Wayne Pivac braced for 'massive step up' ahead of Ireland clash

New Wales boss Wayne Pivac is braced for “a massive step up” in next Saturday’s Six Nations showdown against Ireland.

Wayne’s world has premiered strongly, with Wales following a comfortable victory over the Barbarians in November by launching their title defence with a 42-0 drubbing of Italy.

Pivac’s players now head to Dublin in search of a record ninth successive Six Nations win, although Ireland were the last team to beat them in the tournament almost two years ago.

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“It is certainly going to be a massive step up from where we’ve been,” Pivac said.

“It has been quite a nice start in terms of the Barbarians and getting a lot of firsts out of the way, and then having this home match and getting five points. That has been pleasing, but we are under no illusions it’s a real step up now.

“A lot of hard work needs to be done because the performance against Italy certainly wasn’t perfect, even though we had a good-looking scoreline.”

Wales clinched the Grand Slam when they met Ireland in Cardiff last March, winning 25-7 after a dominant display that saw their opponents outclassed.

Asked if the Irish will be hurting from that result, Pivac added: “All players will remember the last time they played against a certain opposition.

“If you don’t have your best day at the office, you always want to improve on it next time around, and I’m sure they will be no different.

“It’s a new competition with new coaches on both teams.”