‘We’ll stop Irish Lions - legally’

Scotland must subdue Ireland’s lynchpin Lions half-backs Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton in Dublin today but will do so within the laws of the game, insists assistant coach Matt Taylor.

The lead-up to last year’s Ireland game at BT Murrayfield, which saw Scotland’s first opening-week Six Nations win for 11 years, was dominated by controversy over alleged tactics Glasgow had used to combat scrum-half Murray in a European game against Munster. There were complaints from the Irish that Glasgow, then coached by current Scotland boss

Gregor Townsend, had targeted the standing foot of Murray when he was kicking. It provoked a Twitter spat between Townsend and former Munster and Ireland stand-off Ronan O’gara.

Scotland won 27-22 and defence coach Taylor, who was also on the Glasgow staff at the time, insisted it was a “storm in a teacup”, while acknowledging that the Murray-sexton axis will be firmly in Scottish sights this afternoon.

“I think their 9 and 10 are the best two players in the Ireland team,” said Taylor. “For us to be successful against them, we have to put them under pressure. That means charge-downs. That’s what we’re going to do. We’ll do it within the law, like we’ve always done. There was a lot made of it [the Glasgow-munster furore] when there was not much in it.

“We did everything within the laws, both last year’s Six Nations game and the Glasgow game, which I was part of. You know, we never got penalised. We never got cited. So I think it was a bit of a storm in a teacup.”

Ireland could seal the championship with a bonuspoint win today but Scotland are aiming for a landmark away success which could give them a shot at the title themselves. And Taylor is expecting a ferocious battle at the breakdown – an aspect of the game Scotland dominated in their 25-13 win over England.

Taylor said: “We’re excited to have Wayne Barnes refereeing us because we had him when we played Australia in Australia… He let a contest be a contest. Both sides of the ball.”