A Triple Crown, keeping the Grand Slam alive, the bonus of playing for an unprecedented three-in-a-row of Six Nations titles, Ireland will not lack for motivation.
Boy, has this game come at the wrong time for Wales. The hosts' problems, however, are of no concern to Ireland.
Simon Easterby's mission, compared to the task ahead for Wales, is simple.
Impressive wins over England and Scotland have set Ireland up for a Triple Crown at the Principality Stadium (2.15pm) and on the face of it, it's a foregone conclusion.
Irish fans' high hopes are the opposite of their counterparts, who must try to lift their team after 14 consecutive losses.
They have lost their last three in a row against Ireland, never getting to within 20 points come the final whistle.
Since winning the championship in 2021, Wales have been on a steady downward trajectory, finishing fifth twice and wooden spoonists last season.
Ireland, meanwhile, since the year of Wales' last victory in this fixture, in 2021, were runners-up and then back-to-back champions.
Whatever glitch - at the time concerning - that appeared in the matrix in the latter stages of last year's Six Nations and the autumn, has self-resolved. Ireland - two bonus-point wins, contests over coming into the final quarter - are purring.
The ability of the players and coaches to completely shut out the outside noise in the lead-up to the Murrayfield match was impressive.
The narrative that 'Scotland were due a win' was more in the heads of the Scottish players than the Irish, who just went out and did their job.
A similar approach under the closed roof, even with seven changes to the starting team and without injured captain Caelan Doris, should be enough to set Ireland up for a round-four blockbuster against France in two weeks' time.
Changing almost half the team that scored eight tries in two games, on the face of it, might have provided some solace to Wales, under new interim head coach Matt Sherratt after the departure of Warren Gatland.
However, the devil is in the detail for the Dragon and Doris' replacement Jack Conan is one of the players of the tournament so far, coming off the bench twice.
The new captain, hooker Dan Sheehan (above), is in the same category, a Lions starter in waiting.
Joe McCarthy started all five of Ireland's Six Nations games last season, while Thomas Clarkson impressed on debut in the autumn. The two men they replace, Finlay Bealham and James Ryan, are waiting to reinforce off the bench.
Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose come in for Calvin Nash and Bundee Aki, respectively, and the backline is not weaker for it, while Jamie Osborne, making a first Six Nations appearance, will relish his chance as Hugo Keenan cools his jets.
Those changes also come with the side effect of a shot across the bow for anyone getting too comfortable - you can be dropped.
Englishman Sherratt (above) has three games to try and instill some pride back in the jersey and he couldn't have been handed a much tougher start.
His brief this week is nothing more than shoring up the defence and setpiece, improving discipline, with 26 penalties conceded the most in the Six Nations, simplifying tactics, making their opponents work hard for their gains. Any fancy stuff can wait.
"We thought it would be important to give the players one or two things to go after this week," Sherratt told Rugby Union Weekly.
"Sometimes when you are desperate for a win and you've got so much emotion, your effort can be misplaced so we've got a pretty clear gameplan against Ireland.
"I think anxiety in any sport, any job, is the biggest killer of performance.
"So it's trying to remove that anxiety, free the players up to offload or attack space if they see something's on but it has to be within a system, not 15 blokes trying to do their own thing."
Hammered out the gate, 43-0, by a France side pulling up, and then losing 22-15 to a very middling Italy team, there is plenty of room for improvement and the Cardiff coach has started by going back to basics, picking an out-half, Gareth Anscombe, at out-half, the most obvious one.
Outside of his half-back partnership with Gloucester team-mate Tomos Williams, the five other backs have a combined tally of 26 caps, including Ellis Mee making his debut.
This is in contrast to Ireland's 213, with Osborne on five the least experienced.
Loosehead Nicky Smith will target Clarkson on his first championship start, but the Ireland pack with Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier close to their peak, won't give an inch.
Jac Morgan, best in show for Wales so far, provides dynamism in the back row, while Taulupe Faletau brings his experience to the fray in the teams' 136th ever clash.
Sam Prendergast, who saw off Jack Crowley for a start at 10 again, and Jamison Gibson-Park are retained and are sure to have tricks up their sleeves and a steady supply of setpiece ball will give them the opportunity to strike.
Ireland's matchday squad has an average of 43 caps to Wales' 24 and once again, impact off the bench, with James Ryan, Cian Prendergast, Crowley and Aki all capable of testing a tiring defence.
Easterby's side, who have won seven of the last eight meetings, and outscored Wales four tries to one in the last three, are 22-point favourites to take another step to the championship.
Complacency is the visitors' biggest enemy today but they bristle at the very thought.
"There will certainly be no complacency from us," affirmed Easterby.
"They will have an unbelievable appetite and passion to try and put right some of the things that have gone on over the last couple of weeks and maybe months.
"So we have to prepare as we would normally prepare for every game and that's been our focus all week."
If Ireland start like they did in Edinburgh and kill off any Welsh hope early on, then this could be as close to routine as it gets.
Wales, with all due respect, are simply not in Ireland's class at the moment.
Verdict: Ireland
Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Ellis Mee; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee, WillGriff John; Will Rowlands, Dafydd Jenkins; Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Gareth Thomas, Henry Thomas, Teddy Williams, Aaron Wainwright, Rhodri Williams, Jarrod Evans, Joe Roberts.
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw; James Lowe, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan (capt), Thomas Clarkson, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Jack Boyle, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Bundee Aki
Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
