Laidlaw ready for Irish storm
SCOTLAND captain Greig Laidlaw is confident his side can weather the storm as a wounded Ireland come calling at BT Murrayfield for today’s Six Nations showdown. The hosts are expecting an Irish onslaught from the off as Joe Schmidt’s men look to
bounce back from their humbling at the hands of England last weekend in Dublin. Strong winds and heavy rain are also expected to cause havoc at the national stadium but Laidlaw believes the Scots have a game-plan to cope both with the opposition and the atrocious weather. ‘It’s going to be massive, the start of the game,’ said the No 9. ‘The key is us being up for that first 20 minutes. If we can make that good start, make sure we’re nice and disciplined, stay in the kick battle then we can win. ‘The weather certainly doesn’t make it easier in terms of how both teams want to play. It makes things difficult. ‘Passing, kicking, everything becomes harder. We feel, though, we’ve got a good game-plan to be able to cope with these conditions. ‘We’ll also need the fans from the off. The big wins we’ve had here, beating teams like Australia, Argentina, Ireland a couple of years ago, France and England, the supporters have been incredible. ‘This game is a sell-out and it’s a reflection of how the team’s been playing. Every time we run out here, we’re representing the people who come to the matches, the people who watch us on TV, not just ourselves, so we’re looking forward to that again and their great support.’ Laidlaw also revealed he had sought out Blair Kinghorn for a chat after he was dropped from the starting XV despite scoring a hat-trick of tries against Italy. ‘I spoke to Blair,’ he said. ‘He’s clearly disappointed. He understands. The best thing for him is that he can still impact the game from the bench. The type of player and person he is, I know he will be ready to go, given that opportunity. ‘That’s excellent for us as a team. We’re not a XV, we’re a 23 — and we’ll need that. It comes back to that strength in depth. The fact that we can pick Sean (Maitland) and still have Blair to come on is excellent.’ Ireland prop Cian Healy, who was part of the side that lost 27-22 at Murrayfield two years ago, has warned his team-mates to be on their guard against the ‘crafty’ Scots. Healy watched with a mixture of awe and embarrassment when his side was caught cold in the 2017 Six Nations showdown, with centre Alex Dunbar joining a lineout before going over for a clever try. ‘Crafty, wasn’t it?’ said Healy. ‘That’s the sort of thing they’ve been doing. They’re creative, there’s no doubt about it.’