A host of standout performers in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship will lock horns when Wales host Ireland for a mouth-watering Six Nations opener on Saturday.
No fewer than 67 players from the URC were selected between Wales and Ireland head coaches Warren Gatland and Andy Farrell, respectively, for their expanded squads in the build-up to this week’s clash at the Principality Stadium.
Unbeaten URC league-leaders Leinster contributed 20 members to the Irish cause for the five-week tournament, while Gatland called up 12 from the resurgent Ospreys after the Welshmen won three of their last four matches in the competition.
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Leinster provide 10 of the starting XV, which includes captain Johnny Sexton who has shrugged off injury concerns to lead the charge for the men in emerald green, and needs just 28 points to become the all-time leading points-scorer in the Six Nations and surpass the man from whom he inherited Ireland’s No 10 jersey, Ronan O’Gara (557).
The veteran Sexton scored 30 points that included a try from three starts in four matches for Leinster in the 2022-23 URC campaign, showcasing why his importance for club and country has only increased as the years have gone by, with almost everything both do going through their talismanic captain.
Sexton isn’t the only Leinster player in the Ireland squad to have won the coveted World Rugby Player of the Year award, with Josh van der Flier having adding his name to the honour roll after a spectacular 2022 in which he finished as Ireland’s leading try-scorer (four) and Tier 1 Test rugby’s most prolific tackler (159).
An explosive runner who also makes good decisions at the ruck, the 29-year-old flanker dotted down twice in six URC matches and was ranked first for tackle completion before a three-week hiatus in the league.
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Lock James Ryan and hooker Dan Sheehan joined their clubmates for international duty on the back of similarly impressive numbers for Leinster – the former boasts a 100% success rate on defence from seven matches, while the latter’s eight tries is the second-most from any player in the 2022-23 league season.
Wales’ Six Nations form over the past few years has been erratic but if there’s one man who knows how to steady the ship, it’s Gatland. The New Zealander took charge of a Welsh side that had finished fifth in the 2007 edition before guiding them to a Grand Slam in 2008. Gatland also coached Ireland in the late 1990s.
He will rely heavily on the likes of Jac Morgan, the young Ospreys back-row bruiser who was Wales’ top try-scorer in 2022, scoring a brace of tries in each of the last two Tests of the year.
Taulupe Faletau made the most carries (90) and tackles (120) of any other Wales player in 2022, and the Cardiff loose forward – who could also join the illustrious list of Welshmen to have made over 100 Test appearances if he features in all five of their Six Nations games – has clocked an incredible 216 metres and 63 carries from seven starts in the URC.
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