Wales must break Ireland’s tempo, warns wizard Williams

When you’re barely taller than a postbox, you get used to all-comers trying to knock you down, and that’s why Shane Williams isn’t queuing up to give Ireland’s tactics a kicking.

Two weekends ago, the coach of world champions New Zealand was in Dublin and to his eyes, the game that played out between Ireland and England was more monotonous than spontaneous.

“Ireland aren’t going to play much rugby. They will kick into the corners, they will box kick, they’ll kick from Johnny Sexton and they’ll wait for you to make mistakes and kick penalties,” claimed Steve Hansen.