Injuries may have deprived Pivac of over 700 caps worth of experience, but he has been able to select 13 players who fired Wales to victory over Australia in the autumn. Despite Ireland being on a run of nine consecutive wins, which includes a famous victory over the All Blacks, Pivac is quietly confident his side can do well in Dublin.
“The boys have trained well in the last week or so – as well as we could expect really,” said Pivac. “So we’re in a pretty good place going into Saturday’s game.
“A lot of the team that won that competition won’t be there in Dublin. But the guys who will be there, we believe will represent us really well.
“Where we are with the bookies, we’re probably in the same position we were last year. We’ve everything to gain and nothing to lose.
“That’s the attitude, going out there and expressing ourselves. Every Six Nations everyone wants to win, and we are no different.
“We want to go out there, and each individual wants to put their best foot forward. They know there’s a lot at stake as defending champions.
“We worked hard to get that title last year, and we’d like to be in a position to try to do that again. It means week one we’ve got to work very hard to get a result, and then back that up in week two.”
Pivac has moved Josh Adams from the wing to outside centre, with Johnny McNicholl coming into the back-three to line up alongside Louis Rees-Zammit, and Liam Williams. Nick Tompkins, Dan Biggar, and Tomos Williams make up the back-line.
Up-front Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, and Tomas Francis make up a powerful front-row, with Adam Beard, and Will Rowlands at lock. Ellis Jenkins, Taine Basham, and Aaron Wainwright form a dynamic back-row trio. “One of the talking points is Josh Adams at 13 but, as you know, we named him there in the autumn to play against Fiji,” said Pivac.
“He’s trained there quite a bit and he’s finished a few games there. It’s something we’re excited to have a look at. We wouldn’t do it unless we thought he could do a job.
“He’s played there for Cardiff. There’s one exciting change there. Dewi Lake coming off the bench, a debutant. It’s exciting to see him go.
“He’s been working hard to get over his foot injury and get back into the Ospreys side. We think he’ll make an impact when he comes on.
“When you across the team, the rest of it is pretty settled in terms of what we had in the autumn. I’m really pleased we’ve got a back-three with a bit of pace who are firing in training. We’re in a good space, albeit in training. There’s still 15 green shirts to be put in front of us.”
