• Wales travel to Dublin to take on Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday afternoon
  • Fly-half Sam Costelow missed Wales’ defeat at England after failing a HIA

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has insisted his team are ‘relishing’ the chance of taking on Six Nations grand slam champions Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

Andy Farrell’s Ireland – who claimed a Championship clean sweep in 2023 – are on course for more glory this year after opening with back-to-back wins over France and Italy.

Gatland is in charge of a youthful Wales side which has lost its two games with Scotland and England so far. It makes a trip to the Aviva Stadium particularly daunting.

Fly-half Sam Costelow is the only change to the Wales starting XV from the one which faced England at Twickenham. He returns to start at No 10 with Ioan Lloyd returning to the bench.

Gatland said: ‘We are excited to go out to Dublin and test ourselves against one of the leading sides in world rugby. It’s a challenge we are relishing.

Wales have selected fit-again fly-half Sam Costelow for Saturday's Six Nations trip to Ireland

Wales have selected fit-again fly-half Sam Costelow for Saturday’s Six Nations trip to Ireland

Costelow is fit again after failing a head injury assessment during their defeat by Scotland

Costelow is fit again after failing a head injury assessment during their defeat by Scotland

Wales team to face Ireland

Starting XV: Cameron Winnett; Josh Adams, George North, Nick Tompkins, Rio Dyer; Sam Costelow, Tomos Williams; Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee, Keiron Assiratti, Dafydd Jenkins (capt), Adam Beard, Alex Mann, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: Ryan Elias, Corey Domachowski, Dillon Lewis, Will Rowlands, Mackenzie Martin, Kieran Hardy, Ioan Lloyd, Mason Grady

Kick-off: 2.15pm, Saturday 24 February

Location: Aviva Stadium, Dublin 

‘We’ve made steps in the last couple of games and now it’s about building on that, learning from those experiences, and taking that into this weekend.

‘It’s about continuing to work hard, looking for accuracy in our performance across 80 minutes, and also keeping our discipline.’

Costelow is the only specialist fly-half in the Wales squad so his return for Ireland is a boost.

He missed the England game after coming off against Scotland having failed a head injury assessment.

Among the Welsh replacements back-row Mackenzie Martin is in line to win his first senior cap and will become the 1,200th Wales men’s international if he takes to the field.

Tight-head prop Dillon Lewis will make his first appearance of this Championship if called on from the bench.

Flanker Tommy Reffell – who has had an outstanding Six Nations to date – continues in the back-row for the third straight game where he is joined by Alex Mann.

Warren Gatland says his Wales side are 'excited' to go to Dublin - despite their daunting task

Warren Gatland says his Wales side are ‘excited’ to go to Dublin – despite their daunting task

Cardiff youngster Mann has scored tries in each of his two Test caps to date having come into this Six Nations as an international novice.

Ireland are set to name their side to face Wales on Thursday but are likely to be without star full-back Hugo Keenan due to a knee injury.

Ciaran Frawley is favourite to replace him in the green No 15 jersey.

Wales haven’t won a Six Nations game in Dublin since 2012. Ireland have tasted success in 17-straight home matches and have won 38 of their last 40 games in all competitions.

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Post source: Daily mail

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