The rule of threes holds sway for Wales this weekend, where sports fans will be distracted by the national rugby team’s Triple Crown bid against Ireland in Dublin, boxer Enzo Maccarinelli’s world title fight, and Cardiff City’s first FA Cup quarter-final since winning the trophy in 1927.

If the past two represent novelty, there is reassuring familiarity in Wales playing Ireland for the Triple Crown, won when any of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland beats the other three in a single season. Of Wales’s 18 since 1893, 15 were sealed by beating Ireland.