WALES centre Hadleigh Parkes was left bruised and battered after putting his body on the line at Murrayfield but hopes to have a sore head for a different reason this weekend.

The Scarlets back was in the wars in Edinburgh after helping Warren Gatland's men move to within 80 minutes of a Grand Slam.

The 31-year-old came off in the closing stages after being taped up following a blow to the head that needed some post-game stiches and led to a black eye.

Parkes was named as man of the match after making eight carries – including two terrific ones in the build-up to midfield partner Jonathan Davies' try – and 17 tackles.

His performance was in front of his brother Scott, who has flown in for the final rounds of the Six Nations and is set to be in the Principality Stadium stands for Saturday's clash with Ireland.

"He flew into Edinburgh on Friday and he was on the whiskies that night, so I think he was feeling his head more than I am!" Parkes said.

"He put a bit of pressure on. He booked this trip in August last year, and he was saying 'are you going to make the team?'. I said I didn't know, but if I didn't, then we would have a bit of a holiday.

"He is over on a 10-day lads' trip, so he is super-pumped about this next week, too."

It was bruising against the Scots and it will be no different against Ireland, who still have hopes of retaining their title.

Apart from Wales chasing a first title for six years and a third Grand Slam of head coach Warren Gatland's reign, it is also a final Six Nations game for Gatland and his management team.

"You don't get to play in these type of games every week," said Parkes. "Some people go their whole careers without playing in a Grand Slam game.

"It's going to be very exciting, and pretty emotional for 'Gats' in his last Six Nations. We had a tough week, but we dug deep and got the job done."

Wales and Ireland are no strangers to high-octane Grand Slam occasions in Cardiff.

Wales triumphed 32-20 in 2005 to claim their first Six Nations clean sweep, while Ireland won a thriller four years later as they ended a 61-year wait for the ultimate Five or Six Nations prize.

Ireland were also the last team to beat Wales - 37-27 in Dublin 13 months ago - and Parkes said: "This is absolutely the sort of occasion I was hoping to be involved in when I broke into the Wales squad.

"Ireland played well to win the Grand Slam last year, so we know how tough it's going to be.

"But we have given ourselves this chance, and hopefully we can give the Welsh public - and ourselves - something to celebrate.

"Ireland are a tough team to play against because they can grind you down, but we created chances out there last year, and being at home is big for us.

"We can feed off the crowd, like we did against England two weeks ago. We are very lucky to be playing at that stadium in front of those fans.

"The Welsh public are enjoying the run we are on, and hopefully they'll be dancing in Cardiff on Saturday night.

"It (Scotland game) was closer than we wanted, but it was a good defensive display and you have to be happy about that. We feel we are building nicely towards what is a pretty big prize."