Ireland ready for emotionally-charged affair as they look to set up Grand Slam showdown

IRELAND’S RESULT LAST night in Cardiff was a far cry from what was expected.

Marie Louise Reilly. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO

Rugby fans across Ireland hoped that the men would lead the way, and get the ball rolling for what was shaping up to be a memorable weekend in Wales.

Of course, it still can be a memorable weekend for the women and U20’s, but it’s one the men will rather forget.

Time is limited to lick the wounds though, as attention now turns to Cardiff Arms Park and Tom Tierney’s charges take centre-stage [KO 11.30am, live on RTÉ].

With three wins from three under their belt and the Grand Slam dream well and truly alive, tomorrow is ultimately do-or-die.

But of course, it’s no easy task.

“They’re going to be a massively huge opposition,” Marie Louise Reilly warned ahead of the all-important fixture.

“Wales at home are always very difficult. We’ve struggled there in the past to get a win against them. We’ve done well in the last little while, but no doubt there’s a huge challenge ahead of us.

“They’re always a very difficult team to play against. They’re very physical and they’re cute up front. They have some clever forwards who, to a great effect, used the ball very well against us in the warm-up match previous to the Six Nations, so that will be something we’ll obviously be looking to counteract.”

Ireland haven’t lost to Wales in a competitive match since 2011, but were beaten in that warm-up match in January, before Ireland went on to overcome Scotland, Italy and France in Six Nations action.

The opposition also looked strong during their Autumn international matches as they dismantled Scotland 15-0, whom Ireland just edged past in the last minute of their opening round tie last month.

‘From a lineout point of view, we’ve done well the last little while.’ Source: Craig Watson/INPHO

Since then though, things haven’t gone so much to plan for Rowland Phillips’ side.

They’ve suffered back-to-back Six Nations defeats — a 63-0 hammering to England and a one point loss to Scotland last time out — but beat Italy in their first fixture.

“For people looking on, they’ll be saying we’ve won there previously and Wales have had a bit of a bad run at the moment.

When asked what she thinks has changed since Autumn, the Old Belvedere club player admitted she wasn’t too sure:

“They were looking very strong prior to that [consecutive losses] and they had a real team spirit about them, which was good to see.

“As a player, it made you that bit nervous because when a team look that cohesive together, you know they’re always going to give that extra 10% per player, overall their game will rise.

“I think that’s just the way the Six Nations go. Scotland have come into it and given everyone a surprise, including ourselves. They’ve upped their game, and England obviously are always a formidable outfit. I think just on the day, the Welsh captain had gone off and England exploited them out wide.”

Not only are Wales hurt from recent results and form, there’s much more spurring them on today. They have their own personal mission entering the clash.

The Welsh outfit have been left heartbroken, as they mourn the tragic death of 20-year-old Elli Norkett.

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They have vowed to honour her memory accordingly, ensuring for emotional scenes in the Welsh capital.