Sam Warburton upbeat ahead of Wales v Ireland in Six Nations

Ireland will go into the 2017 Six Nations match against Wales at the Principality stadium knowing nothing but a win will do.

Wales now lie in seventh place in the IRB world rankings – and defeat to Joe Schmidt’s side at the Millennium Stadium, as well as France in their final fixture – could see them slip out of the top eight.

First things first regarding what could be a Friday night thriller – Wayne Barnes genuinely isn’t an anti-Irish pantomime villain.

Match coverage begins at 7.30pm live on BBC1 this Friday 10 March 2017. To come here and get a win would be a massive achievement.

Both sides are unchanged after contrasting results in their last outings. However, the news has not gone down well on the other side of the Irish sea.

For Rob Howley ” in interim charge of Wales while Warren Gatland concentrates on British and Irish Lions issues ” he is thinking short term.

Ireland have enjoyed a good record against Wales during the past couple of decades, with the visitors needing a win to keep alive their hopes of securing the title.

Fears do exist that a more emotional Wales might now catch Ireland on the hop in the maelstrom of the expected beery Friday night atmosphere. Tommy Bowe’s inclusion on the bench means Joe Schmidt’s squad still has 4 players that won the Grand Slam there in 2009.

“The roof will be staying closed”, he said.

When England visited Cardiff last month, manager Eddie Jones insisted on the roof remaining open. Ireland have shown they fear inclement weather more that noisy supporters.

“But we’re concentrating exclusively on this game”. “Not many teams beat the All Blacks and they’ve done that”, he said.

“They were individual mistakes because they didn’t do what they practiced in the buildup to the game”, Edwards said, in pointed reference to winger George North.

“Rob Howley, Neil Jenkins and myself, anybody involved in Welsh rugby in the 1990s, we know what it’s like”.

The bookmakers think this is going to be a tight match with Ireland winning by 3 points. It is that raw defiance, the refusal to countenance defeat, that Howley is looking to replicate, that raw defiance but Ireland left Cardiff that day cursing refereeing decisions, not least at the scrum, they felt cost them momentum.

Wales are in the rare position this decade of being out of contention for the title with two rounds to go following second-half collapses against England and Scotland.

His ruck numbers, meanwhile, have been as high as ever, with a total of 41 contributions in the championship-opening defeat to Scotland setting a tone for the Tullow man, particularly in how he competed on opposition ball. A rankings slip now by the Welsh could lead to another early exit.