BEWARE THE SCOTS
Schmidt fears Glasgow kiss from Gregor may derail Ireland’s bid for the Grand Slam
JOE SCHMIDT is wary of the ‘Glasgow kiss’ Gregor Townsend is threatening to plant on the Irish in Dublin.
Ireland’s penultimate step towards a Grand Slam is against Scotland next Saturday.
But while the visitors have been awful on the road in the Six Nations – their last win away apart from in Rome was at Croke Park EIGHT years ago – the Ireland boss knows Scotland’s victory over England last week was no flash in the pan.
The Scots have been improving in recent years and the foundations laid by Schmidt’s good friend Vern Cotter are being built on by the innovative Townsend, who took over last May.
“I see a bit of the Glasgow (style) from Gregor,” said Schmidt. “I remember having a really good chat about things with Gregor when he took over at Glasgow.
“He made a difference there, and they won the Pro14.
“Vern did an unbelievably good job in Scotland and the solidity he brought is now starting to blossom into an all-round game that’s very hard to quell – the enthusiasm and tempo they play at, with the skill level they bring.
“It looks to me like they all get so excited about what they’re doing.
“That’s what Glasgow used to look like and that’s what Scotland look like, and when we played them last year there was that same excitement being involved.
“But there was probably a little bit more of, ‘We’re prepared to roll our sleeves up’ as well.
They haven’t lost that either.”
One of Townsend’s smartest moves was to persuade Dan Mcfarland to leave Connacht and become his forwards coach – first at Glasgow, then with Scotland.
Mcfarland has transformed the Scottish set-piece, so while Ireland could clinch the championship a week early by out-pointing England on Saturday, the visitors won’t fear the trip to Dublin.
Indeed, in last year’s opener at Murrayfield the Scots saw off hot favourites Ireland, and Schmidt sees an evolution in tartan terms since then. “They’ve had some guys like (Grant) Gilchrist who’s come in and he might be going under the radar a little bit at the moment. They’ve got (Simon) Berghan going really well. “(Stuart) Mcinally is doing a super job, a converted back-rower, so he’s really good in the wide channels and he’s a good all-round player.
“In the back row, Bryan Wilson is uncompromising and you’ve got John Barclay. That (the England game) was as good as I’ve seen Barclay. He was super.”
Schmidt reckons that all adds up to exciting times for Scottish rugby, so he is taking nothing for granted.
“Maybe we’ve had a couple of close escapes which will hopefully stand to us.
“Hopefully, we don’t have to scramble a win but I’ll take a scramble. I’ll take anything we can get because they’re a very good side.”