Wales vs. Ireland: 5 Key Battles That Will Shape 2015 Six Nations Clash

Wales host Ireland in the penultimate round of this year’s Six Nations in a fixture that has been disastrous for the home side over the decades. Ireland have won eight of the last 10 clashes in Cardiff, including the match that clinched the Grand Slam in 2009.

That was on the final day of that championship, and while there is still a round to go after this weekend’s matches, another Irish win will put a second Slam in six years within touching distance.

Wales can ruin all those plans and have looked vastly improved since the opening night defeat at home to England.

Warren Gatland’s men did it to England in 2013, wrecking Slam hopes and taking the title for themselves, so they know what it takes to poop the party.

Here are the key battles in what is shaping up to be the tie of the tournament.

Jenkins continues to perform at the highest level well beyond his 100th cap for Wales. The loosehead was a rock in Paris against a huge French pack and may look to go on the attack against Mike Ross.

The Leinsterman seems to have put his early-season struggles behind him with an excellent afternoon’s work in the scrum against England. If he remains solid against the experienced Lion, Ireland will have the platform they need to execute their game plan.

Furthermore, should Ross win the penalty count against the Welshman, they will kick long and put their powerful rolling maul into operation.

The tussle up front between these two could determine the type of match we see.

Lions captains collide when Alun Wyn Jones and Paul O’Connell meet in Cardiff.

Jones has been tireless for Wales in this championship, while O’Connell’s work rate has not dipped either, although his carrying seems less effective than it once was.

These will be the hard-yards men while their colleagues in the engine room will do much of the lineout leaping.

Luke Charteris has those telescopic arms and uses them to good effect to disrupt attempts to get the rolling maul going, while Ireland’s Devin Toner can steal ball thanks to his height, and he is a hard man to take anything from.

The tactical battle between the two will be intriguing.

It has all been said about the form of Ireland’s No. 9 and No. 10.

If Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray put in the kind of kicking performance we saw against France and England, Wales will have little answer.

But if Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar can apply pressure to lessen the quality of those kicks, and match their opponents in terms of the accuracy of their own aerial attacks, it will be down to the chasers to make the most of what’s on offer.

It’s hard to see anyone beating George North if he has the run on them with the ball tumbling from the sky.

The experience of two Lions Test series and previous Six Nations titles is all on Jamie Roberts’ side in this duel.

Robbie Henshaw has played himself into this Irish team with wonderful form for provincial minnows Connacht, and he has looked the part.

He brings a physical presence that was missing with Gordon D’Arcy in the No. 12 shirt, and his dexterity isn’t bad either, as we all saw with his leap for a try against England.

In this battle of the ball-carriers, whoever gets over the gain line more often will hand his side a major advantage.

With both sides likely to play a territorial game, the full-backs will have busy afternoons collecting a lot of kicked balls.

Both are superb at coming into heavy traffic to do so. They can also size up their options from deep and damage teams when they decide to run back at them.

It may only take one such game-breaking run from either man to give his team the advantage.