6N 2017: Scotland v Ireland, 4 February

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SCOTLAND v IRELAND 
4 February 2017
KO: 14:25
BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) and Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand

Live on BBC, RTE, DMAX, FR2, ITV (H)

A. Head to Head

132 Played 132
66 Won 61 
5 Drawn 5
61 Lost 66
1,380 Points 1,475

B. Recent Form

19 March 2016
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
35 – 25 to Ireland

15 August 2015
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
28 – 22 to Ireland

21 March 2015
BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
10 – 40 to Ireland

2 February 2014
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
28 – 6 to Ireland

24 February 2013
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
12 – 8 to Scotland

10 March 2012
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
32 – 14 to Ireland

6 August 2011
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10 – 6 to Scotland

27 February 2011
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
18 – 21 to Ireland

20 March 2010
Croke Park, Dublin
20 – 23 to Scotland

C. Teams

SCOTLAND 

15-Stuart Hogg; 14-Sean Maitland, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Alex Dunbar, 11-Tommy Seymour; 10-Finn Russell, 9-Greig Laidlaw (capt); 1-Allan Dell, 2-Fraser Brown, 3-Zander Fagerson, 4-Richie Gray, 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Ryan Wilson, 7-Hamish Watson, 8-Josh Strauss

Replacements: 16-Ross Ford, 17-Gordon Reid, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Tim Swinson, 20-John Barclay, 21-Ali Price, 22-Duncan Weir, 23-Mark Bennett

IRELAND

15-Rob Kearney; 14-Keith Earls, 13-Robbie Henshaw, 12-Garry Ringrose, 11-Simon Zebo; 10-Paddy Jackson, 9-Conor Murray; 1-Jack McGrath, 2-Rory Best (captain), 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-Devin Toner, 6-CJ Stander, 7-Sean O'Brien, 8-Jamie Heaslip

Replacements: 16-Niall Scannell, 17-Cian Healy, 18-John Ryan, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Josh van der Flier, 21-Kieran Marmion, 22-Ian Keatley, 23-Tommy Bowe.

TightHEAD wrote:Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams.

Saying you believe you have a good chance of beating your opposition, does not signify a lack of respect. Sport would be in a very strange place if every show of confidence or self-belief is simplistically equated with arrogance.

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

BOD and others aren't Ireland. The fans thought this was going to be a tough, tight, game and so it proved. There is a bit of media hype, but then Ireland earned that hype during the AI's. Still, nothing compared to the hype that goes England's way. With that loss England will be huge favorites. Content yourself with that instead of bitching.

Not bitching just didn't like the build up comments going into the championship.

Fantastic performance al round - and they had the bottle to close it out
28 tackles from Ickle Jonny russell sublime at times

Rugby Fan wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams.

Saying you believe you have a good chance of beating your opposition, does not signify a lack of respect. Sport would be in a very strange place if every show of confidence or self-belief is simplistically equated with arrogance.

But saying the grand slam decider is between Ireland and England in Dublin before a ball being kicked, is imho!

TightHEAD wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams.

Saying you believe you have a good chance of beating your opposition, does not signify a lack of respect. Sport would be in a very strange place if every show of confidence or self-belief is simplistically equated with arrogance.

But saying the grand slam decider is between Ireland and England in Dublin before a ball being kicked, is imho!

Sure Guscott was saying the same thing... Is that arrogance from England now as well?

Did he say that though!

TightHEAD wrote:Did he say that though!

Yes.

Link

TightHEAD wrote:Did he say that though!

Yes, in the build up to the Scotland Ireland match today he did

Well he is English what did you expect!

TightHEAD wrote:Well he is English what did you expect!

So, your point against the Irish is what now?

eirebilly wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Grand slam decider in Dublin then, lol

Well played Scotland really pleased for you, have a great night.

Feic me and I had the t-shirts printed already

Yassssssssssss

GLove39 wrote:Yassssssssssss

Enjoy the night brother, well deserved win

George Carlin wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Grand slam decider in Dublin then, lol

Well played Scotland really pleased for you, have a great night.

Feic me and I had the t-shirts printed already

Are you glad you wathced the game now george?

Well done Scotland. You deserved it without a doubt. Your defense was frocking spectacular

No debate about who is the Lions 15 after that performance.

Gwlad wrote:No debate about who is the Lions 15 after that performance.

If hog is fit he has to start.

Gwlad wrote:No debate about who is the Lions 15 after that performance.

 Yes definitely Sean Maitland.

George Carlin wrote:Sheesh. Cannot believe we left the bonus point out there.

I know. Neither can we.

eirebilly wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams.

Saying you believe you have a good chance of beating your opposition, does not signify a lack of respect. Sport would be in a very strange place if every show of confidence or self-belief is simplistically equated with arrogance.

But saying the grand slam decider is between Ireland and England in Dublin before a ball being kicked, is imho!

Sure Guscott was saying the same thing... Is that arrogance from England now as well?

Wooden Spoon decider now...

Gwlad wrote:No debate about who is the Lions 15 after that performance.

Really? Your writing off every other possible contender after ONE game of the tournament, when no one else has had a chance to stake a claim?

Hogg played well today and he's a great runner, but I've also seen him lose his cool, make breaks and throw the ball aimlessly to no one, miss hit kicks, look disinterested in defense, and lots of other things. Best judged after the tournament in all honesty. We've a long way to go yet, but he's made a great start with todays performance.

Well done Scotland, I had Ireland to win today. Though in fairness my brother in law, thinks your going to take the tournament this year.
Good luck, I hope your Scotland team do the fans proud.

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

BOD and others aren't Ireland. The fans thought this was going to be a tough, tight, game and so it proved. There is a bit of media hype, but then Ireland earned that hype during the AI's. Still, nothing compared to the hype that goes England's way. With that loss England will be huge favorites. Content yourself with that instead of bitching.

Not bitching just didn't like the build up comments going into the championship.

Fair enough, but it's all part of the media show now, and English media are just as guilty. Anyway, don't mind me. I'm still sore about losing

Well done Scotland. A great game to watch

It is funny, I wasn't that confident going into this game. Possibly because I know what the Glasgow fliers can do. I genuinely believe they have one of the better backlines in the tournament. They just need the confidence to win big games and translate their club form into the international game.

I am looking forward to seeing Murray Kinsella's analysis of the game, particularly our narrow defence. I wonder how much of it was down to Ringrose's inexperience and his inside and outside players covering him? Earls, to be fair to him, had a lot of ground to cover.

My match ratings:

1 Dell - 4

Tough time in the scrums and a few missed tackles

2 Brown - 5

Didn't last very long!

3 Fagerson - 7

Not great in the scrums but huge shift in the loose

4 Gray - 9

Helped destroy the Irish line-out and a huge performance throughout

5 Gray - 9

Topped the tackle charts by some distance - epic performance

6 Wilson - 7

Nothing flashy but massive work rate

7 Watson - 8

Perpetual motion and caused Ireland a lot of trouble in the rucks

8 Strauss - 7
.
Also put in a big shift but tired as the game went on.

9 Laidlaw - 8

He's not a world class 9 but he's a world class leader and kicker

10 Russell - 7

Mixed game, a poor pass for Hogg's first try that luckily ended up well

11 Seymour - 6

Quiet game but a few good high ball takes

12 Dunbar - 7

Gave us good go forward and aggressive defence

13 Jones - 6

.quiet game - didn't look match fit

14 Maitland - 8

Match winning defensive effort

15 Hogg - 8

Two tries, good under the high ball - special player

Special mention to Ford and Barclay who made a big difference off the bench.

Well done Scotland! Cracking start to the tournament.

I'll lift a pint of 'heavy' to you tonight (is that still a thing in Scotland?!)

fantastic match

Well done Scotland great defence and clinical scoring. Like others, the comments it is between Ireland and England before a ball kicked is annoying. Shame France did not win they deserved to win.

Still an open 6N, I thought France played well and very powerful.

any injury updates folks ?

Everything right about the Scots. French next away, which i reckon they will win, 1 game at a time and England might be a stretch away but this group have something about them and have been on an upward curve for some time now, and with such an irresistible player at 15 I'd say they could easily target 2/3 this year. What on earth happened to Ireland….or was this just a Sexton hangover?

All that chat about England Ireland decider just shows up the hubris associated with at least 1 of these sides as they came in 3rd and 4th in terms of performance today! Most open 6 Nations in years. By tomorrow we'll probably be discussing an Italy Scots GS decider!

Gwlad wrote:Everything right about the Scots. French next away, which i reckon they will win, 1 game at a time and England might be a stretch away but this group have something about them and have been on an upward curve for some time now, and with such an irresistible player at 15 I'd say they could easily target 2/3 this year. What on earth happened to Ireland….or was this just a Sexton hangover?

All that chat about England Ireland decider just shows up the hubris associated with at least 1 of these sides as they came in 3rd and 4th in terms of performance today! Most open 6 Nations in years. By tomorrow we'll probably be discussing an Italy Scots GS decider!

Too early to declare the most open six nations but it's certainly more open than folks were thinking before it started. Will be interesting to see how Wales get on.

nathan wrote:

Gwlad wrote:Everything right about the Scots. French next away, which i reckon they will win, 1 game at a time and England might be a stretch away but this group have something about them and have been on an upward curve for some time now, and with such an irresistible player at 15 I'd say they could easily target 2/3 this year. What on earth happened to Ireland….or was this just a Sexton hangover?

All that chat about England Ireland decider just shows up the hubris associated with at least 1 of these sides as they came in 3rd and 4th in terms of performance today! Most open 6 Nations in years. By tomorrow we'll probably be discussing an Italy Scots GS decider!

Too early to declare the most open six nations but it's certainly more open than folks were thinking before it started. Will be interesting to see how Wales get on.

Disgree. Its totally open, it was all chat about whether Ireland or England would win for several reasons such as because France are nowhere anymore, Scotland statistically cannot compete in the 6 Nations and Wales are in an existential crisis, while Italy are flattering to deceive after beating Shoite Africa.

When in reality, fact is under Noves France are slowly finding their way back and with the back 3 they have are a huge threat f they get their scrum right. Scotland are creeping up on all of us, Italy did just beat SA and Wales are totally unpredictable in the 6 Nations. Meanwhile Ireland and England just didnt really show up.

Cant remember it being more open.

This little gem found it's way onto Twitter
https://twitter.com/RTErugby/status/827884921876160512

To use that most annoying phrase of young football fans, chat Poopie get banged.

cakeordeath wrote:This little gem found it's way onto Twitter
https://twitter.com/RTErugby/status/827884921876160512

Why that wasn't a yellow against Ireland near the end is beyond me. No doubt if it was the other way round, the green gobsh1tes would be debating it for the next 2 weeks at least.
How ultimately satisfying to see Murray and Earls on the losing side today.
We could have played so much better, and plenty room for improvement, but the boys were magnificent, and it's so sweet to get one over on the gobby guys in green.
Lovely to knock the great big chips off of both their shoulders.

Congratulations to Scotland - totally dserved to win. Hogg is a once in several generations player and Johnny Gray is a willing workhorse who will kill himself before giving up. Those two should be guaranteed tourists with the Lions and likely starters.

As for those calling for Murray as an automatic pick, he was outplayed by the unfancied Laidlaw today and now has an awful lot of ground to make up to get anywhere near the plane.

Anglobraveheart wrote:Why that wasn't a yellow against Ireland near the end is beyond me. No doubt if it was the other way round, the green gobsh1tes would be debating it for the next 2 weeks at least.
How ultimately satisfying to see Murray and Earls on the losing side today.
We could have played so much better, and plenty room for improvement, but the boys were magnificent, and it's so sweet to get one over on the gobby guys in green.
Lovely to knock the great big chips off of both their shoulders.

 If it had of been someone in a black jersey that had done that to a player wearing a green jersey they would of been demanding an execution, plus a citing, plus a red card.

aucklandlaurie wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Why that wasn't a yellow against Ireland near the end is beyond me. No doubt if it was the other way round, the green gobsh1tes would be debating it for the next 2 weeks at least.
How ultimately satisfying to see Murray and Earls on the losing side today.
We could have played so much better, and plenty room for improvement, but the boys were magnificent, and it's so sweet to get one over on the gobby guys in green.
Lovely to knock the great big chips off of both their shoulders.

 If it had of been someone in a black jersey that had done that to a player wearing a green jersey they would of been demanding an execution, plus a citing, plus a red card.

Thankfully the Laws aren't paranoid but are colourblind and Ireland didn't hit Scottish heads with their shoulders nor clothesline players. The Scotland v Ireland game barely made PG compared to the ABs 18 rating.

I don't see why there are a couple of posters trying to turn the thread into something it isn't. Things have been rather relaxed so far, let's keep it that way. As far as I can see the Irish fans have been congratulating Scotland on their well earned win.

Don't take out your frustrations with Irish analysts or pundits on the posters.

cakeordeath wrote:This little gem found it's way onto Twitter
https://twitter.com/RTErugby/status/827884921876160512

That is too funny

Nah I've got to say the Kearney high tackle at the end was a total 50/50. Wayne Barnes explained it brilliantly before kick off. Was one of those "seatbelt" tackles.

Had it happened maybe 10 mins earlier or if it was 10 metres closer to the try line then he'd have seen yellow. Still shows the rules are a bit iffy as its the outcome or situation that determines if a card is shown

Scotland totally deserved the win and should probably be disappointed they left the bonus point behind. We were totally out of sorts. Leaving Ryan out was clearly a bad selection error as our second row were completely ineffectual. SOB is a one trick pony and vdf should have started. We missed POM for both the line out and a bit of dog around the park. Some players look past their sell by date and some still a bit wet behind the ears. Could be they were believing the hype before the game started. No point beating the ABs in November when you can't do well in your bread and butter tournament...

aucklandlaurie wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Why that wasn't a yellow against Ireland near the end is beyond me. No doubt if it was the other way round, the green gobsh1tes would be debating it for the next 2 weeks at least.
How ultimately satisfying to see Murray and Earls on the losing side today.
We could have played so much better, and plenty room for improvement, but the boys were magnificent, and it's so sweet to get one over on the gobby guys in green.
Lovely to knock the great big chips off of both their shoulders.

 If it had of been someone in a black jersey that had done that to a player wearing a green jersey they would of been demanding an execution, plus a citing, plus a red card.

Every time I see you posting you're bitching about that match. Time to get over it.

profitius wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:Why that wasn't a yellow against Ireland near the end is beyond me. No doubt if it was the other way round, the green gobsh1tes would be debating it for the next 2 weeks at least.
How ultimately satisfying to see Murray and Earls on the losing side today.
We could have played so much better, and plenty room for improvement, but the boys were magnificent, and it's so sweet to get one over on the gobby guys in green.
Lovely to knock the great big chips off of both their shoulders.

 If it had of been someone in a black jersey that had done that to a player wearing a green jersey they would of been demanding an execution, plus a citing, plus a red card.

Every time I see you posting you're bitching about that match. Time to get over it. 

 Never once bitched about the match. Personally I thought it was a brilliant game.

I didn't watch the game because (a) I am an idiot and (b) I was at work, neither of which is good.

I will find it and see it later.

I think what it does show is that (i) any team is at risk of being beaten if one side has early momentum and is able to convert it into points and (ii) a very strong determinant as to how a national team will do is current club form. I'm amazed how many pundits seem to ignore that.

The fact that this thread remains essentially free from wumm juice being sprayed around is, in a nutshell, why most people in the world like Scots and Irish people. If we tend to get a bit over the top, you have to forgive Scottish fans who have been waiting quite a long time for a good result.

Many of you are too young to remember this, but I remember beating Ireland heavily most years in the 80s and 90s and the corner clearly being turned with O'Driscoll in the Paris match. Just think about that and wish the same upswing for us, my brothers. We played one match. We aren't remotely there yet.

Amazing win for Scotland, cracking game as a neutral.

Heaslip was dire for Ireland. Him, Best and Murray had real off games and will really need to raise their levels if they want to tour in the Summer.

Hogg, Watson, Laidlaw and Gray all looked very impressive.

Rory_Gallagher wrote:I don't see why there are a couple of posters trying to turn the thread into something it isn't. Things have been rather relaxed so far, let's keep it that way. As far as I can see the Irish fans have been congratulating Scotland on their well earned win.

Don't take out your frustrations with Irish analysts or pundits on the posters.

I am not sure if that comment is aimed at me, but I do know the difference between Irish supporters and the Irish media

Did yesterday actually happen?? Watching it again just to check!

Whilst I'm delighted we got the win, I think Ireland showed some real quality in the 2nd half.  On a couple of occasions they were one pass away from cutting us open.

Best of luck for the rest of the tournament lads/ladies .