Gatland has a ‘physical’ plan to nullify Murray and Sexton

We have to attack Irish duo, says Wales coach Lions Williams and Biggar return in Dublin

Warren Gatland knows all about the excellence of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton, having coached the pair on the Lions tour last summer when his opinion that they make up “one of the best half-back combinations in the world” was confirmed.

Yet the New Zealander – who will join his countryman Sir Graham Henry as the only coaches to clock up 100 Tests in charge of one national team when Wales face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday – also believes they can be the key to a Wales victory.

In rugby union, a strength is often turned into a weakness and Gatland believes his side have shown this in the past with the duo who make the Irish tick.

“We have to attack them,” was his no-nonsense reply as to how Wales should treat Murray and Sexton. “We’ve had some pretty good success not allowing Johnny too much time and space. We have to put Conor and his kicking game under pressure – we have to be prepared to be pretty physical against them. The way Wales played at home against them last year was the model and benchmark.”

In that 22-9 victory, Murray and Sexton had afternoons to forget and that had plenty to do with Sam Warburton nullifying the threat of CJ Stander in the back row. Warburton is sidelined for the entire Natwest Six Nations, but Gatland believes the Stander job will still be vital.

“We have got to be physical against them up front and stop the running power of someone like CJ, who’s a big go-forward player, and stop allowing Murray and Sexton to dominate,” Gatland said. “If we do that we have a chance.”

Gatland labelled it a “must-win” encounter and indeed it is if Wales are to have any chance of lifting their first Six Nations title in five years. But he is plainly adamant this is a “can-win” encounter, if not even a “should win”, and referenced the recent head-to-heads. “They have beaten us once on the last five occasions,” he said.

That is as maybe, but does he not think that Ireland have looked the strongest in the tournament so far? “No,” Gatland replied with a typically sharp stare. When pressed why, he noted “England are a tough outfit”, and pointed out what he saw as the Irish offensive limitations in their last-ditch win over France, as well as their 56-19 romp against Italy. On the defensive side, he flashed up an area of concern for one of his Lions coaching assistants. “Andy Farrell won’t be happy with them conceding 19 points against Italy,” he said.

Yet perhaps most pertinently, Gatland is focused on the aerial battle and, after England ruled the skies so effectively 11 days ago, he expects Ireland to go high and often. That is one of the main reasons for rushing Dan Biggar back into the starting XV, despite the No10 not having played competitively in five weeks after a shoulder injury, and to include Liam Williams on the wing, after he proved his wellbeing with a try for Saracens.

“We had a good discussion about the back three and whether to play Dan at 10,” Gatland said. “We thought our kicking game against Scotland was very good but disappointing at Twickenham. We were not great in the air and it was probably the difference between the teams. Liam is pretty good in the air, having George [North] on the bench and having Dan and Leigh Halfpenny, we’ve added more experience and players who are comfortable in those situations.”

The selection is a harsh lesson for Rhys Patchell, who earned plaudits after the victory over Scotland. The Scarlets playmaker is jettisoned from the squad entirely. Gareth Anscombe provides cover for both Biggar and Halfpenny, who, as expected, returns at full-back after recovering from the foot infection which forced his late withdrawal before the England defeat.

There are no changes in the pack, even though Taulupe Faletau was available. Gatland clearly feels the No 8 requires game-time, having not played for two months.

Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson face a race against time to prove their fitness for Ireland. Lock James Ryan has been passed fit after a groin issue. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt could wait until tomorrow before finalising his line-up.