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'That's their only chance of winning' - Irish TV's take on Scotland prospects

Scotland wing Darcy Graham shares a joke with Finn Russell after the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Scotland and Romania at Stade Pierre Mauroy on September 30, 2023 in Lille, France. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Irish rugby pundits have given their take on what they see as the best chance Scotland have of upsetting the Irish apple cart next weekend in Paris in what has been billed as Rugby World Cup’s Pool B decider.

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Virgin Media Sports pundits Ian Madigan, Matt Williams and Andrew Trimble ran the rule over Scotland’s 84-0 drubbing of Romania last night in Lille. They suggested little would be gleaned from the thrashing other than confidence and a sense of momentum heading into a do or die game against Ireland.

Andy Farrell’s world number ones are strong favourites to beat their Six Nations neighbours while Gregor Townsend’s men come into the game needing to beat Ireland with a try bonus point or beat the Irish while denying them a losing bonus point. In either one of those scenarios, Scotland would go through to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup.

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    Scotland post match presser after Georgia win

    “I don’t think they will get much from what happened on the pitch [against Romania],” said Trimble. “They might get something from the energy and the crowd. Getting the Scottish supporters something to think about, get them behind them.

    “They’ll get something intangible from that. A momentum, an energy from that. They’ll get everyone out drinking their Irn-Bru, [wearing] tartan in Lille, there’ll be bagpipes, there’ll be a party tonight. All the clichés.

    “It’s going to take a huge effort from Scotland to get the better of Ireland next week. I think they’re going to be massively in the deep end and it’s going to be tough for them.

    “The problem from an Irish perspective is there is just an uncertainty that comes from Scotland. Finn Russell pulling the strings… that fellow rolls the dice every time he gets the ball. Wingers are guessing, centres are guessing, lads are wondering what’s going on in the backfield because his kicking game is so good. He’s huge for Scotland next week.

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    Head-to-Head

    Last 5 Meetings

    Wins
    5
    Draws
    0
    Wins
    0
    Average Points scored
    27
    11
    First try wins
    80%
    Home team wins
    60%

    “Ireland will be worried about him, they have done a lot of research. They won’t have looked at that game [versus Romania] at all. Finn Russell is the perfect remedy [to having lost to Ireland eight times]. If Scotland plays a conservative game they will definitely get beat.

    “If they roll the dice, fling those passes, play 50/50s, sometimes they can stick and Scotland can really get a bit of momentum and a bit of a foothold from that. I’m not saying if they do that [they will win]… they could get beat by more, but I’m saying that’s their only chance of winning; throwing caution to the wind and Finn Russell is the perfect man for that.”

    Finn Russell
    Finn Russell of Scotland high fives teammate Chris Harris during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Scotland and Tonga at Stade de Nice on September 24, 2023 in Nice, France. (Photo by Michael Steele – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)

    Long-time critic of Scotland Matt Williams was in strangely complimentary of Townsend’s players. “The unstructured nature of that game [versus Romania] really suited the Scots, because they’ve got fast guys, lots of good ball players… one of the best passing teams in the world. They’ve more passes in games than any other team in the world.

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    “If you have a highly structured game against Scotland, that’s not necessarily what they want and that suits Ireland. I think we need to stress to everyone: that doesn’t mean the Scots can’t win. This pool is a really tough pool, a really tight pool. Whether we’ve won eight in a row or ten in a row, the more you win a row the closer you are to the end of that winning streak.

    “You come back to the word that Gregor used in the pre-match: respect. Respect what they can do and face that respect with your best game.”

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    Comments

    8 Comments
    r
    rod 660 days ago

    Ireland seem to be dismissive of Scotland? Is it because they are ranked number one in the world! They probably have a southern hemisphere referee for the game who will reward attacking play and as a kiwi I’m gunning for the Scots! Ireland play the offside line to the max & what ? Never get penalized? How can a team which transgressions so much off the offside never get pinged?

    W
    William 661 days ago

    C'mon Scotland. It's now or never! Scotland to win by 10

    P
    Peter 662 days ago

    Certainly not a level playing field mentally. Ireland have won last 8. Scotland needed to beat us in Murrayfield this year and failed to even with all our injuries. Scotland need a great start to have a chance imo. If Ireland start well our confidence will surge and so the scoreline.

    r
    rod 660 days ago

    Just takes a card 😀

    p
    patrick 662 days ago

    If ireland are losing by 10 points both teams having secured bonus points ireland would be on the verge of going out would it be cheating to let scotland score another 2 tries to put them both through

    M
    Mark 662 days ago

    I think it will be a cracking game that could go either way.

    Ireland and Scotland play each other every year in the 6n, neither side this time has the advantage of a home fixture, so I think mentally it's even Stevens.

    C
    Cam 663 days ago

    Mon the Jocks! This is going to be an epic game.

    r
    rod 660 days ago

    Go the Scots I think they put the irish into an uncomfortable position in the the quarters

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    Comments on RugbyPass

    J
    JW 16 minutes ago
    Half-back depth is the flaw in 'Razor's' 4-4-4 Rugby World Cup plan

    Well there’s a couple of distinctions here that are important aren’t there?


    First though like I replied to Tk where does it say theres need to test vets, or proven reliable players? It is simply ‘test quality’.


    Now, I have created a list that I think is test quality, so all weve got to do is upskill the missing pieces right? No. Razor might not mean to have given every player half a dozen matchs but he will want to have identified and assured himself that each individual is indeed test quality. So yes, plays like Darry and Lord may still be included in a few squads and used so he’s happy to include them as say 5th and 6th ranked locks, but that doesn’t mean he needs to go to the same level to ensure for himself the 7th and 8th ranked locks.


    He might be happy basing performances off SR Finals, or organizing an AB XV match against a team like France or SA with similar locking depth (even organizing say Warner Dearns to be part of the Japan XV etc), and I’m sure they’re going to have a very large squad over in South Africa for two months.


    I don’t think he is quite in the same predicament as SA to have to rest top stars. And this is obviously just goal setting, they’re supposed to be hard. As you can see by the context around this series, arbitrary targets like everyone getting some minutes are made. That could also simply be how he ensures he has met the 4. So hookers would be ticked, as he’s already used 5 at test level. If you looked at the Baabaas SA game you’d see Beehre performing like an accomplished test player, that already makes 7 locks with more than 2 full seasons to go. You take the point BA was making about Marshalls previous remarks about Razor want players to be able to play 3/4/5 different positions, that would mean if Razor was really happy with Finau at lock last week he already has 8 test quality locks as well, etc, etc.


    TLDR sorry for the big reply, it’s just a goal, the teams not going to suddenly fail if he doesn’t reach it, I think theres many means and many players for him to be comfortable in getting 4 in each position. He’s obviously not going to be able to get 4 proven, hardened test players in each by then, no.

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