Ireland captain Johnny Sexton will suit up against Wales for the 18th time when the two teams open this year's Guinness Six Nations at the Principality Stadium on February 4.
A colossal clash in Cardiff comes at a difficult time for the hosts, who reinstalled Warren Gatland as coach after firing Wayne Pivac just two months prior to the tournament's kick-off. With one eye on the 2023 Rugby World Cup later this year, it's enough to convince Wales may struggle at the Six Nations during a period of transition, but Sexton has suggested the opposite may in fact be true.
"We have massive respect for Wales," the Leinster fly-half told Mirror Sport and other outlets at the Guinness Six Nations launch in London. "To go to the Principality Stadium, it's not somewhere we've got too many wins over the last 10 years.
