Heading into this weekend's Six Nations clash between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium, very few neutrals are giving the away team much chance of securing a victory. That is understandable when you consider how the championship has played out for both sides so far.
Andy Farrell's men have been imperious in their play up to this point, massively impressing during their victories over France and Italy. In contrast, Wales have struggled as they attempted to blood a number of young players during losses to Scotland and England.
With that in mind, it is understandable why so many rugby fans expect Ireland to keep their Six Nations winning streak going on Saturday afternoon.
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Wales set to target Ireland man during Six Nations clash
Ireland's team selections have been incredibly consistent over the last couple of years, although there will be an added sense of intrigue surrounding one position for this fixture.
Hugo Keenan has been a mainstay in the side for a number of seasons, hardly missing a game as he established himself as one of the best full-backs in world rugby. However, he is unavailable for this fixture.
As a result, Ciarán Frawley has been given the nod in that position. He is unproven at test level and is not a specialised full-back, so it will be interesting to see how he performs.
Writing in his column in The Telegraph, Wales head coach Warren Gatland admitted that his side would look to target Frawley in this game.
Hugo Keenan is a huge loss for them. His work-rate is exceptional as is his reading of the game in attack and defence.
We can look to put pressure on Ciaran Frawley at full-back. He predominantly plays at 10 and 12 for Leinster and in the two games he played at full-back for them, they lost.
He is a tall player and maybe they are thinking we are going to box-kick a lot against them, and while James Lowe has so many unbelievable strengths to his game, aerial dominance is not one of them.
However, that claim surrounding Frawley's performances at 15 this season do not seem to be accurate.
As pointed out by Irish Independent journalist Cian Tracey, the 26-year old has actually played at full-back six times this season, with Leinster winning four of those games.
Gatland: "We can look to put pressure on Ciaran Frawley at full-back. He predominantly plays at 10 and 12 for Leinster and in the two games he played at full-back for them, they lost."
6/9 of Frawley's starts this season came at FB, and Leinster won 4/6.https://t.co/t2Cpc92pxe— Cian Tracey (@CianTracey1) February 23, 2024
This seems like an oversight on Gatland's behalf, although it could also be an attempt at some mind games ahead of the fixture.
You can certainly expect Wales to test Ciarán Frawley's nerves early on in this Six Nations game, something you would expect the Leinster man to deal with.
In the long run, having another player in the Irish squad with experience playing full back at the highest level can only be a good thing.
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