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| Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 4 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
| Coverage: Live on BBC One, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Ulster, Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website & app; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app. |
Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne says the recent appointment of new head coaches by England and Wales makes their attacking threat in the Six Nations something of an unknown quantity.
Ireland play Wales in Cardiff in their Six Nations opener on Saturday.
“We have to be ready for anything they throw at us,” emphasised Beirne.
“England and Wales have changed coaches, which makes it much more difficult as regards knowing what’s coming.
“Defensively, we don’t know what type of attack shape Wales or England are going to show this campaign.
“We will very much focus on ourselves in terms of preparation going into these games.”
Kiwi Gatland is back in charge for a second spell with Wales, having initially been at the helm between 2007 and 2019.
“Everyone knows there is going to be a reaction out of them with Gatland back and a lot of new coaching staff in there – there’s going to a be a response to that,” added 31-year-old Beirne.
“They’re at home and no matter who is coaching them, when they’re at home they are a difficult team to play against.
“They’re going to try and be physical and they’ll plan on being direct.
“Gats has said it’s part of the plan to come at us physically. They think they can get an upper hand on us there. We’ll be expecting that and be ready for it.”
‘We have a target on our back’
Beirne indicated that being able to train outdoors as part of a training camp in Portugal has been “massive” for Ireland’s preparations and added that the squad’s focus would be fully on the upcoming tournament despite the potential distraction of the World Cup later in the year.
“Every Six Nations you come into with the intention of winning it and that’s what we have set as our goal to do,” said the Munster player.
“We haven’t looked any further ahead than that – if we can build over the next eight weeks then come the summer we can look towards the World Cup and continue to build on what we did during the Six Nations.
“For now, it’s about building on from everything we’ve done in the past and learning from what we haven’t got right, and try to improve week in and week out.
“We are number one in the world so no matter who we come up against we have a target on our back – it’s pretty exciting and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Beirne has cautioned Ireland “not to be shocked by the noise, the intensity” that Wales can bring in the Principality Stadium, a theme endorsed by team-mate Hugo Keenan.
“It’s a big challenge. I’ve been to a match or two in the Principality and I think everyone is aware of the atmosphere that can be generated by their fans and the away fans, especially when the roof is closed,” added the full-back.
