Fired-up Scots to use Irish ‘insults’ as motivation...
OVER the past decade, there has been a perception in some quarters of Irish rugby that Scotland are effectively all talk and no trousers. Prior to a Six Nations clash between the sides in 2017, former Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara said of Scotland: ‘I hope we hammer them. They’re too mouthy but they can’t back it up.’
Last December, former Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan was on the same theme, referring to the Scots as ‘deluded’ after Ireland’s comfortable Autumn Nations Cup win in December.
‘They talk themselves up, they come in, and then they implode,’ said O’Sullivan.
Any notion of hatred in sport feels excessive and misplaced. Yet, in the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland, there have been enough episodes of aggro and argy-bargy over the past decade to suggest an element of genuine hostility.
Prior to that game in 2017, in what became known as ‘Busgate’, the Irish arrived at Murrayfield later than planned and had their preparations disrupted after being forced into what they felt was a rather questionable detour around Edinburgh on the team coach.
There have been countless dingdongs at club level; Glasgow beat Munster in the Pro12 final in 2015, yet lost against Leinster in 2014 and 2019; Edinburgh lost to Munster in agonising fashion that same year in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup.
Back in 2017, Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray said he was ‘properly p ***** off’ with what he had perceived to be a deliberate ploy from the Glasgow players to injure him by targeting his standing leg during his box-kicks in a Champions Cup tie.
Clearly, there is no love lost between the nations.
As a subplot, there is also the fact they will meet again in the pool stage of the next World Cup, after Ireland thumped Scotland 27-3 in their opening game of the 2019 tournament.
Former Scotland scrum-half and captain Rory Lawson believes there is a prevailing disdain for Scottish rugby in Ireland and says Scotland must target a statement victory on Sunday.
‘Ireland came into this championship still evolving,’ he said. ‘Nobody really knew what they stood for under head coach Andy Farrell.
‘That’s difficult to establish when you’ve had someone like Joe Schmidt drive something that is so iron-clad into the way a team plays. It takes time to move that on.
‘They had a good performance against a poor Italian side. They were compromised significantly against Wales with the red card to Peter O’Mahony.
‘It is a massive game for Scotland. Obviously, it’s easy to say that in the sense of the France game being postponed and the disappointment in the defeat by Wales.
‘But this is bigger than that. I still have Eddie O’Sullivan’s comments coursing through my veins and making me angry.
‘I think that those comments are a pretty decent summary of how a number of Irish people view Scottish rugby.
‘They think Scotland are a team who overpromise and underdeliver.
‘I feel the Irish see Scotland as a bit of a soft touch. They think if they turn up and win the physical battle, they will win the game,’ added Lawson.
‘The World Cup is still two-and-ahalf years away. But Scotland will have only a small number of chances to take a shot at Ireland from now until then.
‘Firstly, they need to understand what it takes to beat them, and then get used to that feeling of beating them. That can only help going into the World Cup. Scotland need to make a statement with a big performance.
;To be honest, it’s a rivalry which goes beyond just the Six Nations. The stats around Glasgow and Edinburgh beating Irish provinces recently aren’t great.
‘Scotland haven’t beaten Ireland much in the Six Nations. They got thumped in the World Cup.
‘This is a chance to change that momentum.’