No emotional baggage for Skipper Humphreys

Wales captain Jonathan Humphreys is set to make his final international appearance on home soil tomorrow, but the Bath hooker has no intention of letting emotion affect his performance.

Humphreys will be in charge when Wales target a surprise success against RBS 6 Nations Championship opponents Ireland at the Millennium Stadium.

While the Irish are just two wins away from securing their first Grand Slam since 1948, Wales have almost forgotten what victory feels like.

They’ve lost five successive championship games, and their last Cardiff triumph over the Irish came 20 years ago when Eddie Butler skippered Wales to a 23-9 verdict.

In stark contrast to Ireland, Wales are hurtling towards a first 6 Nations whitewash.

Defeat tomorrow and then in France on Saturday week, would transform those worst fears into gruesome reality.

But if nothing else, Humphreys has brought a sense of infectious pride and passion to the table since Wales coach Steve Hansen summoned him from rugby’s international wilderness last month.

Humphreys led heroically from the front against England – his first Test match outing since 1999 – and will look to produce more of the same this weekend after recovering from a shoulder injury that meant he missed Wales’ 30-22 defeat in Scotland.

But as far as Humphreys is concerned, it was only ever going to be a short Indian Summer, with the final curtain falling in Paris next week.

“It was always my intention to come back on a short-term basis. I have never thought about going to the World Cup later this year,” he said.

“Bath have been excellent about this with me – coach Michael Foley has been superb – and with a year of my contract left at Bath, I want to be able to honour that.

“Saturday will be an emotional day, but you cannot let emotion cloud your objective.”

Humphreys’ objective when he runs out for his 35th cap will be to see Wales reproduce the fire and brimstone effort that served them so well – albeit in defeat – against England four weeks ago.

On paper, Ireland should encounter few problems as they build towards a potential Grand Slam showdown with unbeaten 6 Nations rivals England in Dublin later this month.

And while Humphreys accepts that the odds might not favour a home win, he intends doing his utmost to try and prove people wrong.

“We need to repeat a lot of what we did against England, but we need to take our chances this time,” he added.

“I believe that Ireland have been a better team than England in this year’s championship, They work very hard as a squad, and the results have paid off.

“We are going to have to produce our best form of the season to get a win, but we are in Cardiff – our fans were superb against England – and hopefully they can spur us on, especially during the first 20 minutes when we need to get points on the board.

“Ireland will want to take command early on, but we need to get a lead in the first 20 or 25 minutes,” Humphreys said.

“Our problem has been that we’ve only played in patches. We need to be in control of what we are doing, and we need composure and method in our game.

“We are good enough – there is no doubt about that. If we perform to our best, then we have every chance of winning, and we know that Ireland won’t be taking victory for granted.”

Wales, smashed 54-10 by Ireland in Dublin last season, field just two survivors in their starting line-up from that game – fly-half Stephen Jones and flanker Martyn Williams – so the spectre of such a defeat shouldn’t trouble them too much.

Of far greater concern is how they stop Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll - rated by Humphreys this week as currently the world’s best player – and a team whose confidence levels have never been higher.

“It is a not a case of if you stop Brian O’Driscoll, then you stop Ireland,” Humphreys said.

“They’ve also got people like Kevin Maggs (Humphreys’ Bath team-mate) and David Humphreys, and pace out wide. They are a very good team, which is why they’ve won three out of three in this championship and are chasing the Grand Slam.”

Wales will require huge performances from the likes of Humphreys and his fellow experienced forward warriors Gareth Llewellyn and Colin Charvis, to have any realistic hope.

And as the skipper readily admits, they must take their chances, especially early on, otherwise Ireland could be home and dry.

With Humphreys at the helm, it won’t be for the want of trying, but Ireland just look too good.