O'Driscoll believes his side deserve more credit for their Championship showing so far © Getty Images

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Matches: Wales 19 - 13 Ireland

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: Ireland | Wales

Brian O'Driscoll has hit back at Ireland's critics and blamed media pundits for the negativity currently cloaking the team.

Ireland remain in the hunt for this year's Six Nations title having recorded wins against Italy and Scotland either side of a defeat to France. But those victories have failed to convince their critics who point to the side's indiscipline, high error count and and ebbing confidence as major areas of concern.

The aftermath of their last outing, a roller-coaster 21-18 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield, saw a handful of unflattering comments posted on Twitter accounts belonging to members of the team, provoking an angry response from the players in question.

O'Driscoll insists Ireland are not being given enough credit for what they have achieved as they head to Cardiff for Saturday's clash with Wales. "The negativity filters down from punditry to people reading papers and the general public," said the captain. "There's a percentage of people who have a very good understanding of the game.

"Then there's a large portion of people who know what's going on in the game but rely on what's said to base their opinions around. The negativity comes from the regurgitation of those opinions.

"If people are dwelling on the negative then that will be the over-riding feeling and mentality of people. That's been a little misplaced over the last few games. There's been plenty of good things to speak about but they've been shelved away.

"It's been non-stop talk about the discipline. Of course it's an issue, but it's a fixable issue. The mindset going into the Wales game isn't frustration, we're looking forward to it. I really don't see it as though we're in as bad a position as the negativity surrounding the team suggests.

"Some of it has been justified, but it has also clouded over the tries we've created and the number of tries we've scored. There hasn't been much reference to that. I'm the eternal optimist and I'd rather dwell on the positives we can take out of games. What's the point in dwelling on the negatives? If we can outscore teams three tries to zero, there's a small fix in getting the discipline right and that excites me."

Ronan O'Gara continues at fly-half after coach Declan Kidney named an unchanged side for the Millennium Stadium. O'Gara has been retained ahead of Jonathan Sexton following his man-of-the-match display against Scotland.

The 34-year-old is just two short of accumulating 1,000 Test points after scoring a try and landing three conversions at Murrayfield. Winning his 107th cap on Saturday, he is also two Tests adrift of equalling Mike Gibson's all-time championship appearance record of 56. Eoin Reddan continues at scrum-half following a fine display against Scotland, keeping Tomas O'Leary out of the squad.

O'Driscoll leads the team on his 111th cap needing just one try to equal Ian Smith's all-time Championship try-scoring record of 24. Ireland have established an extraordinary record in Cardiff where they have lost just once since 1983.

The defeat in 2005 is the only blemish in a 12-match sequence that includes 10 victories and a draw. Their last visit to the Millennium Stadium in 2009 saw Ireland complete their first Grand Slam for 61 years with O'Gara landing the match-winning drop-goal.