Simon Easterby: We won’t let Wales bully us in 6 Nations clash

Ireland will be missing some heavyweight frontliners but that does not mean their pack are about to get bullied by Wales when their RBS 6 Nations title defence begins in Dublin on Sunday.

That was the message from forwards coach Simon Easterby yesterday as the Ireland camp continued to shift the narrative away from fears that Warren Gatland’s battle-hardened Welsh team might overpower Joe Schmidt’s depleted ranks at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Head coach Schmidt had himself contributed to the sense of foreboding when he cited the average weight of the Welsh team from 1 to 15 as 106kgs, which made them the biggest team at last autumn’s World Cup.