Former Ireland hooker Keith Wood gave skysports.com his view on the Six Nations showdown in Cardiff.
Former Ireland and Lions star talks to skysports.com about the Six Nations decider.
Former Ireland hooker Keith Wood is backing his country to seal a memorable first Grand Slam since 1948 with a tight victory over Wales in Cardiff - but insists he is happy watching from a far rather than playing.
Wood, who won 58 caps for Ireland, is thrilled at the prospect of Declan Kidney's men finally winning another Grand Slam for the country - 61 years after their last.
The tension is building as the Irish travel to Cardiff to face Wales in their final RBS Six Nations match of the campaign, with just the one final win needed to make history.
Although Wood played in some big games himself, he is happy in his retirement and is not dreaming of being involved on the pitch at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
"People have been asking me 'Oh I bet you're itching to get out there and play this weekend' and the answer is 'no, I'm not really'," Wood told
skysports.com.
Pressure
"These guys are under a huge amount of pressure, and I was glad when I retired as I left on my own terms and when the time was right so I'm happy to be sitting back and watching it this time around."
Wales coach Warren Gatland has been among those pointing out Ireland's reputation of not performing when the pressure is on.
Former British & Irish Lion Wood dismisses that idea though, saying in the past they have missed out because of how their opponents have played. However, he believes this season Ireland have shown a new steel.
"'Choke' is the word some people use, but we didn't choke in 2003," Wood added.
"We were outplayed by England who produced a remarkable performance against us, and then went on to win the World Cup.
Choke
"Some things haven't really gone their way. A lot depends on the way they play, if Ireland were to play brilliantly but lose would that make them chokers? It wouldn't really.
"If Ireland go out and play really, really badly then that could be the tag but I don't like it, I think it's a bit tabloid to be honest.
"There's been some nitty gritty stuff in the last two matches and, although they haven't played as well as they would have liked, they've come away with the win and that offers a bit of hope really."
Wood won the inaugural IRB World Player of the Year award in 2001 so knows a thing or two about international rugby, and he says there are a number of key match-ups that will decide the crunch game this weekend.
"It'll be great at nine with (Mike) Phillips and Thomas O'Leary being a very interesting tussle, I think Phillips has been the scrum-half of the tournament.
Full-backs
"I think that both the full-backs have done incredibly well, (Rob) Kearney and Lee Byrne should be an exciting one.
"And everyone is excited to see what's going to happen in the centres with Henson back opposite (Brian) O'Driscoll and (Gordon) D'Arcy, I think there could be some fireworks there.
"Then there's Paul O'Connell against Alun Wyn Jones, that's another cracker. You just look at the two squads and there's good match-ups all over the field."
As for a prediction, Wood unsurprisingly goes for Ireland to complete a Grand Slam, but he knows it will be a tense afternoon in the Welsh capital.
"I'll give you a prediction and you can decide if it's biased or not, but I think Ireland will win by three or four points."
Keith Wood is supporting RBS RugbyLink, connecting people with rugby both on and off the pitch. To find out more visit www.rbs6nations.com/rugbylink
