Guinness Six Nations: Ireland v Wales

Ireland and Wales have the honour of opening the 2022 Guinness Six Nations Championship, as Andy Farrell’s men host the defending champions at a packed-out Aviva Stadium.

2022 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 5

IRELAND v WALES, Aviva Stadium, 2.15pm (live RTÉ 2/RTÉ Player/ITV 1/UTV/S4C/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)

Team News: Head coach Andy Farrell’s selection includes one new cap in Connacht winger Mack Hansen, and two more players – Dan Sheehan and James Hume – are also set to make their Championship debuts.

Jonathan Sexton will captain the team on his 102nd cap for Ireland and his 53rd appearance in the Six Nations.

Sexton is joined at half-back by Jamison Gibson Park, while Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose link up in the centre for the 15th time for Ireland. Robbie Henshaw misses out after a niggle on an adductor last week.

The uncapped Hansen lines out on the left wing, Andrew Conway is on the right, and Hugo Keenan features at full-back for his 17th consecutive Test start. Keith Earls has a hamstring strain.

In the pack, the all-Leinster front row is made up of Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong, supported by Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan who pair up again in the second row.

Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan combine once more in the back row. 23-year-old flanker Doris was a try-scoring player-of-the-match against New Zealand in November.

On the bench, Six Nations newcomers Sheehan and Hume will look to make an impact off the bench, as will Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and the fit-again Joey Carbery.

Speaking about Hansen and the team selection, Farrell said: “Mack is a smart rugby player, he makes things happen. He knows how to get himself involved in the game. He’s got a good skill-set across the board.

“It’s tough when you first go into international camps, but the ones who do it best and hit the ground running end up getting to a good few caps straight away.

“They’re the guys that are able to be told once or maybe twice and pick up things straight away. Mack has certainly done that.

“‘Earlsie’ isn’t fit for this weekend. He had a hamstring strain yesterday and he has gone for a scan today. We’ll know more about that later on today, but he’s out.

“Robbie had a little bit of a niggle on an adductor towards the end of last week. A good few days of rehab has got him back up to speed again. He missed a couple of sessions and that allowed the other three guys (in the centre) to get through their work.”

Meanwhile, Wales boss Wayne Pivac has moved Josh Adams infield for his first Test start in the centre. He starts alongside Nick Tompkins in a new-look pairing for the Dublin game.

The 2021 title winners are missing some notable names through injury, so Dan Biggar – deputising for the injured Alun Wyn Jones – captains them from half-back, where he is joined by Cardiff’s Tomos Williams.

Dragons’ Will Rowlands returns to the starting XV alongside vice-captain Adam Beard who started all four of Wales’ Autumn Nations Series matches.

Ryan Elias of the Scarlets also starts his fifth successive international at hooker, packing down with Wyn Jones and Tomas Francis in the front row.

22-year-old talent Taine Basham makes his Six Nations debut, with Ellis Jenkins and Aaron Wainwright completing the back row.

The back-three is made up of Louis Rees-Zammit, who scored four tries during last year’s tournament, Johnny McNicholl and full-back Liam Williams.

Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake is in line to win his first cap as a replacement, while the experienced Ross Moriarty is poised to make his 50th Wales appearance off the bench.

If introduced, Gareth Thomas, another of the Ospreys, will join Basham in making his Six Nations bow. Owen Watkin returns to the Wales matchday squad for the first time since playing against Scotland almost a year ago.

Guinness Six Nations Fixtures

Guinness Six Nations Table