Scotland vs Ireland Match Thread, Sun 27 February 3pm; RTÉ/BBC

thomond2006

VS

Scotland:
15 Chris Paterson, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Mike Blair,
8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.

Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Simon Danielli.


Ireland:
15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan,
8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Jonathan Sexton , 22 Paddy Wallace.


Date: Sunday, February 27
Kick-off: 15:00
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

Previous results:

2010: Scotland won 23-20 at Croke Park
2009: Ireland won 22-15 at Murrayfield
2008: Ireland won 34-13 at Croke Park
2007: Scotland won 31-21 at Murrayfield
2007: Ireland won 19-18 at Murrayfield
2006: Ireland won 15-9 at Lansdowne Road
2005: Ireland won 40-13 at Murrayfield
2004: Ireland won 37-16 at Lansdowne Road
2003: Ireland won 29-10 at Murrayfield
2003: Ireland won 36-6 at Murrayfield
2002: Ireland won 43-22 at Lansdowne Road

Two sides on the rebound meet at Murrayfield this Sunday. Scotland, fresh from their drubbing at home to Wales play host to Ireland, who will feel they left a win behind as they were edged by France 2 weeks ago. This is a chance for both sides to right many wrongs, another loss here would potentially derail the season of either side.

Ireland really need a complete performance. The first two of this championship have been fundamentally flawed. The error count is tear inducing for any Irish fan. It is killing what is a very good side, Ireland displayed against France that when passes stuck and they showed composure they can score tries and exert pressure on the opposition. It is however the sign of a good team to make the big plays at the right time to gain the win, as they did when they won the Grand Slam. Medard's try for France was the big play of the game and Ireland's defence let themselves down badly. During the 'championship minutes' Ireland haven't delivered. That and Ireland's discipline issues meant they were chasing the game for the last 25 minutes. Now had Sean Cronin held that pass near the end, there was a huge overlap out wide and had the ball been recycling a try would have been certain. The margins in these games and unfortunately Ireland did not get the rub of the green. That's life.

Oh now Scotland always flatter to deceive! Their 'victory in defeat' at Paris had the rugby world again believing that Scotland had turned a corner. They were brought firmly back to earth as Wales destroyed the Scots 2 weeks ago. Wales were supposed to be the team in decline, not Scotland. So where are they now? It's difficult to be conclusive but with the changes Andy Robinson has made, it looks like he feels the current XV aren't up to task. From a Scottish perspective, one would hope that the changes will provide a new impetus for the side. It wouldn't be too surprising if some players are still in shock after the drubbing two weeks ago, very few saw that coming.

The Selections
Ireland make three changes to the starting XV that lost to France. Tommy Bowe makes his first appearance of the tournament on the right wing, with Fergus McFadden dropping out of the 22 altogether. Ronan O'Gara starts at fly-half with Jonathan Sexton dropping to the replacements. Injury to Tomas O'Leary means Eoin Reddan starts at number 9 with Peter Stringer coming onto the bench.

There are changes aplenty for Scotland. The big news sees Ruaridh Jackson making his first Six Nations start in place of Dan Parks. Mike Blair also replaces Rory Lawson at scrum half. Johnnie Beattie returns from injury to start at number eight while Richie Gray returns at lock having missed the loss to Wales through illness. There are changes also tothe outside backs: Chris Paterson and Sean Lamont replace the injured Hugo Southwell and Joe Ansbro. Geoff Cross and Simon Danielli make the 22 for the first time in the championship.

Key Battle:

Ruaridh Jackson vs Ronan O'Gara: Both Ireland and Scotland start with new number 10s. The inexperienced Ruaridh Jackson comes up against the most capped fly-half in the northern hemisphere in Ronan O'Gara. The one dimensional Dan Parks was exposed by Wales so Andy Robinson has brought in Jackson to bring something different to Scotland's attack. Some of his performances for Glasgow this season have been less than impressive but when Jackson plays well he has shown himself to be a handful. He kicked a vital last minute penalty to earn Scotland a win over Samoa so he looks to have the guts to handle the pressure of test rugby. The O'Gara selection is a very intriguing call by Kidney. Has Sexton been dropped or is O'Gara being rewarded for two important cameos off the bench? Alan Gaffney has spoken of the need for the Irish backs to communicate so perhaps O'Gara's introduction has been done for leadership reasons. He does not have Sexton's running game but he is very capable of putting players into space and his kicking game is unrivalled. The battle between the young pretender and the experienced centurion will be fascinating.

Returning from Injury:

Johnnie Beattie: The Glasgow number eight returns to the Scotland side and completes The Killer Bs trio after a long layoff through injury. If he can replicate his form in last year's tournament he will be a serious handful for Ireland. While his partners in the backrow will be concerned with being destructive and menacing on the ground, Beattie will be tasked with carrying the ball and punching holes in the Irish defence. He was an important talisman for Scotland last year, his teammates will look to him to make things happen.

Tommy Bowe: The Ospreys winger is back in Ireland colours after a troublesome knee injury sidelined him since January. He came through a Magners League appearance with the Ospreys and is set to make an impact on the Six Nations once again. While Fergus McFadden was an able deputy (and perhaps didn't deserve to be dropped from the squad altogether), Tommy Bowe is a world class player and needs to be in the side when available. Kidney and the management will be hoping he adds a new cutting edge to the Irish backline.

Prediction: Scotland will likely try to cut loose while Ireland will likely play a territorial game spearheaded by O'Gara. Both sides are in a low ebb so the team that has the confideence to take the game by the scruff of the neck first will likely get the crucial scores and hold on for the win. On paper Ireland have more quality, particularly out wide. If the Ireland backs can click they have the potential to score a few tries. Ireland by 10-15 points.

---

Lineups/Refs and Previous Results taken from Planet Rugby: http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3820_6777055,00.html

IRFU logo taken from sportspeak.eu, SRU logo from lionsrugby.com

Player images taken from Sky Sports and Planet Rugby sources.

Everything else is my own work.

TheRevolution

I have this impending fear that Ireland are going to employ a kicking game, beat Scotland comfortably and then justify reverting back to the kicking game. I've no doubt that a team could win a 6N playing a kicking game even today but I don't think it will beat any of the SH teams. I really hope this isn't the case and O'Gara has not been brought in solely to play a kicking game.

CouchSmart

thomond2006 wrote: »

2007: Ireland won 19-18 at Croke Park

Good post Thomond.

Just being pedantic but that game was in Murrayfield.

thomond2006

CouchSmart wrote: »

Good post Thomond.

Just being pedantic but that game was in Murrayfield.

Planet Rugby's error, not mine.

danthefan

Really don't agree with Ireland by 10-15, their pack will match ours imo and our backline hasn't been firing, and I don't think ROG at 10 will sort that out. If we win I think it'll be by a very small margin.

thomond2006

danthefan wrote: »

Really don't agree with Ireland by 10-15, their pack will match ours imo and our backline hasn't been firing, and I don't think ROG at 10 will sort that out. If we win I think it'll be by a very small margin.

I'm pretty confident. If we can keep the error count down I think we are a far superior outfit to the Scots.

Gelio

great post, I recon your about right with us to win by 10-15. Although were off form so are scotland and we should beat them in a dog fight. Should be interesting to see how the backline plays with O Gara at 10 and bowe back in there. I can't help but feel sorry for F MacFadden, he has been playing so well and doesn't deserve to be dropped. Gives us some great depth all the same.

some_dose

Seems that there is real tension in the camp and that some of the players are getting a bit fed up. Some guy posted on Facebook that Ireland would be better off with RO'G starting and Heaslip replied to him:

Can I just say that the team performances are not based on the performance of an individual. The beauty of rugby is that it is one of the few sports where it is very much a team game. Quit this finger pointing and what ifs, Tom this is mainly aimed at you, and support your team despite who's starting. Both players are great players. It's this crap of pointing at a person and saying that he will solve everything or he will ruin everything that is a disappointing element in peoples character. Kids wouldn't carry on like that and on one who is truly into team sports wouldn't act like that.

jolley123

Jaysus, someones angry......

Although I can understand what Heaslip is saying, there are some cases where criticising the individual is surely understandable. Although I'd say Heaslip's argument is really aimed towards the whole ROG debate, in which case i'd be inclined to agree with him.

ironingbored

some_dose wrote: »

Seems that there is real tension in the camp and that some of the players are getting a bit fed up. Some guy posted on Facebook that Ireland would be better off with RO'G starting and Heaslip replied to him:

Do you have a link to the page to get an idea what was said previously?

some_dose

It's on the Guinness Rugby Supporters page: http://www.facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland

The comment is under the post by Sexton about half way down the page.

stephen_n

Think we are not that far away from a really good performance, if things click and hopefully they will then the errors will disappear from the game and we should win comfortably. Can't see that Scottish team scoring tries even if they were out there for 160 mins instead of 80. So it is a question if Ireland can be patient and create the openings.

JustinDee

some_dose wrote: »

Seems that there is real tension in the camp and that some of the players are getting a bit fed up. Some guy posted on Facebook that Ireland would be better off with RO'G starting and Heaslip replied to him:

Thats not tension in the camp though is it? Its tension in a facebook group. He was posting about the dopey tribalism being voiced there.

I think there's a good performance coming our way tomorrow. Squad is well stoked up for this.

some_dose

JustinDee wrote: »

Thats not tension in the camp though is it? Its tension in a facebook group. He was posting about the dopey tribalism being voiced there.

I think there's a good performance coming our way tomorrow. Squad is well stoked up for this.

By tension in the camp I was referring to the Heaslip interview. Should have made that clearer.

Teferi

Ireland need a huge win here or in Wales to be in with a chance of winning the 6 Nations. I think our team will finally click tomorrow (two weeks too late) and have a smashing victory. Plenty of support over here.

thomond2006

Can I just say that the team performances are not based on the performance of an individual. The beauty of rugby is that it is one of the few sports where it is very much a team game. Quit this finger pointing and what ifs, Tom this is mainly aimed at you, and support your team despite who's starting. Both players are great players. It's this crap of pointing at a person and saying that he will solve everything or he will ruin everything that is a disappointing element in peoples character. Kids wouldn't carry on like that and on one who is truly into team sports wouldn't act like that.

He's dead right.

I didn't see the 'strange' RTE interview that everyone is talking about though.

ironingbored

To be honest I'm sick and tired of Ireland's negativity in the lead up to games. Instead of coming out and saying we're going to play to our strengths, take the game to the opposition, etc., everything is about not being beaten, how good the other team is, how they've beaten us in the past...This goes for both Kidney and BOD. Their press conferences are almost as depressing as the ecomonic headlines on RTE.

On the FB thing, and please do not take as wanting to get into a ROG/Sexton thing. If Kidney made the call because he wants to keep ROG on his toes, play a different way, etc., I don't see any issue. But this creeeping commentary that ROG is the form player is horse manure. He came on in the Italy game and scored a DG and got a great touchfinder and conversion against the French. Against the French he also got very lucky on one or two occasions. For the record, Sexton has come out on top in each of the five most recent head to heads. Any why Deccie doesn't start Stringer and ROG is another bizarre one.

mfceiling

stephen_n wrote: »

Think we are not that far away from a really good performance, if things click and hopefully they will then the errors will disappear from the game and we should win comfortably. Can't see that Scottish team scoring tries even if they were out there for 160 mins instead of 80. So it is a question if Ireland can be patient and create the openings.

Reminds me of - scotland v ireland. Ireland get 14 players sent off in the first minute. Final score scotland 5 - ireland 5.
Match Report - scotland lucky to get draw after penalty try in the last minute!!

mr_edge_to_you

I wonder how many Darcy knock-ons there will be today? I'm going for 7.

phog

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

I wonder how many Darcy knock-ons there will be today? I'm going for 7.

I'm going for zero knockons, two massive try saving tackels, two tries and 3 try assists, followed by a drop goal.

colman1212

Any one have a stream for the game? in vietnam, cant get rte player

johnnysmack

i wish RTE wouldnt do build ups like that.

JustinDee

This game is on freeview BBC HD today.
According to my epg anyway.

Helium

johnnysmack wrote: »

i wish RTE wouldnt do build ups like that.

Alright by me, but Miriam should have been in a bikini (drools)

garbanzo

Helium wrote: »

Alright by me, but Miriam should have been in a bikini (drools)

If it was Italian TV she would have been !

johnnysmack

Helium wrote: »

Alright by me, but Miriam should have been in a bikini (drools)

it was the guy with the beard that was most annoying. rte's version of the guy from the hangover

barbarians

Tom McGurk interrupting Pope during the Christchurch thing :mad:

Benny Cake

That Heaslip interview was bizarre.... not sure what to make of him, he came across like a spoilt child......

mr_edge_to_you

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

I wonder how many Darcy knock-ons there will be today? I'm going for 7.

You could play a drinking game. Darcy knockons and ROG missed tackles


Loving the RTE coverage. If McGurk was dumped it would be perfect.

Helium

johnnysmack wrote: »

it was the guy with the beard that was most annoying. rte's version of the guy from the hangover

+1

anybody else think rte stirring the sh!t with that Heaslip clip, typical isn't it attack our own and not the opposition

phog

D_Red_Army wrote: »

That Heaslip interview was bizarre.... not sure what to make of him, he came across like a spoilt child......

Conor O'Shea said as much but I think it's a storm in a tea-cup, any player that is dropped (why do we use that word when we talk of building a squad???) should surely have a chat with the coach and any player not making the team should be trying to find out what he needs to improve on to get selected.

I've no difficulty with the content of the interview, I'd be worried though if it's said out of fustration or support for one player over another.

phog

Logging off and heading to watch the game.


C'mon Ireland

TheHighRoad

phog wrote: »

Conor O'Shea said as much but I think it's a storm in a tea-cup, any player that is dropped (why do we use that word when we talk of building a squad???) should surely have a chat with the coach and any player not makiung the team should be trying to find out what he needs to improve on to get selected.

I've no difficulty with the content of the interview, I'd be wowrried though if it's said out of fustration or support for one player over another.

I don't think theres too much in it but he is definitely making it clear that he doesn't agree with the decisions. Which is fair enough to be honest, Earls is ahead of McFadden and Earls has been awful. Not only that but McFadden is out of the 22 altogether. Then O'Gara comes in on "form" according to Kidney, essentially because he found a nice touch yet Kidney never ever gives other players a chance on form. He brought in Sexton only when O'Gara was going through the worst patch of his career. He only gave Ross a chance when Hayes got injured. He dropped Cullen last year when he was incredible the first two games. He dropped Heaslip himself for Leamy (form ha!). I am glad Heaslip had the balls to state his opinion. I wish more players did it with EOS. Heaslip is just saying what pretty much everyone here is thinking.

barbarians

Ireland 23
Scotland 16


That's my prediction.

TheHighRoad

barbarians wrote: »

Ireland 23
Scotland 16


That's my prediction.

Scotland to win. I get a feeling they're going to grind us out. Hopefully I'm wrong. My only hope is how inexperienced Jackson is so O'Gara should be more than able for him.

barbarians

That must be the worst rendition of Ireland's Call by anyone, ever.

ambid

Two awful anthems.

wixfjord

Best anthem in rugby.
COME ON IRELAND!

duckysauce

colman1212 wrote: »

Any one have a stream for the game? in vietnam, cant get rte player

look in the streams section


CMON IRELAND

GerM

Helium wrote: »

+1

anybody else think rte stirring the sh!t with that Heaslip clip, typical isn't it attack our own and not the opposition

Absolutely. He was asked a question and answered it, albeit bluntly. RTE are pointedly showing only a section of the interview and it could be very easily taken out of context which Pope was the only one who had the balls to point out. What exactly did Heaslip say that people find objectionable? The lads were dropped? They can make their case to DK about it but it won't change his mind once the decision is made? The fact that he mentioned he was in a similar situation previously?

Absolutely nothing in it. Glad a player can ditch the media rehearsed tripe and say what he thinks. ROG is the only other one who does it and is widely commended for it.

Heaslip to be MOTM.

GerM

Dense penalty. DISCIPLINE FOR F*CK SAKE.

barbarians

What are the blue tags on Rory Ferguson's biceps about

Gelio

ambid wrote: »

Two awful anthems.

WHAT?!?!
flower of scotland is incredibal and have a bit of honour in your own anthem even if you don't particuarly love it

WolfForager

A boy the heaselip.

Gelio

try heaslip

RandolphEsq

Easy

TheHighRoad

Ruari Jackson' inexperience showed there.

GerM

Heh,

G'wan Jamie. Lovely by Best. Scotland poor. Paterson should have easily taken a mark there. Cost his team badly.

Sherifu

So simple, groundwork done by BOD. Great start.

LuckyGent88

That was brutal defence there. Good solid start from both set pieces

CiaranMT

Love 'Flower of Scotland' myself.

Ridiculously easy try.