New beginnings for both nations in the Dublin opener
Jonny Petrie has a foot in both camps ahead of Scotland’s 6 Nations opener against Ireland.
He wore the dark blue with distinction earning 45 caps in the back row, latterly as captain, before excelling off the paddock, too, as Edinburgh’s MD.
Last year, though, the Dundonian was lured across the Irish Sea and appointed CEO of Ulster Rugby who, under his stewardship, are currently riding high in the PRO14 table, enjoying sell-out crowds and supplied eight players to Ireland’s championship squad.
So it’s perhaps no surprise that, when asked if he’d hazard a prediction for the Scots’ latest trip to Dublin, the answer is an immediate: “No!”.
That said, Petrie (right) makes no bones about where his loyalties lie, adding: “When I came here I was clearly invested in the success of Irish rugby.
“You want to see the Ulster boys do well and it’s great to have a greater representation in the Ireland set-up than we’ve had for a good wee while.
“We have a bit of a laugh about it. But everyone understands that I’m fiercely Scottish, played for and captained my country, and that’s not something you shrug off. It’s natural for me to still want them to win.”
It’s a different Ireland that await Scotland, with Andy Farrell now in charge and Johnny Sexton taking over the armband.
Scotland have a new skipper, too, and Petrie says of Stuart Hogg’s appointment: “Hoggy’s a fantastic player. He’s an inspiration in terms of what he can do on the field and you’ve seen over a number of years some of the elements of him as a player and a person maturing as well.
“He clearly cares deeply about playing for Scotland and I don’t doubt he’ll bring that to the team, it’ll be exciting to see how he goes.”
Speaking of Sexton, he’s an injury doubt, so there could be a debut for Ulster fly-half Billy Burns.
“He’s still a young man, but is really assuming a leadership role at Ulster. He’s been a such an important cog in what we’ve achieved, so it’s great to see him get the recognition at Ireland level.
“With Ireland there’s a bit of continuity with Andy coming in, as he was Joe Schmidt’s defence coach. But you’ve got new players also and I’m sure he’ll want to bring something different to it.
“There’s a bit of an unknown quantity to both teams just now, a fair bit of change post-World Cup with new coaching staff and a turnover as some of the biggest and longest-serving players retire such as Greig Laidlaw and John Barclay with Scotland, and Rory Best with Ireland.”
There is a Finn Russell-shaped elephant in the room, with the Scotland fly-half removed from the squad for at least the opening game after a “breach of team protocol”.
As Petrie sums up: “He’s one of Scotland’s best players and obviously close to the tournament, there’s no getting away from the fact it’s clearly a difficult situation.”
Looking at his old beat, he adds: “There’s no doubt back-row’s going to be an area of significant competition. But all across the field you’ve got some interesting match-ups.
“Some areas you’d say Ireland would have the edge, some you’d argue Scotland have more traditional strength.
“I’m looking forward to going down and enjoying the rugby next week. It’s a big start to the competition and if we get a good, dry day we’ll see both teams wanting to play a bit of rugby.”