Fearless Scotland facing a daunting mission
Fearless Scotland head into the Rugby World Cup showdown against topranked Ireland with an all-or-nothing approach to reaching the quarterfinals.
Ireland are the heavy favourite with a four-point lead in Pool B over Scotland, which must win and deny the Irish a bonus point at Stade de France. A Scotland victory, with both sides getting a bonus point, means they will finish level on 15 points with South Africa and points difference will determine top spot.
“Regarding the scenario, we definitely want to be the team that goes out there fearless with nothing to lose. That’s the way we’ve been thinking and planning this week,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said. “It suits how we would approach normal games.”
Much easier said than done. Ireland are enjoying a record 16-game winning run, and a bonus point seems a long shot for Scotland since they have not scored four tries against Ireland since 2007. Even Scotland’s last four victories against Ireland have been gritty, with winning margins of five points or less.
Form and history are not in Scotland’s favour, but that does not deter Townsend from believing his side can go through. After all, two years ago Scotland ended a 38-year hoodoo against England at Twickenham.
“Well, why not? The players have performed in massive games before,” he said. “We were underdogs but we have broken records before, whether it was not winning in Paris, not winning at Twickenham.”
Ahead of their 142nd meeting, Ireland are just ahead by 69-67, with five draws. It’s only their third at the World Cup. Ireland routed Scotland 27-3 four years ago in Japan and the Scots triumphed 24-15 at Murrayfield in 1991.
“I’d probably say it’s the biggest game of my career. But that’s exciting,” Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie said. “We’re super determined. We were written off by a lot of people going into this pool. It was always going to be tough for us to get out of it, but we very much have the belief.”
The Scottish legions of fans will descend on Stade de France and balance out the support. The Irish had more than 30,000 fans there when they beat South Africa 13-8 two weeks ago. It is something coach Andy Farrell won’t ever forget, and he’s not even thinking about qualifying with a defeat.
“We want to win. It’s a massive game, so important to us and obviously to the travelling fans and the people back home,” he said. “The easiest thing is to make sure we perform well and deserve to win the game outright.”
For Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton it’s crucial not to clutter minds by overthinking the permutations for qualifying.
“The last thing the coaches want is for us to be looking at scoreboards,” the standout first five said. “I’m sure the coaches will be on top of that and getting messages to us that we need to hear.”
Flanker Peter O’Mahony will become the 10th Irishman to 100 caps.
“There’s no better man you’d want sat alongside you than Peter O’Mahony,” Farrell said. “He’s a selfless player who gives everything to his teammates.”
Townsend has been boosted by the return of Ritchie, who suffered a head injury two weeks ago and had to take a mandatory 12-day rest.
Townsend changed most of the experimental side that met Romania, retaining only right winger Darcy Graham — who scored four tries — halfback Ali Price and lock Grant Gilchrist.