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'Daunting makes it sounds like we are scared. We are not. We are excited'
Nick Tompkins says that Wales are excited and not daunted by the challenge that awaits them against Guinness Six Nations title favourites Ireland on Saturday.
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The odds are stacked against Wales, having not won a Six Nations game in Dublin since 2012 and facing a team marching ominously towards achieving back-to-back Grand Slams.
More than a third of Wales’ match-day 23 have cap totals in single figures, while a vastly-experienced Ireland team last suffered a Six Nations defeat two years ago.
Asked if there was a more daunting test in world rugby than tackling Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, Wales centre Tompkins said: “I don’t know about daunting.
“Daunting makes it sounds like we are scared. We are not. We are excited.
“Realistically, we have got nothing to lose. It is a big challenge, but you need those big ones.
“There is no point in playing a mediocre side, and it is going to be good to see where we are at.”
Wales lost their opening two Six Nations encounters against Scotland and England by a combined margin of three points and could easily have arrived in Dublin with an unbeaten record.
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Scotland held on for a 27-26 victory in Cardiff after Wales scored 26 unanswered points, while it took a late George Ford penalty to overhaul Wales’ nine-point interval advantage at Twickenham.
Ireland, though, have proved themselves time and time again as northern hemisphere rugby’s current dominant force, with Wales facing easily their sternest test since Warren Gatland returned for a second stint as head coach prior to last season’s Six Nations.
Tompkins added: “If we are off on any one thing, any one aspect of play, they are going to pounce on it.
“We have been talking this week about the need to give everything, in every area of the game, all the time. It needs to be (for) 80 minutes as well.
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“We have bigged this up enough for ourselves, we are focusing on ourselves, but the boys know what lies ahead.
“I am not saying you can’t make any mistakes, but in those moments when you have got them under pressure, you cannot let them off.
“It is nice when you have got some of those younger lads. They don’t have that fear, that naivety.
“It’s quite nice, so you try and install that and go out and play and have a bit of enjoyment about it. When you do that against Scotland and you come back and you should have won it, or nearly won it, it just shows where we can take it.
“I don’t want them to go there and worry about outside aspects or we can’t beat them or we can’t do this, I want them to go and just be them and be confident with it and enjoy it.”
Wales are making all the right noises. Going to be a proper test match today. I expect Ireland to win and with a bonus point. But I expect that to happen late in the game. Gatland deserves great credit for turning perceptions around for this game.
I also like O'Mahony's sentiment. If you are doing well, teams come to take you down. You must respect that challenge and rise to it.