[2018 6 Nations] Round 4 : Ireland v Scotland (10/03/2018)

[Leonormous Boozer]

Lansdowne Road (Aviva Stadium): 14:15 (Local Time)
ITV/TV3/FR2

"Ring a ring a rosie
The Scots are getting Notions-y
A-Garry A-Bundee
The Scots fall down"

(Come at me)
​

 

[TommiG88]

Ireland to win with no bonus point.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Be interesting to see if Scotland can carry their form from last round through to this - traditionally they don't back up good performances, but they did well all through the Autumn (could have easily blown their load on the NZ game but looked just as strong vs Aus).

I still think an Ireland BP win, though.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I'd forgotten how much I love Garry Ringrose, 7 tries for him, 62_21 Ireland

 

[dunney77]

Ireland need to keep large amounts of possession like they have all tournament - starve Scotland of the ball.

If we can build a lead, I think Scotland will cave in.

Don't get me wrong, Scotland are a quality side and by far the best equipped team to punish us out wide but they won't find it as easy up front this week.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I like the influence the bonus points seem to be having on play style, but I've stared at the 6N table for a good five minutes there and my brain just melted.

Basically, due to messing up against England and not getting a BP, Scotland need to score a winning BP here to stand any realistic of claiming the ***le. That isnae going to happen but if Townsend has any brains he has to factor that into the gameplan - which might blow up in his face and hand Ireland some opportunities on the counter attack.

I've had enough of Scotland patting themselves on the back the last two years while losing a tournament so it's time for them to keep their eyes on the prize while they have this possibly brief window of having a competitive side.

Both teams should run in four soft tries each early on then play winner takes all.

More likely is both teams engage in a bit of blood and thunder and miss out on the winning BP and leave the door wide open for England.

I think Scotland's away record is overstated. They pumped Oz in their back yard and performed well in a World QF away from home. But I'll reserve calling the upset until I see the teams.

 

[dunney77]

I think Ireland will get a BP

 

[MikeTheNative]

I think Ireland will win, BP depends on which Scotland turns up, the one that played Wales or England.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Definitely. Obviously, a Scotland win is best for England going in to Twikers next week, but it is v exciting that at this stage we can still have 3 teams capable of winning. I can't, unfortunately, see scotland picking up a win, the aviva is always a hard place to go. However, there are a lot of players back for Scotland that could either have a huge impact or upset a winning formula. This is probably the hardest game to call in the 6N, I predicted a Scotland against Ireland at the beginning of the tournament, but I am oddly less confident about that now.

 

[scotlandfan93]

happy to see scotlands some of injured players coming back! ritchie gray and wp nel coming on for gilchrist and berghan respectively for the last 1/2 hour could make things interesting. would also love to see George horne come on but can't see that happening away in ireland.
Another player who deserves a mention is gordon reid, the scrum was meant to be our weakness but apart from the mishap in cardiff it hasn't gone back once if i am right in thinking

 

[MikeTheNative]

I thought that the scrum went alright in Cardiff pack looked a bit pedestrian in the tight carrying which was their main issue. Ireland don't look the most solid defensively, Wales were staved of possession and still scored three tries. Huw Jones will be attacking the outside channel, I'm a fan of ringrose but I'm not sure he is a step up defensively from Farrell.

 

[big ginger 8]

I thought that the scrum went alright in Cardiff pack looked a bit pedestrian in the tight carrying which was their main issue. Ireland don't look the most solid defensively, Wales were staved of possession and still scored three tries. Huw Jones will be attacking the outside channel, I'm a fan of ringrose but I'm not sure he is a step up defensively from Farrell.

I've seen this idea pop up recently, I have no idea where it's coming from to be honest other than maybe their size difference? Farrell is better at stopping someone big running right at him (as he should be) but that's about the only area he superior to Ringrose defensively. Ringrose has better positional awareness and lateral agility, making him better at defending in wider channels and when we're numbers down.

He's not Payne but defence hasn't been a weakness at the top level for Ringrose. Of course there's every chance he'll be rusty on Saturday but everything being equal I'd have more faith in him than Farrell.

 

[Leinster Fan]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ru...erson-declared-fit-for-scotland-1.3416801?mod

Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson will be fit to play. Massive boost for Ireland.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/ru...erson-declared-fit-for-scotland-1.3416801?mod

Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson will be fit to play. Massive boost for Ireland.

Agree. Great to see a lot of the top players available on both sides for such an important fixture. Speaking to a bunch of rugby aficionado colleagues today there is very little confidence Scotland can do the job. That's what being Scottish does to you!

I was the only one who seemed to think the Wales performance was a total abberation borne of terrible tactics rather than a sign of flakiness when away from home. We shall see.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Agree. Great to see a lot of the top players available on both sides for such an important fixture. Speaking to a bunch of rugby aficionado colleagues today there is very little confidence Scotland can do the job. That's what being Scottish does to you!

I was the only one who seemed to think the Wales performance was a total abberation borne of terrible tactics rather than a sign of flakiness when away from home. We shall see.

You have to go back to 1998 for Scotland's last win in Lansdowne road (They won in Dublin in one of their trips to Croke Park but Ireland were bad in Croker with the exception of '09) Schmidt has lost thrice at home and never to European opposition. A lot of hope seems to be put on the shoulders of Huw Jones, and while he is the world's best 13, I wouldn't expect much from the Laidlaw Russell axis. Finn isn't great up against more physical 10's and likely has the occasional nightmare of being dad picked by Johnny.

My only worry for this game is that a grand slam is on the line and the team I'm supporting wears green, the bottlers tag is slowly coming loose after Paris and the first half of the Welsh game where we played awful and came out on top! Ireland are at -10, seems about right to me.

 

[Groundhog]

You have to go back to 1998 for Scotland's last win in Lansdowne road (They won in Dublin in one of their trips to Croke Park but Ireland were bad in Croker with the exception of '09) Schmidt has lost thrice at home and never to European opposition. A lot of hope seems to be put on the shoulders of Huw Jones, and while he is the world's best 13, I wouldn't expect much from the Laidlaw Russell axis. Finn isn't great up against more physical 10's and likely has the occasional nightmare of being dad picked by Johnny.

My only worry for this game is that a grand slam is on the line and the team I'm supporting wears green, the bottlers tag is slowly coming loose after Paris and the first half of the Welsh game where we played awful and came out on top! Ireland are at -10, seems about right to me.

My only worry is that Scotland catches feels after we pound them.
We'll see how our defensive width improves, but if our pack plays to their best it shouldn't decide the game anywaya

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads fact is Scotland got an off form English on the hop at home. They are not up to same level of top top teams yet. And are not travelling well yet either. They will catch teams on the hop occasionally but not twice in a row. So for them reasons Ireland will win. The BP maybe and well possibly have the ***le before Twickenham but equally as a few pundits have said is the ***le the same as a slam. Not as much so that is the target

 

[Jockstap]

Lads fact is Scotland got an off form English on the hop at home. They are not up to same level of top top teams yet. And are not travelling well yet either. They will catch teams on the hop occasionally but not twice in a row. So for them reasons Ireland will win. The BP maybe and well possibly have the ***le before Twickenham but equally as a few pundits have said is the ***le the same as a slam. Not as much so that is the target

This year it is though as it stops England being the first team in history to win 3 ***les in a row.

 

[munstermuffin]

This year it is though as it stops England being the first team in history to win 3 ***les in a row.

I'm not saying it is a low carrot or poor prize. If Ireland win with A BP on Saturday that is the ***le wrapped up before Twickenham. But if we did that and lost to England it obviously is a bit of a bittersweet moment. But I think these guys know it now too. I think Joe Schmidt also craves that Grand Slam. And well he effectively has this year and next year left presuming he leaves after world cup

 

[Leinster Fan]

I'm a lot less worried about this game than I was about the Wales game, which ironically makes me nervous. Logically we should be worried because of Scotland can match us up front they have the backs to hurt us but I've got a good feeling that we've got the pack to starve them of the ball especially and Henderson and Furlong back and Sexton and Murray are a massive step up from Care and Ford as well and I don't know if Laidlaw and Russell will be able to cope.

A ***le is in no way comparable to a GS. This team (or most of it) already has two ***les and you get the feeling a slam is the missing piece in a lot of the players achievements especially Sexton and Schmidt.