England's Owen Farrell has been ruled out of the Six Nations.
The Saracens back has an ankle injury, which requires surgery.
England Open their campaign against Scotland on Saturday week, while Ireland head to Twickenham on March 12th.
Ireland kick off their campaign against Wales on February 5th, and speaking at today's Six Nations launch Wales captain Dan Biggar says he knows how tough a game it’s going to be against Andy Farrell's side.
"Ireland have been excellent over the last 12 months, and have had an excellent Autumn.
"It's a difficult start, but it's also a start that gives us a chance to play our game.
"We've talked a lot about how strong Ireland are, and how strong their club set up is, which has transformed their national team, but it's about making sure we put our game on them, and don't just absorb what Ireland have to throw at us.
"It's important that we're really positive in how we approach it.
"You pick up a win on the opening weekend away from home in Ireland, you've got a home game in Cardiff the next weekend and all of a sudden - this tournament is a momentum tournament and if you can get on a roll everything becomes a little bit easier, training becomes more enjoyable.
"We're under no illusions, it's a difficult start and it will be a big test of where we are as a team.
"There's no doubt that we're excited. We're not going there thinking that we've just got to stand off Ireland and let them do what they want and see if we can hold on. We're definitely going there with the positive attitude of firing some shots ourselves."
