Andy Powell has given Wales an injury scare on the eve of their RBS 6 Nations title showdown against Ireland. The Cardiff Blues number eight pulled out of today’s final training session due to a sore thigh muscle and head coach Warren Gatland admitted Powell’s injury was “a slight concern.”
Powell has started every Six Nations game this season, although he has so far failed to reproduce the blistering form he showed during the autumn Tests, especially on debut against world champions South Africa.
Gatland said: “Andy has got a bit of a sore quad. He didn’t do the whole session so we will see how he pulls up from that. It is a slight concern. He pulled out of the session because his quad was pretty tight.”
If Powell is ruled out, Scarlets forward Dafydd Jones would enter the backrow equation, with Ospreys flanker Jonathan Thomas taking over from Jones among the replacements.
Gatland spent much of his final pre-match press conference fielding questions about comments he made earlier in the week, when he claimed the Welsh players disliked the Irish more than any other Six Nations team.
Three days on Gatland said: “Perhaps my comments should have been a little bit tempered and said out of all the teams in the Six Nations the team the Welsh want to beat the most is the Irish.
“It is nothing personal against the Irish. I have got some great friends there and my daughter was born in Ireland. Rather than saying the Irish were the team they most disliked, I should have said they are the team they want to beat the most.”
Shane Williams, meanwhile, is confident Wales can retain the Six Nations title tomorrow. The reigning champions need a minimum 13-point victory over Grand Slam-chasing Ireland.
Such a result would deny the Irish a first Six Nations crown, while an away defeat of any description means Ireland’s prolonged Grand Slam wait would extend into its 62nd year.
“We know what we need to do, win by 13 points, and I am confident we can do that to clinch the title,” Williams said. “If we are patient and avoid panicking, we have more than enough qualities to open up that sort of lead during the game.
“This year’s Six Nations has been, at times, very frustrating, and we obviously haven’t played with the same consistency as last year. But we are now utterly focused on this game and the chance to grasp a happy ending.”
Wales have not lost at home in the Six Nations since Ireland beat them 19-9 more than two years ago, but an Irish side has never travelled to Cardiff with such a weight of expectancy to carry.
