Home crowd will lift Wales spirits, warns Ireland boss Simon Easterby

There are few people better placed to assess the mood of the Welsh rugby public than Simon Easterby and the Ireland boss will have his side prepared to face a Cardiff cauldron.

With a new interim head coach, Matt Sherratt, Wales host their first game of the Guinness Six Nations, under a closed roof at the Principality Stadium, on a 14-game losing run.

It's only natural that spirits are low but Easterby, who lives in Wales and spent almost his entire playing career there, expects a ferocious welcome for the defending champions, who have impressed in wins over England and Scotland.

"The Welsh public get behind their team whether they're winning or losing," said Easterby, who made seven changes to his team from the win in Murrayfield.

"There has been a change. Gats [Warren Gatland] did an unbelievable job across a long period of time but they felt it was time for change, he felt it was time for change.

"The Welsh public, I think, will be excited by that.

"I'm sure Matt will have had a little bit of time to put his stamp on the team and maybe selection will give us a bit of a steer in terms of how they're going to play the game.

"But we know from watching Cardiff and the players having played Cardiff, what their team is about.

"That will be an exciting change and one that the Welsh public, I'm sure, will try and get behind.

"[The closed roof is] an exciting thing to be part of, it will be different and we've got to have a bit of a feel for how that changes, maybe the ball flight.

"Certain things change maybe for throwers or kickers but essentially it's a brilliant stadium with a passionate crowd, both Irish and Welsh supporters, and hopefully it will be a good day."

The visitors, who have lost on four of their last five visits to