Slam hopes but Warburton haunted by last Dublin trip

Sam Warburton aims to “burst Ireland’s balloon” on Sunday. The Wales captain knows their opening game of the Six Nations could prove the acid test for hopes of claiming a peculiar hat-trick.

On the last two occasions Wales have travelled to Dublin following a World Cup they won a Triple Crown in 2008 and kicked off a Grand Slam in 2012. But there have been disasters as well for Warren Gatland back at the place he once called home, not least their last visit two years ago.

The memory of that clash, when Ireland’s pack swept past a Welsh eight littered with Lions, and Johnny Sexton produced a tactical kicking master-class, still rankles.