Gatland raises stakes in war of words

One of the livelier, some might venture most bitter build-ups to a Six Nations fixture was given one last kick up the rear-end yesterday as Warren Gatland set about ridiculing a member of the Irish team before Wales's Triple Crown shot at Croke Park this lunchtime.

Rory Best, who said earlier in the week that Wales "have not yet been tested in this Championship", was the principal target of Gatland's sharp tongue, although it was easy to suspect that the Wales coach wants his men to do more than simply ram the hooker's words back down Irish throats. This is personal, this is pay-back time, this is Arnie's "I'll be back"... in fact, this is every journalistic cliché one can think of when a scorned man returns to face his former employers.

"Yeah, we have pinned his quotes up on the team-room wall as a little bit of extra motivation for the boys," said Gatland, when asked about the Ulsterman's slur. "When you get a world class player like Rory Best making such statements it can be reasonably motivating for a little team like us."

For the record Best is not "world class" – he is barely "Ireland class" – and, also for the record, Gatland has not pinned his comments to any team-room wall. As Eddie O'Sullivan was later to say when told of the claim from the man he so controversially replaced as Ireland coach in 2001 – "in professional rugby every team has moved on from that". And anyway, the Wales players surely have enough driving them on already.

As if being on the cusp of a second Triple Crown in four seasons is not incentive enough to win on their first visit to the home of Gaelic sport – and, incidentally, effectively finish off the much-mooted "four-horse race" a whole lap early – then Tom Shanklin revealed some more Welsh "go-forward".

"Warren is going to want to get one over on Eddie O'Sullivan and Ireland and that is a great motivation for him," said the centre. "But that is also providing more motivation for us."

Not everybody was entering into the spirit of the occasion, however, and on the greener, calmer side of the fence there was nothing but steely-eyed purpose. While O'Sullivan dismissed all the "extra motivation talk" as "ra, ra, ra that has been left over from the amateur days", his captain, Brian O'Driscoll, refused to rise to the bait tossed overboard by Gatland that he "looks like he has lost a yard of pace". "You certainly won't find me entering into a tête-à-tête 24 hours before the match," he said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to do the talking tomorrow."

The bookies say O'Driscoll and O'Sullivan will have plenty to crow about come 3pm, although Gatland has backed them into a corner where they really do not want to be. Favouritism, claims the shrewd Kiwi, is not a tag Ireland wear at all comfortably, so no wonder he has been so eager to affix it.

"It's something Ireland need to learn how to handle," he said. "These Welsh guys impressed me how they coped with the expectation of being favourites at home in the last two games and for Ireland tomorrow that is the pressure they're under. They're favourites, they're expected to win here and now it is down to whether they can handle it."

Rob Kearney will definitely be required to handle it, and many times, if his coach's suspicion is correct. "I'm sure he'll be tested out with some bombs," said O'Sullivan about the 21-year-old he was forced to switch from the wing to full-back following the with-drawals of Geordan Murphy and Girvan Dempsey. "But he's answered all the questions so far."

Gatland remained tight-lipped about the University College of Dublin student, but he did have some rare words of comfort for the nation he will be facing for the first time since his dismissal. "For us, Shane Horgan coming on to the wing in this shuffle poses another threat, particularly given his height," he said. "We're expecting a number of cross-kicks from [Ronan] O'Gara and Horgan will strengthen them up further in that area. It's something we've been working on all week to try to counter."

Indeed, Gatland made no secret of Wales's intent to focus on the Ireland No 10. The message was clear: get O'Gara, get Ireland.

"He's the key player because if he gets on the front foot and dictates he can really destroy teams," Gatland said. "So we have to make him tackle as much as we can early on and put his kicking game under pressure." Gatland has identified O'Gara's defence as his weakness, so expect Mike Phillips and Stephen Jones to bombard his channel from half-back and Ryan Jones and Alun-Wyn Jones to do likewise from the back of the scrum and line-out.

But more than anything, expect a fiery encounter in which penalties and yellow cards could well play the decisive role. Wales's discipline in this Championship has been impressive, but there does not look much between the two packs, even with the return of Ireland's Paul O'Connell.

Saying all that, the feeling is that if Ireland have not put the visitors away by the hour then Welsh fitness and invention will win the day. In their three wins Wales have scored 55 points and conceded none in the last 25 minutes. That is a statistic the Irish ignore at their peril. That and Gatland's craving for sweet revenge.

Today's Croke Park teams

Ireland

15 R Kearney (Leinster)

14 S Horgan (Leinster)

13 B O'Driscoll (Leinster, c)

12 A Trimble (Ulster)

11 T Bowe (Ulster)

10 R O'Gara (Munster)

9 E Reddan (Wasps)

1 M Horan (Munster)

2 R Best (Ulster)

3 J Hayes (Munster)

4 D O'Callaghan (Munster)

5 P O'Connell (Munster)

6 D Leamy (Munster)

7 D Wallace (Munster)

8 J Heaslip (Leinster)

Replacements: 16 B Jackman (Leinster), 17 T Buckley, 18 M O'Driscoll (both Munster), 19 S Easterby (Scarlets), 20 P Stringer (Munster), 21 P Wallace (Ulster), 22 L Fitzgerald (Leinster).

Wales

15 L Byrne (Ospreys)

14 M Jones (Scarlets)

13 T Shanklin (Blues)

12 G Henson (Ospreys)

11 S Williams (Ospreys)

10 S Jones (Scarlets)

9 M Phillips (Ospreys)

1 G Jenkins (Blues)

2 H Bennett (Ospreys)

3 A Jones (Ospreys)

4 I Gough (Ospreys)

5 A-W Jones (Ospreys)

6 J Thomas (Ospreys)

7 M Williams (Blues)

8 R Jones (Ospreys, capt)

Replacements: 16 M Rees (Scarlets), 17 D Jones (Ospreys), 18 I Evans (Ospreys), 19 G Delve (Gloucester), 20 D Peel (Scarlets), 21 J Hook (Ospreys), 22 S Parker (Ospreys).

Kick-off: 1.15pm (BBC 1)

Referee: W Barnes (Eng)