Wales knocked Ireland out of the World Cup in Wellington in October
Paul O'Connell has warned Wales that Ireland are desperate to erase the memory of their World Cup quarter-final defeat in their Six Nations opener.
The inspirational lock, who leads the Irish in Brian O'Driscoll's absence on 5 February, says October's 22-10 loss in Wellington will "focus the mind".
"That was certainly a big disappointment and hopefully we can put it right next weekend," O'Connell said.
"There is going to be no warming into it, it will be a very tough game."
Ireland's players have responded positively to their World Cup exit by helping their provinces - Leinster, Munster and Ulster - into the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.
"It's great that we have all come into camp off successful campaigns and there is a really good atmosphere around the squad," reflected O'Connell, who will win his 83rd Ireland cap next week.
"But we won't be able to afford anything below our potential. We need to produce a massive performance.
"I suppose it was a good thing a lot of us went away from the disappointment against Wales and managed to put some good performances together.
"It gets that performance out of the system for a lot of us.
"We had a good World Cup until then and played well against Australia and Italy, but we just didn't perform to the best of our ability against Wales, certainly in that last half hour, when we conceded two soft tries to effectively hand the game to Wales, and defence is usually a strength of ours."
O'Connell, 32, who made his debut against Wales in Dublin 10 years ago, has featured in some pivotal encounters in recent years between the countries, which have cranked up their rivalry.
Wales ended a run of five defeats in the fixture when they beat Ireland to win the 2005 Grand Slam and enjoyed a crucial victory in Dublin en route to their 2008 clean sweep, while Ireland won their own Slam a year later, prevailing in a nail-biting finale in Cardiff.
Last year's match in the Welsh capital was marked by acrimony after the hosts won courtesy of a controversial Mike Phillips try, when Wales used a different ball from a line-out to the one that went into touch, aided by a touch judge failing to spot the switch.
"It is certainly a tough rivalry," added O'Connell. "A lot of us got to know each other on the Lions tour to South Africa in 2009 and we play against each other in the Pro 12 every week and the Heineken Cup and Six Nations year after year.
"There is no doubt there is an edge to it. It is a great fixture and some of the games have been brilliant, high-intensity, physical encounters. I expect it will be no different this time."
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Article source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/sport1/hi/rugby_union/16742760.stm
Cruz Azul and Union Espanola each recorded their second win in the Copa Libertadores group stage when they saw off Venezuelan opposition on Tuesday.
Mexican side Cruz Azul hammered Deportivo Tachira 4-0 while Chilean side Union enjoyed a 3-1 success against Bolivar in Venezuela.
Adrian Cortes’ 18th-minute penalty set Cruz Azul on their way to victory in Group Six. Edixon Perea made the game safe (54) before Javier Orozco Penuelas and Emanuel Villa gave the scoreline a more emphatic look.
In Group Three, Bolivar took a first-minute lead against Union through Edemir Rodriguez but were pegged back by two goals in five minutes from Mauro Diaz (62) and Emanuel Herrera (66). Substitute Jean Paul Pineda scored a late third for the visitors.
Arsenal Sarandi bounced back from their opening Group… Continue reading Second wins for Union and Cruz Azul
Lock Alun Wyn Jones and captain Sam Warburton return for Wales’ Triple Crown bid against England on Saturday.
Unbeaten Wales have made three changes to the pack that started their
.
Hooker Ken Owens will make his first Wales start because Matthew Rees and Huw Bennett have calf injuries.
Osprey Jones will play his first Wales game since the World Cup, ousting team-mate Ryan Jones, who hands back the captaincy to openside Warburton.
Warburton was forced to miss the victory over the Scots because of a dead leg.
Alun Wyn Jones, who win his 60th cap, is back
World number one Luke Donald has been drawn to meet three-time major winner Ernie Els in the WGC Match Play Championship this week.
Donald, the defending champion, will be hoping to reproduce his incredible 2011 form when he won all six of his matches before the 18th hole.
Tiger Woods will play Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in Wednesday’s opening round at Dove Mountain.
Rory McIlroy begins his campaign against South African George Coetzee.
Lee Westwood faces Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts at the Arizona course, while Sergio Garcia takes on fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Bill Haas, winner of Sunday’s Northern Trust Open, tees off against Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa while Dustin Johnson meets his… Continue reading Donald to face Els at Match Play
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