POWER PLAY
Farrell cannot afford to lose to Scotland tomorrow and has picked his team accordingly
IRELAND rarely had reason to f ear Scotland on Joe Schmidt’s watch. Only once in eight games did they taste defeat against them during the New Zealander’s seven-year reign as Ireland head coach.
The solitary loss was in Murrayfield in 2017 when the Ireland team bus was late arriving to the ground — an occurrence which Schmidt cited for Ireland’s sluggish start to the contest, when they conceded three first-half tries.
‘Busgate’ would roll on for a few weeks after that but, unsurprisingly, there was another key reason why Ireland were so out of sorts that day. Johnny Sexton was missing in action due to a calf injury with Paddy Jackson deputising at No10. He was sorely missed that day in Edinburgh. Some things never change.
Focus is to get this result and put 2020 to bed
Apart from that blip at Scotland HQ three years ago, Ireland have had the measure of the Scots.
They dished out a few shellackings along the way for good measure as well, the most recent being that 27-3 demolition in Yokohama on the opening weekend of the World Cup.
Dublin has been a graveyard for Scottish teams since the turn of the century as well.
It’s been 10 years since their last win on Irish soil — a 23-20 victory at Croke Park — and you have to go back all the way to 1998 for their last victory at Lansdowne Road in the f i nal edition of the Five Nations, prior to Italy joining the championship the following year.
Suffice to say, the sight of the Scots arriving into town has not been a fearful sight for quite some time. Until now.
It feels like a lifetime ago but Andy Farrell’s first game in charge was the Six Nations opener against Scotland back in February. There was always going to be a degree of rustiness about the home side’s performance, given the expected hangover from their poor showing in Japan as well as having a new coaching team on board.
And Farrell would have breathed a monumental sigh of relief on the team bus as it left Aviva Stadium that night.
The hosts edged it 19-12, but it could have been so much different. The memory of Stuart Hogg dropping the ball over the try-line when the game was on a knife edge in the second-half felt like a huge moment.
The visitors turned over the ball another four times in Ireland’s 22 that night as well, with CJ Stander responsible for several last-gasp interventions at the breakdown to repel another Scottish attack.
Townsend and his troops know they left that game behind them last time and they will rock up on Saturday sensing that Ireland are vulnerable and potentially there for the taking.
You get the sense that Farrell is feeling the pressure with his final team selection of 2020. Everything about this matchday 23 screams ‘get the result and put this worrying year to bed’.
The experimentation has been called to a halt this week. This is the best starting line-up that Farrell can currently name. The likes of Tadhg Furlong, Ryan Baird,
Dan Leavy, Garry Ringrose and perhaps Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour and Will Addison may come back into the equation in the New Year but, for now, this is
Farrell’s strongest selection. Sexton is back at No 10 to stamp his authority on a team that looked lost for most of the game against England and most of that second
half shambles es against Georgia gia last week. Hee has reclaimed theh captaincy from James Ryan for good measure. Conor Murray is also back alongside him at scrum-half. Farrell will be hoping that the emergence of Jamison GibsonPark during this autumn series will have lit a fire under the Munster man. The pair will be keen to remind everyone why they have been the premier half-backs on this island for the past 10 years.
And they will have plenty of firepower outside them. Ringrose remains a firm fixture in this team when fit, yet the feeling remains that Ireland’s most effective midfield partnership has been Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw in recent years.
Lest we forget, there were calls for Ringrose to be dropped ahead of the World Cup last year such was the strong form of this pairing — a combination which spearheaded Connacht’s charge to Pro12 glory in 2016 before Henshaw headed for the bright lights of Dublin.
The back-three selection with Jacob Stockdale (still under a microscope after his defensive clangers this year) at full-back alongside Hugo Keenan — the coming man after a breakout year — and Keith Earls, who needs to prove that his 33-year-old frame is still ablea to cope in the Test rugby arenarena, is anything but settled. CCian Healy was always going tto return at loosehead while ppoor Finlay Bealham drops out of the matchday 23 altogether.
His emergency stint at loosehead prop against the Georgians always looked a bitbi sacrificial. EricE O’Sullivan is poised to becomebeco Farrell’s 12th new cap when he inevitably relieves Healy of his duties at some stage in the second half.
The 25-year-old Ulster prop is a fine prospect and has the mobility and skills to make an impact at his level.
Iain Henderson is retained and the Ulster lock will run the lineout with his clubmate Rob Herring throwing the darts while the backrow is the same combination which took the field against England.
And the message will be clear this week: get the set-piece, defence and breakdown sorted. Get the job done on Saturday and get out of dodge.
That’s the only thing that matters to Farrell right now.