Warren Gatland named his starting XV to take on Ireland yesterday and, as expected, he's decided to give some of his fringe players the chance to impress. The game is being billed as a test match and with a sold-out Millenium Stadium, no one will be taking it lightly, but at the same time, there's a lot more important things on the horizon.
However, considering the expectations of the respective nations heading into the World Cup, this was never going to be a friendly, and Warren Gatland certainly isn't approaching it as one. During his squad announcement yesterday, the Wales coach was asked about the kind of team he expected Joe Schmidt to name tomorrow.
Gatland answered the question, but, as he tends to do, he also had room to throw in something a little niggly just for the fun of it.
Joe (Schmidt) rang me last week to talk about what we were looking at. I said we were going to have a mixed squad with some young and some experienced. He indicated that they were probably going to do the same thing. Then he proceeded to ask me what’s happening with the roof.
I said it’s a bit ironic that you wanted it open during the Six Nations and now you want it closed! I think he wants it closed because it will be closed during the World Cup. There was a cynical side of me that felt like saying we’re going to leave it open.
Not exactly Gatland at his most divisive but he still couldn't help himself and we wouldn't have it any other way.
