Alun Wyn Jones hoping Wales will not be blown off Grand Slam course by Storm Ciara

Wales will aim to stay firmly in contention for a second successive Six Nations Grand Slam this weekend - and not be blown off course by Storm Ciara.

Heavy rain and strong winds are set to arrive in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, with gusts of up to 50 miles per hour predicted during the Aviva Stadium clash.

Wales' degree of difficulty is acute enough without the weather playing its part, having not won a Six Nations game in Dublin since 2012.

Credit: PA Images

Ireland were also the last team to beat them in a Six Nations fixture, claiming a 37-27 victory two years ago.

Wales, though, have reeled off eight successive victories in the tournament since then, including an emphatic Grand Slam-clinching success in Cardiff last season.

Wales have only won three Six Nations games against Ireland in Dublin since the tournament began 20 years ago.

And head coach Wayne Pivac, who takes charge of his first away-day assignment on Saturday following successes against the Barbarians and Italy, knows that a tough challenge awaits.

Pivac has made a solitary change of personnel from the Italy encounter, handing in-form Saracens centre Nick Tompkins a first Test start.

And while Wales brushed Italy aside 42-0, their scrum did not always operate at maximum efficiency.

"We've looked at the scrum and reviewed it," Pivac added. "We probably didn't agree with all the decisions there.

"A lot of those calls, you can look at an elbow or a bind on the loosehead or look at the bind on the tighthead. We see one thing, the referee sees another at times.

"That's just part and parcel of the game, but we've worked very hard on the scrum this week because we know there will be no step back."