Wales coach Warren Gatland spoke on Wednesday (February 3) ahead of Wales' trip to the Aviva Stadium to face Ireland for the opening game of the 6 Nations.

Winger Tom James will make his first international start since 2010 on Sunday (7 February).

SOUNDBITE (English) Warren Gatland, Wales head coach (asked if he fears failure in Dublin):

"I think there's always something to fear. There's always trepidation about the first game of the Six Nations. You lose that and you start looking long term, so there's a lot of fear in all of us. In professional sport there's a lot of pressure to perform and get results. And we want to start this tournament well. We've sold out the three home games, we haven't done that for a number of years, that's fantastic for us. I think that's probably a reflection of how the Welsh public saw the courageous performances that we put in during the World Cup. So we want to go out to Ireland and put on a good performance and if we can win this game then it's a bit like you're back to 2012 when we played them in the first game. It's going to be tough and if we can win that hopefully it can put us on the positive step for the rest of the tournament."

SOUNDBITE (English) Warren Gatland, Wales head coach (asked about Tom James starting):

"I think if you look back at the history of it he was in the Welsh goldfish bowl, he had to get out. He went to Premiership to play for Exeter and had some excellent form there. I think he's grown up and matured fantastically well, as a person, as a player, and he's come back. He's form for the (Cardiff) Blues has been outstanding. He was unlucky not to be involved with the World Cup with injury. His form has been excellent and he deserves his opportunity to come back into the Welsh team."