numerous coffees have been shared between jamie roberts and johnny sexton in the cafes of paris but all cordialities will be pushed aside when wales take on ireland this weekend roberts describes sexton, the ireland no 10 and his racing metro team mate, as an ‘angry man’ who has become one of the world’s finest players under the tutorship of ronan o’gara wales will be keeping close tabs on the fly half on saturday and roberts is planning to use his inside knowledge to minimise the 29 year old’s impact at the millennium stadium racing metro's jamie roberts is adamant wales can nullify the threat of club team mate johnny sexton  ‘we are good mates in paris and he’s a guy who demands high standards,’ said roberts ‘he’s an angry man the first time i played with him — i remember it well — was on the lions tour and he was shouting his head off at me and barking orders it took me by surprise a bit ‘he’s a bloody good player and a very clever thinker about the game he’s got ronan o’gara as his mentor in paris who is passing on a lot of information and helping him develop into a wonderful player ‘he is the commander in chief of the ireland team and a guy we need to stay one step ahead of’ ireland's johnny sexton has won his battle to be fit to face wales in the rbs six nations on saturday  few have attracted such far flung praise during this year’s rbs six nations as sexton, who has overcome a hamstring injury and is expected to be named in ireland’s starting xv at today’s team announcement the leinsterman has an all round repertoire but his kicking has been particularly important within the gameplan of ireland coach joe schmidt off the back of a dominant breakdown, sexton was able to pin back england last week with his accurate footballing skills it was aperfectly executed strategy and an afternoon that enhanced schmidt’s reputation as one of the game’s most thorough tacticians ireland often rely on their choke tackle routine in defence but the kiwi coach neglected it against england to avoid scrummaging against a powerful pack it could return on saturday and roberts is prepared for more tactical twists in cardiff sexton was in fine form to inspire ireland to a 19 9 win over england in dublin last time out  ‘they are happy to put bombs up in our 22 if they have to,’ said roberts ‘they always come up with a trick or two, so we have to be prepared for that you’ve seen them have a two  or three phase set play where they bring their full back near a ruck after phase three or something like that ‘there is usually a trick in there joe schmidt is a clever coach; he is a guy who obviously thinks about the game a lot’ throughout the week, warren gatland and his wales coaching staff have emphasised the importance of playing their own game that means providing front foot ball for strike runners, rather than being kicked into submission by a disciplined irish set up with sexton’s accuracy from the kicking tee, gatland must also ensure his players keep their penalty count to a minimum, having seen his side concede 37 in the opening rounds ‘it’s who blinks first but it’s also who dares wins,’ said roberts ‘these big games are like chess and you try to work each other out in the opening exchanges they are very clever defensively they pick and choose their rucks we have got to be very clever in that respect wales coach warren gatland, at training on wednesday, is adamant his side must play their own game  ‘the contact area is more important than it ever has been and so is the referee’s interpretation you watch ireland’s games against france and england and both sides have given them easy outs from their half with cheap penalties, which gave them a strong foothold in opposition territory’ wales are not underestimating their opponents and there have been no verbal barbs from gatland he is hoping to reverse a worrying trend in cardiff, where the irish have lost only twice in 32 years, with retired back row alan quinlan yesterday writing in his column that ‘wales don’t scare us like france and england’ ‘that celtic love and hate is quite evident,’ said roberts ‘there is always that edge to it looking back on a personal note there have been more lows than highs against them and that’s something i am quite keen to rectify ‘i’ll never forget watching ireland win the grand slam in our stadium in 2009 that is one of those moments that motivates you i suppose it’s something you never want to happen again’
ireland wales cardiff saturday racing metro johnny sexton jamie roberts sexton
ireland are still on course for a six nations grand slam . wales host the reigning champions in cardiff on saturday . racing metro team mates johnny sexton and jamie roberts will meet . sexton has overcome a hamstring injury and is expected to start 