Ireland a bigger challenge than England, claim Welsh

IRELAND captain Brian O'Driscoll was last night hailed as the best player in world rugby.

And Wales hooker Jonathan Humphreys also said he believes Ireland are the top team in this season's RBS Six Nations Championship. O'Driscoll and company will arrive at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, seeking their fourth successive tournament victory after wins against Scotland, Italy and France.

They haven't lost in Cardiff since 1983, and another triumph on Welsh soil would set Ireland up for a full-scale Grand Slam assault at home to England eight days later.

Wales meanwhile can do little right, with a championship whitewash beckoning for the first time in eight years, following defeats at the hands of Italy, England and Scotland. Both Humphreys and his coach Steve Hansen know that a tough afternoon at the office beckons.

"This is the best side that Ireland have had in as long as I can remember," said Humphreys, who is currently preparing for the game at a three-day squad training camp in Tenby.

"I think it will be a bigger challenge than playing against England. In my opinion, Ireland are currently playing better than England, and they've also got the best player in world rugby (O'Driscoll) at the moment. "

And they know that a week later, they face the biggest game of their rugby lives. I don't think that any of the Irish players have previously been in the situation that they are in at the moment."

Following a recent shoulder problem, Humphreys needs to prove his fitness by Wednesday , when Hansen will announce the starting line-up.

Full-back Kevin Morgan's knee injury means there must be at least one change behind the scrum Rhys Williams is expected to switch from wing with Humphreys and former skipper Colin Charvis poised for returns up-front.

But whatever team Hansen sends out, the coach knows Wales face a huge task trying to burst Ireland's bubble.

"Ireland have got a couple of world-class players. O'Driscoll is sensational as good as you get and it is a team that works hard for each other," Hansen said.

"They do the little things well, they are well-coached and well-drilled, and an all-round smart operating unit." The history books suggest Wales' face a difficult task, having lost seven and drawn one of their eight Cardiff appointments with Ireland since 1983.

It is a sequence however that has to end some time, and Wales still remember the humiliation of last season's 54-10 defeat in Dublin, which should give them every incentive they require to go about redressing the balance.

Ronan O'Gara has asked for a "formal closure" to the speculation about his possible future in the American NFL.

"While acknowledging an informal conversation with a Miami Dolphins agent, I would like to categorically state my commitment to Irish rugby for the remainder of my contract, to the end of the Six Nations championship, 2004," he said.