‘We must dominate Welsh’, Simon says

SIMON EASTERBY believes the current Ireland team is better equipped to deliver on their promise than the outfit that ultimately failed to live up to the favourites tag in the 2005 Six Nations.

Back then Eddie O’Sullivan’s side also approached the competition on the back of some encouraging autumn form, but a defeat by France in Dublin was compounded by another reversal to Sunday’s opponents at the Millennium Stadium.

That result meant Wales claimed both the Championship and the Grand Slam, while Ireland’s once promising campaign petered out without even the balm of a Triple Crown to soothe the pain.