, 12-Johnny Williams, 11-Hallam Amos; 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Tomos Williams; 1-Wyn Jones, 2-Ken Owens, 3-Tomas Francis, 4-Adam Beard, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 6-Dan Lydiate, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Taulupe Faletau

Replacements: 16-Elliot Dee, 17-Rhodri Jones, 18-Leon Brown, 19-Will Rowlands, 20-Josh Navidi, 21-Gareth Davies, 22-Callum Sheedy, 23-Nick Tompkins

Ireland: 15-Hugo Keenan; 14-Keith Earls, 13-Garry Ringrose, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-James Lowe; 10-Johnny Sexton (capt), 9-Conor Murray; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rob Herring, 3-Andrew Porter, 4-Tadhg Beirne, 5-James Ryan, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Josh van der Flier, 8-CJ Stander

Replacements: 16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Dave Kilcoyne, 18-Tadhg Furlong, 19-Iain Henderson, 20-Will Connors, 21-Jamison Gibson Park, 22-Billy Burns, 23-Jordan Larmour

Match facts

Head-to-head

• The away side has failed to win any of the last seven Six Nations meetings (D1, L6).

• Ireland have won their last four Test matches versus Wales, their best run since 2004.

• Wales' 16-0 half-time lead in Cardiff in the 2018 Six Nations was their biggest advantage after 40 minutes versus Ireland in any Test match since 1920.

Wales

• Wales could lose three successive home games in the Six Nations for the first time since 2002-03.

• Their return of four defeats and a final placing of fifth in last year's tournament marked their worst Six Nations since 2007.

• They made an unrivalled 89 handling errors in the 2020 Six Nations, including the most knock-ons (35).

Ireland

• Ireland have won six of their last nine Tests, but every victory has come at home.

• They have not won away from home since a World Cup warm-up victory in Wales in August 2019.

• Ireland scored a tournament-high seven tries in the final quarter of matches in 2020.

Match officials

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Touch judges: Luke Pearce (England) & Alex Ruiz (France)

TMO: Tom Foley (England)