Andy Farrell’s Ireland Face Test Of Resolve Against Turbo-Charged Wales theguardian.com

Andy Farrell said this week he was not among those getting carried away by Wales’s expansive approach under Wayne Pivac. The champions’ five tries against Italy last Saturday were all scored by three-quarters and, albeit against the most modest opposition in the tournament, it was evident Wales’s attacking game had evolved with their kicking far more strategic than speculative. What Farrell noted was that Wales had not demolished the hard facade that it took Pivac’s predecessor as head coach, Warren Gatland, 12 years to erect. It remained in place: Wales kept their opponents scoreless for the first time in the championship for 46 years. It was the decoration inside that had changed with rather more in the way of color. If Wales are to record their first victory in Dublin in the Six Nations since 2012, a year they won the grand slam, they will need to rely on the old more than the new, especially if Storm Ciara blows in early from the Atlantic.