||
Rob Kearney|15|Stuart Hogg
Keith Earls|14|Blair Kinghorn
Garry Ringrose|13|Huw Jones
Bundee Aki|12|Peter Horne
Jacob Stockdale|11|Sean Maitland
Jonathan Sexton|10|Finn Russell
Conor Murray|9|Greig Laidlaw
Cian Healy|1|Gordon Reid
Rory Best|2|Stuart McInally
Tadhg Furlong|3|Simon Berghan
James Ryan|4|Grant Gilchrist
Devin Toner|5|Jonny Gray
Peter O'Mahony|6|John Barclay
Dan Leavy|7|Hamish Watson
CJ Stander|8|Ryan Wilson
{colsp=3}
Replacements||
Sean Cronin|16|Fraser Brown
Jack McGrath|17|Jamie Bhatti
Andrew Porter|18|Willem P Nel
Iain Henderson|19|Tim Swinson
Jordi Murphy|20|David Denton
Kieran Marmion|21|Ali Price
Joey Carbery|22|Nick Grigg
Jordan Larmour|23|Lee Jones
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Day four. After Emma wreaked havoc on our streets and road networks and kept us shivering in our houses huddled around the last remaining candle, we emerge blinking into the watery sunlight to contemplate the next step on the long and winding road to the culmination of the six nations on St. Patrick's day. Before we face perfidious Albion in their fortress in Twickenham there is the small matter of Gregor Townsend's rampaging Scots who, having driven the withered red rose, bloody and bowed back across the border, venture out from their lair to see if they can progress from stout defender to conquering champion. Will Huw Jones cross the Irish whitewash? Will Finn Russell unlock our defence with pin-point passes?
Hopefully not. This Irish team are no strangers to the wit and width of Scotland's attack. In the shape of Glasgow, Leinster spanked them in the Champions Cup and Munster sent them home without even a losing bonus point to soften the blow. But the league isn't the Six Nations and the Champions Cup is forgotten for now. This is the business of the season and there's something in this game for everyone. The Scots still have skin in the game if other results favour them, so there are no easy games in the 6N.
The question is whether Ireland have the firepower and the wit where England were witless and powerless, to stop the Scots in their tracks. Will we sacrifice the ruck to the defensive gods as England did? Not bloody likely. With Peter O'Mahony, Dan Leavy and CJ Stander in the back row, Ireland have the balance and grunt to take on the Scots at their own game and starve them of possession. With the return of Garry Ringrose to his favoured position, perhaps we may see something like this on Saturday.
The rise of James Ryan continues with another start in the six nations and with Big Dev at his side, hopefuly the Irish lineout will have a better day at the office than it did this time last year. Jonny Sexton and Keith Earls are set to start despite malicious and fear-mongering rumours spread by partyjungle and his friend's friend. Nordi Murphy and Jordan Larmour come onto the bench in place of Jack Conan and Fergus McFadden who will be made to wacth from the naughty step. Tadhg Furlong returns to his rightful spot after recovering from a tight hamstring while Iain Henderson waits impatiently on the bench. Other than that, it's much the same team that saw off Wales, albeit shakily at the end.
So what do we want? More of the above if Scotland try those long bridge passes in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to emulate their success against England. Jacob Stockdale would like nothing better than to hit double figures courtesy of gift-wrapped opportunities as Scotland struggle against a suffocating defence. So pressure them at the rucks, push them back in attack and be ready to sweep up aything that gets kicked over or passed wide to get around us. And no stupid mistakes please. Oh, and did I mention that I wanted to see more of this?
There are no easy games in the six nations, but there are very few away wins either. Ireland by a couple of scores would extend my lifespan by a couple more minutes and a bonus point would be vey nice thank you.
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