6 Nations:Ireland v Scotland - An Craic Mór - 10 Mar 2018

Forget the Tiddlywinks at Twickers, this one’s the proper test match with soaring Scotland taking on their Ivernian cousins.  

Ireland have it all to do on their home turf to keep their championship tilt going, and Scotland have the bit between their teeth to snatch it from them and head into the final round ready to rack up a cricket score against the hapless Italians to try reach top of the table.

Scotland started cold and lost heavily to Wales but now they’ve got their game together, they could be on a roll.  But as their coach has pointed out, their away record in the last decade has been dismal.  That’s the hurdle they have to overcome.  They have the players, the skills, and a successful game plan if they can beat Ireland at their own game at the breakdown.  

Ireland started without a few players like O’Brien, Ringrose, and then lost Furlong, Henderson and Henshaw.  All the replacements stood up - VdF, Leavy, Farrell, Porter, Ryan - and then a couple of them got injured.  But the timing looks good as Furlong, Henderson, and Ringrose are ready to re-enter the fray.  O’Brien could be back for the final round.  

Schmidt has some thinking to do on how he can outwit Townsend - attempting 60-70% possession with constant pick and goes isn’t going to cut it.  Will Sexton have his kicking boots back?   Will yet another midfield continue to weaken the defensive line?   On the other hand, will Russell turn from hero to zero if his looping passes fail to hit their target and Fall into the hands of Stockdale or Earls instead?

Both sides haven’t been shy about scoring, although they go about it in completely different ways.   Let’s see if they can keep it up.

Paddies

15. Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 81 caps
14. Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 65 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 11 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 5 caps
11. Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 7 caps
10. Johnny Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster) 71 caps
9. Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 62 caps

1. Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 76 caps
2. Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 109 caps
3. Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 21 caps
4. James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 6 caps
5. Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 56 caps
6. Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 45 caps
7. Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 7 caps
8. CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 21 caps

Replacements
16. Sean Cronin (St Mary's College/Leinster) 59 caps
17. Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Leinster) 45 caps
18. Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 5 caps
19. Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 36 caps
20. Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 18 caps
21. Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 19 caps
22. Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 8 caps
23. Jordan Larmour (St Mary's College/Leinster) 1 cap

Lovely Scotsmen

Whiffy Tops
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Huw Jones Glasgow Warriors), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Finn Russsell (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne),
Beautiful Rumblers
Gordon Reid (London Irish), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), John Barclay (Scarlets, captain), Hamish Watson Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors).
Extras:
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), David Denton (Worcester Warriors), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors).

The Six Nations is a b**ch when you can only relax for the Italian game.  

Joe has to pretty much go back to the drawing board again now.  Yet, even dropping Furlong in there might unbalance the side that got a bit of a mojo going against Wales.  But then again, Farrell has been dropped anyway (though injury) so the bottom has fallen out of that project already.

I'm kind of annoyed at this point though that Joe doesn't seem to have genuine faith in anything at 15 but Kearney - and I think Ireland now needs more than Kearney in that position to tighen us up into a more resolved attacking side so that we hit higher numbers on the scoreline before the inevitable fight back from the opposition.

Joe is pulling those strings and coming up with these ultra close shaves but heady victories nonetheless.  He loves keeping our heart rates up and it's a big old adventure now to see what team he might throw at Scotland.  He might throw a curve ball and even catch me out at 15 - though I doubt it.

I think, Fly, that Schmidt is using Kearney as much for his defensive nous and experience in directing others. Payne had that role and he’s gone. Henshaw was starting to get it, and he’s gone. So Kearney has to stay put in their absence. McFadden may still get the 23 jersey unless someone like Conway is available. Ringrose may help to strengthen the backline somewhat but will have to rely more on devil than power to make things happen.

Having Furlong back is a good thing for his movement round the park and tackling prowess. It looks like Schmidt is backing coach Farrell and sticking to his guns on his defensive strategy but Jones, Hogg will find ways around that too easily so don’t know what he’s going to do with that unless they move to a more drift defence.

I really don't know what to think. Ireland at home are really good, where we do have an advantage over France or England for instance is familiarity.

But every time I feel we have a chance or the match will be a cracker we get humiliated, like England last year or Wales this year. I still think we go in with realistic expectations.

I do think you are right in what you say, in that Jones, Hogg and presumably now Kinghorn may find some space out wide and the perseverance with Kearney is strange since just about all of our backs apart from Laidlaw can probably burn him for pace.

Much like the England game the match for me will be decided by the breakdown and this will be a much sterner challenge.

I really feel that Ireland will not be as generous with missing tackles or giving us the ball as England were so I think that Ireland will win

I think this will be a relatively comfortable Ireland win in the end - the combination of them not playing great against Wales, and Ireland being able to learn from what England did against us will mean that there's absolutely no complacency in the Ireland camp just now. They will know what they need to do to stop us and they have the tools to do so.

They are probably the most aggressive rucking team in world rugby, so we're not going to have the same joy as we did against England. They also have a very good blitz defence to put Russell under pressure, although their wide defence has been a bit shakey of late (and our wide attack is our main strength). The also have brutal physicality up front - I know we dealt with that well against England and France but it is going to be a huge challenge against Ireland.

I know there is a lot of negativity about the Schmidt way just now but he gets results. I can see Ireland having a similar gameplan as they did against Wales - grind us down with possession and brutality, with us living off scraps and picking up a few breakaway scores but ultimately Ireland winning by at least a try.

I can't see anything other than an Ireland win. Our away record in the 6 nations is pretty terrible, so to get anything from this game we need to take our home form on the road and that is going to be a big ask, especially against a very good Irish team.

As Radge has said this game could be decided at the breakdown and our issue is that Ireland have seen what we do there now and won't leave us to it, in the same way England did.

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think this will be a relatively comfortable Ireland win in the end - the combination of them not playing great against Wales, and Ireland being able to learn from what England did against us will mean that there's absolutely no complacency in the Ireland camp just now. They will know what they need to do to stop us and they have the tools to do so.

They are probably the most aggressive rucking team in world rugby, so we're not going to have the same joy as we did against England. They also have a very good blitz defence to put Russell under pressure, although their wide defence has been a bit shakey of late (and our wide attack is our main strength). The also have brutal physicality up front - I know we dealt with that well against England and France but it is going to be a huge challenge against Ireland.

I know there is a lot of negativity about the Schmidt way just now but he gets results. I can see Ireland having a similar gameplan as they did against Wales - grind us down with possession and brutality, with us living off scraps and picking up a few breakaway scores but ultimately Ireland winning by at least a try.

I think Ireland will win but provided we play as well as we did last Saturday it won't be comfortable for them.

I reckon 23-20 or therebouts.

I believe Ireland should win. Having Barnes as ref will be interesting, as he likes a nice organised ruck, but we and the Scottish tend to enjoy a bit more chaos and devilment. So whoever adapts to him the quickest will get the upper hand.
Will be a very tasty match

Didn’t realise Barnes was ref – do the Irish not have a really bad win rate with him reffing?

We have our own gripes against Barnes to be fair…

RDW_Scotland wrote:Didn’t realise Barnes was ref – do the Irish not have a really bad win rate with him reffing?

We have our own gripes against Barnes to be fair…

Barnes is bad but has improved recently to give him credit. Even when you're a neutral watching games he oversees it's painful (a la Wales v France ET) but he seems to have wound his neck in a bit and only blows up every 5 minutes rather than 2. He's like a substitute teacher with a power complex.

All I'll say is thank God Clancy is Irish - now that would be awful.

I'm heading over for this one, can't wait - love a 6N Dublin trip.

As for the game, we have our terrible away record and a formidable Irish team to contend with. I think we could get some change out of Irish defence out wide, but ultimately the POM, Stander, Leavy back row will not let us get into our multi-phase rhythm, and Ireland will grind out a win.

Any chance of you lot resting some of your more speedy attacking backs for this game? I'm thinking Russell hogg jones and maybe play nel at 10?

carpet baboon wrote:Any chance of you lot resting some of your more speedy attacking backs for this game? I'm thinking Russell hogg jones and maybe play nel at 10?

If anyone in the forwards is going to be our 10 it'll be Jon Welsh

NeilyBroon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Any chance of you lot resting some of your more speedy attacking backs for this game? I'm thinking Russell hogg jones and maybe play nel at 10?

If anyone in the forwards is going to be our 10 it'll be Jon Welsh

That would mean Townsend picking him - there's more chance Nel playing at 10 then Townsend picking Welsh if there are other fit props available!

RDW_Scotland wrote:

NeilyBroon wrote:

carpet baboon wrote:Any chance of you lot resting some of your more speedy attacking backs for this game? I'm thinking Russell hogg jones and maybe play nel at 10?

If anyone in the forwards is going to be our 10 it'll be Jon Welsh

That would mean Townsend picking him - there's more chance Nel playing at 10 then Townsend picking Welsh if there are other fit props available!

True, I think we'd see the return of Ryan Grant but on the tighthead side before Gregor picks Welsh again. He got his excuse to stop picking him after the Wales game

To be fair to Toonie, his TH picks so far this season have been right on the money!

I don't think any of us saw Berghan as an 80 minute prop who can play that well in the loose as well.

Nel is a pretty good guy to come on and win you a penalty as well.

Scotland coaching staff seem to know more about the state of their props than the majority of the fans. Surprising that really!

BigGee wrote:To be fair to Toonie, his TH picks so far this season have been right on the money!

I don't think any of us saw Berghan as an 80 minute prop who can play that well in the loose as well.

Nel is a pretty good guy to come on and win you a penalty as well.

Scotland coaching staff seem to know more about the state of their props than the majority of the fans. Surprising that really!

Dan Mcfarland needs a lot of props ( ) for how he has turned our pack into a unit that is able to hold its own.

If Joe is Joe - well he's renowned for being meticulous.
If Joe is Joe - he'll have seen this trend of letting in tries down the sidelines and won't have liked it.  Indeed, we know he's seen it and doesn't like it from his own lips
If Joe is Joe - he'll have watched that game where Scotland made England look like a tier 2 side in the first half up in Edinburgh.

So the negative for Scotland is that Wales came before them - and whilst Italy played a virtual carbon copy effort of gaining 3 tries down our weak channels - the Welsh doing it, in a much more high quality game, will have been a much more sobering occasion and it really does necessitate Joe and Farrell getting to the bottom of it before the Scottish game.

The positive for Scotland is that they are still Scotland whatever Joe may do to shore up defence.  So Scotland still have the ability to burn us somewhere.  Plus the other positive is that the old wing defensive weakness thing when sides turn on the pace is older than Farrell and therefore it's been around a while and still hasn't been sufficiently addressed or solved.

EST wrote:

BigGee wrote:To be fair to Toonie, his TH picks so far this season have been right on the money!

I don't think any of us saw Berghan as an 80 minute prop who can play that well in the loose as well.

Nel is a pretty good guy to come on and win you a penalty as well.

Scotland coaching staff seem to know more about the state of their props than the majority of the fans. Surprising that really!

Dan Mcfarland needs a lot of props ( ) for how he has turned our pack into a unit that is able to hold its own.

Oh it wasn't a complaint, merely an observation!

Agree that Berghan has been a revelation and McFarland has done a cracking job, far and above what Humphreys achieved with all players fit.

I guess the questions for Scotland are on the TH spots (Fagerson back fit and best in the loose; Berghan playing well yet arguably 3rd choice; Nel best scrummager) and at 12 (If Dunbar is fit, does Toonie use him to try to negate Aki or stick with Horne). Beyond that, the team is fairly settled.

Feels weird in a way that Toonie may line-up somewhat predictably.

Are Furlong, Henderson and Ringrose going to be fit?

It really is a strange one – you wonder what Welsh has done. I don’t see Townsend as being a spiteful/vengeful person and Welsh clearly has done a great job at Newcastle and is a perfectly capable prop at international level. Despite that Townsend didn’t trust him enough to bring him on against France and dropped him for a player who hadn’t played in months.

Those decisions were ultimately vindicated by the results but for some reason Townsend really doesn’t rate him.

Hazel Sapling wrote:I guess the questions for Scotland are on the TH spots (Fagerson back fit and best in the loose; Berghan playing well yet arguably 3rd choice; Nel best scrummager) and at 12 (If Dunbar is fit, does Toonie use him to try to negate Aki or stick with Horne). Beyond that, the team is fairly settled.

Feels weird in a way that Toonie may line-up somewhat predictably.

Are Furlong, Henderson and Ringrose going to be fit?

None of us are sure yet.  Of that threesome, I'd say Ringrose will have the biggest role in win or loss terms.  As Pot said earlier, Farrell was more power, Ringrose is more devil (tricky) - but tricksty stuff isn't a big factor in this Ireland setup so he'd be expected to do a heft of physical work.  If he shows up, well he'll be a big question mark in Ireland's performance levels.

If Dunbar had played this weekend for Glasgow I would have brought him in for this game. Because the game is called off, and because Ringrose is more lightweight than Farrell, I’d stick with Horne starting as Dunbar would be too much of a risk given his injury history. Maybe Dunbar on the bench if he is back fit.

Hard to see Toonie changing the team at all and why should he.

Berghan is surely undropable now after those two games and it is going to be up to Nel and Fagerson to make their cases on the pitch to get back into the side.

I don't think Dunbar or Taylor will be fit, but again, why should they just walk back into the team anyway. Horne did not exactly look frail in defence on Saturday.

Probably the only change will be for Seymour, who looks unlikely to be fit and I would just stick with Kinghorn, who has deserved his chance. Maybe Harris, who can cover centre and wing, will come back onto the bench, or maybe Visser comes back in.

To be honest I think we're all maybe being a tad overoptimistic RE Dunbar and agree with BG that he shouldn't get in by Default.

He is the new Mr Glass, I think partly owing to his abrasive style. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if we see an early retirement of one of Dunbar (seemingly recurring knee/ligament problems) or Taylor (owing to all the headknocks).

I'd be tempted to keep Kinghorn on the bench, as I'd like to see him in his best position at FB, though maybe he'd do well on the wing. Bring in Visser who has been playing well and has dealt with the weaknesses in his game sufficiently enough for them not to be a liability anymore. What ratio on the bench will we go with? I suspect 5 forwards, 3 backs, as this will be a bit of a slugfest up front. So I think having a utility back at number 22/23 is probably best, with Laidlaw/Horne providing emergency 10 cover. Perhaps we'll see Bennett on the bench as centre cover?

I'd like to see Kinghorn start on the wing. did Ok defensively in the few mins he got last week but didn't get a single pass.

What about Visser or McGuigan in for Seymour, Kinghorn at 23, Scott at 22 and Price at 21?

I would like a 6-2 split NB, but I would be surprised if we went that route.

I did forget about back-up hooker. Is Lawson going to get dropped for Malcolm?

Hazel Sapling wrote:What about Visser or McGuigan in for Seymour, Kinghorn at 23, Scott at 22 and Price at 21?

I would like a 6-2 split NB, but I would be surprised if we went that route.

I did forget about back-up hooker. Is Lawson going to get dropped for Malcolm?

Doubt Lawson will be dropped, I'd imagine McInally will be facing another 80 minutes, he's become quite a trooper. Not so sure about McGuigan to be honest, he was one of the players who had a stinker against Wales (though it was hard for any of them to come out of that game with credit). Visser has more international experience and I'd imagine Toonie will be trying to pick combos that have already been established. Visser Hogg and Maitland is a backline with some familiarity.

Scott would give us more cover at 12 I guess, I can't imagine him being picked though. My predicted 23 would be:

Reid
McInally
Berghan
Gilchrist
Gray
Barclay (c)
Watson
Wilson

Laidlaw
Russell

Visser
Horne
Jones
Maitland
Hogg

Bench:
Lawson
Bhatti
Nel
Swinson
Denton
Price
Grigg (played well off the bench last week - expect him to keep his bench spot)
Kinghorn (I think GT is more conservative in his selection with Scotland, which tbf at international level is sometimes what is needed)

I think Brown is back in training, so you would imagine that he would come in for Lawson.

McInally and Brown is great depth to have at hooker - both cracking players.

EST wrote:I think Brown is back in training, so you would imagine that he would come in for Lawson.

McInally and Brown is great depth to have at hooker - both cracking players.

Where did you see that EST?

Brown would be a great addition to the squad, I'd just be worried about him getting concussed!

He's been in pictures from training tweeted by Glasgow - it's not clear exactly how much training he has been able to do though (i.e. contact)

NeilyBroon wrote:

EST wrote:I think Brown is back in training, so you would imagine that he would come in for Lawson.

McInally and Brown is great depth to have at hooker - both cracking players.

Where did you see that EST?

Brown would be a great addition to the squad, I'd just be worried about him getting concussed!

Was a an article on the Glasgow site saying he would hopefully be in contention for the now postponed Ulster game, and that he had come through training.

All PRO14 games postponed this weekend bar the Cheetahs/Kings home games.
Aspiring returning test players on both sides may lose out if the needed game time.

Schmidt won’t want to change a winning team too much, except where to return top quality so I figure squad should look something like:
Front Row
McGrath, Best, Furlong.
Assume Furlong comes back in, and Porter moves to bench.  McGrath and Healy do their alternate start rotation.  Best as is.
Second Row
Henderson, Ryan/Toner.
Not sure if he starts with the piano shifters, or if lineout will become a greater attacking threat for the game plan.
Back Row
O’Mahony, Leavy and Stander.
As you were and with O’Brien, vdF, Ruddock out, it’s only leaves Jordi Murphy who could come in Leavy’s stead.  
Half Backs
Murray, Sexton.
Nothing to be said
Midfield
Aki, Ringrose.
Again limited options with Henshaw and Farrell out.  Earls could come in at 13 but his presence on the wing is more valuable in terms of defence, breaks and try-scoring.  
Back three
R Kearney, Earls & Stockdale.  
As you were?  Or might Schmidt want to stiffen defence and put either Conway or McFadden in to start?  McFadden came on to replace Earls in the Welsh test after the Shingler try.  

Bench
Cronin, Healy and Porter - straightforward
Roux helped to steady the scrum as the TH lock against Wales. Does Schmidt go with him again?  Probably not, so it’ll be one of Toner or Ryan.
Conan was the backrow replacement against Wales - probably either him or Murphy.
Marmion and Carbery for the 21/22 shirts.  Marmion wasn’t used in the Welsh test, might Cooney make it instead?
No 23?  Could be a slightly left-field selection with Stockdale, Conway, McFadden or possibly Larmour in the running, if they’re all available.

Can't wait for that backrow clash.

Leavy, POM and Stander vs. Barcs, Mish and Wilson

That will be worth the admission fee alone. The battle at lock is equally interesting and I also thing the back lines match up well too.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Can't wait for that backrow clash.

Leavy, POM and Stander vs. Barcs, Mish and Wilson

That will be worth the admission fee alone. The battle at lock is equally interesting and I also thing the back lines match up well too.

Leavy has really come on very well indeed but I think e works better with Conan than CJ, the flip side to that is that POM works better with CJ I feel. Going to be a very good battle.

In a way, beating Ireland away will be a more impressive feat than beating England at home. 

Winning well away against a good NH side is a new panacea for us and whilst it definitely follows in the chronology of 'how teams improve' we will need to be at least as good again to beat the paddies. 

Why on earth would Toonie change the team that he had incidentally? I am a bit scared about Aki throwing Peter Horne around a like a cotton ball but the statistics about how many more tries we score when Horne plays instead of Dunbar are getting pretty convincing about why Horne has to start.

George Carlin wrote:In a way, beating Ireland away will be a more impressive feat than beating England at home. 

Winning well away against a good NH side is a new panacea for us and whilst it definitely follows in the chronology of 'how teams improve' we will need to be at least as good again to beat the paddies. 

Why on earth would Toonie change the team that he had incidentally? I am a bit scared about Aki throwing Peter Horne around a like a cotton ball but the statistics about how many more tries we score when Horne plays instead of Dunbar are getting pretty convincing about why Horne has to start.

Absolutely - winning in Ireland is normally good enough to win a title or grand slam for teams in the past. If we manage it we will be in with a chance!

That is obviously a very large IF

Nay nay and thrice nay. Mrs

Scotland are not going to win next week. No chance. We are rubbish.

Having travelled to Caahdiff full of hope, the above is the only way to approach any Scotland match.

GC we need to stop worrying about people steamrolling Furra Linee. I think he is beginning to live up to his potential. If the Irish play as they did against France, lots of pick and drives then he shouldn't be too exposed defensively. If we get turnover ball and counter-attack quickly then he is a much better option than Alex Dunbar. (I can't say how sad I am about what seems to be the slow unravelling of AD's career).

I think most of what BigGee says about the likely line up is spot on. The main questions for me are;

Front Row, do we bring in Brown? Yes! He is very like Rambo in the sense that he plays like a flanker in the loose. WP or Zander on the bench? I think WP just in case we're leaking penalties at scrum time.

Second Row, if Big Richie is fit will he bench? I would like to see him come on and increase the pace. Harsh on Toolis and Swinson, but if he's fit he's in my 23.

Back Row;

will Batman wait UNTIL the game starts before slapping the gobby 10 this time?

Half Backs; Buttons to start and Aldi Price to close. Can Dancer do it again? Honestly? If Russell plays as he can Scotland COULD win.

Centres; Horne and Jones. Going forward they are very good. Defending Grigg to bench.

Back Three; I can't see Visser featuring. Toonie likes players who love tackling. Turnstile Tim doesn't give the impression that he could stop Jimmy Krankie. Maitland and Hogg with Kinghorn. Lee Jones might be a late call up.

jimbopip wrote::The main questions for me are;

Front Row, do we bring in Brown? Yes! He is very like Rambo in the sense that he plays like a flanker in the loose.

Do you mean for the bench?

Sorry Mr Spoons. Yes obviously for the bench. Rambo was excellent against England and should keep the jersey until he loses it.

Okay, so I just got my premature 'Ireland Grand Slam Winners 2018' tee-shirt delivered this morning.

But I promise not to wear it till March 17th

SecretFly wrote:Okay, so I just got my premature 'Ireland Grand Slam Winners 2018' tee-shirt delivered this morning.

But I promise not to wear it till March 17th

You can still find plenty of England Grand Slam 1990 ties on ebay if you look hard enough!

jimbopip wrote:Sorry Mr Spoons. Yes obviously for the bench. Rambo was excellent against England and should keep the jersey until he loses it.

Ah good stuff. Totally agree then. Thought you were advocating for Rambo to drop out for Brown.

They're usually in a pair boxed set with the England Calcutta Cup 1990 tie. And, for the lucky bidder, they can have a free "let's count our chickens" box set of England Grand Slam and Calcutta Cup 2000 cufflinks.
Unfortunately, we suffered the same hideous presumption before Cardiff his year.
I think it's safer just to look forwards to the game and keep our fingers crossed.
Think it, just don't say it!

George Carlin wrote:In a way, beating Ireland away will be a more impressive feat than beating England at home. 

Winning well away against a good NH side is a new panacea for us and whilst it definitely follows in the chronology of 'how teams improve' we will need to be at least as good again to beat the paddies. 

Why on earth would Toonie change the team that he had incidentally? I am a bit scared about Aki throwing Peter Horne around a like a cotton ball but the statistics about how many more tries we score when Horne plays instead of Dunbar are getting pretty convincing about why Horne has to start.

Agree completely. Beating Ireland away in Dublin, knocking their GS and potential championship would be the win of the 6N. After that it’s off to Italy to rack up a cricket score and then wait and see if 17/18 and a healthy PD will be enough. All to play for.

If this was being played in Scotland I would be very nervous as an Irish fan. Scotland are very strong at home but Ireland have become almost unbeatable at home now so I cant see a Scotland win.

Agree eire but if Scotland are to make any more progress they need an away win against a team other than Italy. I think the boys will be very fired up and can call on previously injured gray and Brown to add more firepower to the bench.

Very exciting, I'd say whoever wins will do it by 3-5 points. Heart says Scotland head says Ireland.

It will be tight Neily but Ireland are in that habit of winning, especially at home. Ireland biggest concern is their defence, if Scotland get a large amount of possession then they certainly can cause Ireland some problems.