Gatland reveals how he plans to nullify Sexton and Murray
Warren Gatland wants his Wales side to "attack" Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray when they attempt to derail Ireland's Six Nations title challenge in Dublin on Saturday.
Gatland knows all about the threat posed by the half-back pairing, who were in his starting line-up for two of the three British and Irish Lions Tests in New Zealand last year.
Wales need a victory at the Aviva Stadium after losing to England at Twickenham before the break and Gatland knows they can ill afford to let Sexton and Murray pull the strings.
"We’ve got to attack them. We've had some pretty good success not allowing Johnny too much time and space on the ball." said the Wales head coach.
"Our line-speed defensively has got to be good. We have got to put Conor and his kicking game under pressure - we have to be prepared to be pretty physical against them.
"I thought the way Wales played at home against them last year was outstanding, the kind of model and benchmark to take to Ireland.
"We have got to be physical against them up front and stop the running power of someone like CJ Stander, who's a big go-forward player for them and stop allowing Murray and Sexton to dominate the game.
"If we can do that we have got a chance."
Gatland has recalled Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny to his starting line-up.
Rob Kearney tries to ramp up pressure on Dan Biggar
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Love and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
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