A match of contrasts awaits. Wales are a team on zero wins from fourteen attempts, shorn of a legendary head coach for the second time and a squad with so many lineup changes it’s like Mark E Smith is is charge. But, in defence of the actual new man in charge, Cardiff’s Matt Sherratt, many of this week’s selection swaps do put people back in the position they regularly play – a novel idea that only bold new thinking could deliver. Apparently.
Ireland meanwhile come off the back of dishing out a whomping to Scotland – their second win of the tournament – and have taken the selection approach that you don’t change the engine in the threshing machine simply because what you’re feeding into it is softer this week. Plus, the Triple Crown and the possible third championship on the bounce is still on.