Schmidt won’t dare to dream of clinching title

JOE SCHMIDT won’t allow thoughts of a third title in five years cloud his preparation for tomorrow’s penultimate Six Nations clash with Scotland.

Ireland could clinch the trophy with a week to spare if they can win their game and England fail to match their result as they take on France in Paris. The coach made two changes to his Ireland side yesterday, restoring Tadhg Furlong to the front-row and bringing Garry Ringrose (left) in for the injured Chris Farrell while keeping Iain Henderson in reserve as Devin Toner continues alongside James Ryan in the second-row.

He has also brought Jordan Larmour and Jordi Murphy on to the bench as he targets a strong finish against Gregor Townsend’s side. And his focus is purely on the task at hand.

“It’s one of those things that is not a controllable for us,” he said. “In the end if you allow yourself to dream it’s not productive time.

“It’s a nice time, it would be fantastic, but is just not productive to do it and it’s even less productive knowing the form that Scotland are in and the confidence they bring.

“Gregor is too intelligent to bring a package that’s predictable. We have got to be prepared for whatever they bring.”