Here is my XV to face Wales on Sunday in Cardiff in Round 1 of the 2021 Six Nations. This campaign is crucial for Andy Farrell as he and his squad went into the final day last October with everything to play for against France in Paris and they were soundly beaten although the 35-27 score line suggested the game was much closer than it was in reality.
With Paul O Connell now onboard along with Simon Easterby and Mike Catt , Andy Farrell will really need to hit the ground running next Sunday and that is to win against a Welsh side who will have to be much better in 2021 than they were in 2020 under Wayne Pivac.
No better game than a home fixture vs Ireland in the Millennium Stadium after 2 defeats to Ireland in 2020, Wayne Pivac’s charges will hope they can start 2021 on the right note…
Here is the 23 I would select on Friday at Midday would be :
15 Hugo Keenan
14 Keith Earls
13 Gary Ringrose
12 Robbie Henshaw
11 Jordan Larmour
10 Billy Burns
9 Craig Casey
8 CJ Stander
7 Will Connors
6 Rhys Ruddock
5 James Ryan
4 Iain Henderson
3 Andrew Porter
2 Ronan Kelleher
1 Cian Healy
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16 Dave Heffernan
17 Dave Kilcoyne
18 Tadgh Furlong
19 Tadgh Beirne
20 Peter O Mahony
21 Conor Murray
22 Ross Byrne
23 Shane Daly
Here is the 23 I would select to face Wales on Sunday at 3pm….