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Ireland will take on Wales in the first of the four quarter-finals in the Rugby World Cup 2011. The game will be played on Saturday October 8, 2011, and will begin at 1800 hours local time. The match will be hosted by the Wellington Regional Stadium.

Interestingly, Wales have a better record that Ireland in the International Rugby world. Of the 116 games that have been played between the two teams, Ireland have won only 47, with Wales triumphing in 63.

In World Cup rugby, the two teams are tied at one game apiece, while the last time the two sides played, Wales had beaten Ireland 19-13.

Ireland have an injury worry in hooker Rory Best, who had suffered from a shoulder problem. It has been said that he was doing alright but the side is not yet sure whether he would be able to play. He has been named in the squad alright, but there could be a change if the shoulder does not heal in time for the quarter-finals.

That aside, the Irish side have the same team that defeated Italy in the last league game of the tournament.

For Wales, there will be Shane Williams who gets into the side, and that has pushed Leigh Halfpenny to fullback and George North to the right wing.

There will also be place for Jonathan Davies and Dan Lydiate, who returns from an injury. Alun Wyn gets a call-up as well, after having being benched for the previous inconsequential game against Fiji.

Ireland won all their four games in the tournament so far, including the win over the USA, Australia, Russia and Italy. On the other hand, Wales went down in their first game to South Africa, before recovering well to beat Samoa 17-10, Namibia 81-7 and Fiji 66-0.

Ireland: 1. Cian Healy, 2. Rory Best or Sean Cronin, 3. Mike Ross, 4. Donncha O’Callaghan, 5. Paul O’Connell, 6. Stephen Ferris, 7. Sean O’Brien, 8. Jamie Heaslip, 9. Conor Murray, 10. Ronan O’Gara, 11. Keith Earls, 12. Gordon D’Arcy, 13. Brian O’Driscoll (capt), 14. Tommy Bowe, 15. Rob Kearney.

Reserves: 16. Cronin or Damien Varley, 17. Tom Court, 18. Donnacha Ryan, 19. Denis Leamy, 20. Eion Reddan, 21. Jonathan Sexton, 22. Andrew Trimble.

Wales: 1. Gethin Jenkins, 2. Huw Bennett, 3. Adam Jones, 4. Luke Charteris, 5. Alun Wyn Jones, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Sam Warburton (capt), 8. Toby Faletau, 9. Mike Phillips, 10. Ryan Priestland, 11. Shane Williams, 12. Jamie Roberts, 13. Jonathan Davies, 14. George North, 15. Leigh Halfpenny.

Reserves: 16. Lloyd Burns, 17. Paul James, 18. Bradley Davies, 19. Ryan Jones, 20. Lloyd Williams, 21. James Hook, 22. Scott Williams.