Ireland v Scotland: Match Preview Pt II – head to heads

52 responses

1. Interesting calls on Aki vs. Horne and Sexton vs. Russell.

   I think Horne is an underrated player, and Aki hasn’t really done much internationally, or domestically since Connacht won the Pro12. Horne’s made a couple of mistakes, but has generally performed really well. If we were offered a swap, I don’t think I’d take it.

   Sexton is more consistent than Russell – although let’s not forget he was pretty pants for most of 2017, including the 6N – but Russell at his best does everything Sexton can and more. His performances against Wales, Australia, New Zealand and Australia last year, and against were top drawer, as was his performance against England last month. If we were offered a swap, I’d be tempted by Sexton’s consistent excellence, but Finn at his best is too good to give up!

   Stockdale is an interesting one. He’s scored eight tries in seven matches, which is very impressive, but only two were against a top team performing well (Wales). Let’s hope we end his 100% win streak!

   1. Aki is a class centre, but Stockdale (though he knows where the try line is) can be suspect in defence. When Scotland go wide there is an opportunity to get past him.

   2. I agree I’m not sure that Aki is better than Horne. I think the Glasgow boys have worked him out since their losses to Connacht a couple of years ago.

      Either way as a collective unit I’d prefer the Scotland back over the Irish ones at the moment.

      Unfortunately I think this one will be won or lost up front.

   3. Finn’s got all the skills but Sexton is one of those players who can take a game by the scruff of the neck, bend the team to his will and find a way to win tests. Russell has some way to go before he is in that company – he might get there, he’s got all the attributes but maybe needs a bit more experience of the highest pressure games. Sexton was pretty old when he really emerged as a world class FH so Russell has time on his side.

      1. This comment along with the stat of Finn never having played in Dublin might help highlight Finns inconsistency.
         A quick look at some basic stats (taking from Wiki and Edin/Glas SRU site) throw up some interesting numbers he has played 30 odd games for Scotland and only 70 odd for Glasgow only really his 4th season as a pro (again apologies if these facts are nonsense) that to me suggests that even though he is probably now seen as one of the senior players for Scotland and obviously Glasgow hes still relatively green. The only reason we expect him to me amazing and mature every game is because he has been thrown in at the deep end for Scotland. A quick comparison is with Blair Kinghorn who has almost the same number of Edin apps (59) but only going for his 2nd cap (admittedly hes only 21) So basically my point is lets give poor Finn a bit of slack when he has a bad game.

2. Most stand out piece from the informative as always article is This is Finn’s first time playing in Ireland. Remarkable really. Would love to see him enjoy his day and take the millennium quaich or whatever it is home.

   Comparatively to our records against other teams in last ten years we are decent against Ireland now. What is it 4 wins from 10 outings? It’s not terrible. Here’s to adding that next notch to the positive record. 5 from 10 sounds very passable.

   1. I think we might be able to edge it against Ireland (Would love to ruin the title party!!)

      If we are to edge it then we need to have Finn playing flat and the likes of Pete Horne running hard dummy lines at the Irish backline. Hoggy also needs to get more involved with the game like he used to pre lions tour. If we can have our forwards battering them up front and run hard lines in the backs then I believe we will take it by around 7-10 points – If we don’t? Well it will be painful viewing I suspect…

      1. Hogg always loves taking on Ireland and the Irish Pro teams in the wide channels. Fully expect to see the same this weekend. Maybe though we’ll see Jones and Kinghorn left to do that while Hogg is pulling the defense in the opposite direction. Wouldn’t be surprised if we see him and others coming up fast as first receiver more often too.

3. McInally is good , iexcellent perhaps ,I would say ‘even’ would be a better rating against Best but I can see why we might say ADV to Scotland and a close call. I think Best has a lot of experience on his side and a great linout finder. I can see McInally raising Scotland , better than Best in the loose and having all the credibility to captain Scotland one day but Best is there,can raise Ireland and has been tested over and over. The game itself will tell us how that one goes.

4. Great if we could do it, but as Big Al says it probably rests with the forwards. However, despite being written down, they have performed beyond expectations so far this series – even in Wales. Parity is good enough to give our backs a chance. How does Toony’s guile and cunning compare with Schmit’s?

5. The weather forecast I use for sailing, XC Weather, forecasts rain today and overnight (heavy around midnight), easing up tomorrow morning and clearing around midday, with even a glimpse of sun in the afternoon. Wind for the match period 15 mph gusting 24 SSW. Good or bad? Not as bad as feared earlier.

6. I’d say Scotland have better backs overall….Ireland edge forwards.

   If Scotland play with the intensity they did vs NZ, Aus and England…I dont think Ireland have played against anyone who has played as well for a while. If Scotland play as they can…Irelend are by no means a cert for this match…it could go either way.

7. For my head to head between both sides line-ups this is how I see it

   15. Adv SCO
   14. Adv IRE
   13. Adv SCO
   12. Even
   11. Adv IRE
   10. Adv IRE
   9. Adv IRE
   8. Adv IRE
   7. Adv SCO
   6. Adv SCO
   5. Adv SCO
   4. Even
   3. Adv IRE
   2. Adv SCO/Even
   1. Adv IRE

   Maitland is starting to grow on me after his performances against France and especially England after having mercilessly bashing his entire career however I can’t think of any well respected pundit who would have Maitland in their team instead of Stockdale. Stockdale has everything. He reads the game brilliantly, already has 8 tries in his first 7 Ireland matches and has so much strength and pace. No question that Stockdale is a superior player to Maitland – would love a winger of his quality in Scotland’s team.

   Aki hasn’t done that much in test rugby and Pete Horne is in decent form at the moment so I would argue if 12 is an advantage to any team it is Scotland.

   On his day Russell can outperform any 10 bar Beauden in the world. It’s a close call but why Sexton edges it for me is he never has a bad game. He always has at least an 8/10 game and has just as much 10/10 game as Russell and that’s why Sexton is the better player.

   CJ Stander is a beast but the breakdown kings of Barclay and Watson need to be in at 6 and 7 and you can’t leave out Jonny Gray.

   Tough call between Best who is a legend of the game and still putting in world class performances and McInally and whilst part of me wants to say even i’m going let my Scottish control me and say advantage to Scotland. It’s a close call but his form both in the six nations and the autumn internationals has been pure world class and he deserves to be recognized for this

   1. I think yesterday’s match made an nonsense of your assessments – without playing particularly well Ireland secured a 20 point victory, which is astonishing considering you had them so evenly matched. Oh well…

8. I think there would be 2 H2H’s.. one for current form…and another for max potential. My H2H would be ….based on form

   15. Adv SCO
   14. Adv SCO
   13. Adv SCO
   12. Even
   11. Adv SCO
   10. Even
   9. Adv IRE
   8. Adv IRE
   7. Adv Sco
   6. Even
   5. Adv SCO
   4. Even
   3. Even
   2. Adv SCO
   1. Adv IRE

   16 Even
   17 Adv Sco
   18 Adv Ire
   19 Adv Ire
   20 Adv Sco
   21 Adv Sco
   22 Even
   23 Even

   …h2h picks aside… I’d still make Ire favorites to edge it based on home advantage and form in 6N.

   1. Thats just guff, sorry. Yes you can pick the best players but there are a whole lot of factors that go into them having a ‘good game’.

      England on paper beat the Scots any day of the week, look how that turned out.

      Stats are stats, and no guarantee of future performance.

      This may be my fan head talking but a current Scottish team firing on all cylinders will be a match for the best in the world.

      Well done Gregor and the coaching staff, players and the fans.

      About time we won one.

      Bring it.

      1. Michael I think you underrate some of our players. Huw Jones, Hogg, Russell(on his day), McInally, Jonny Gray and Hamish Watson would all be in England’s starting 15.

         I know I can overly critical of some players and those who hype them up but those 6 players are all arguably world class players who most sides would be begging to have in their team

9. Always enjoy reading these preview articles. It’ll be no surprise to anyone if Ireland put the ball up their jumper and go through 40 phases with Sexton kicking for field position. I’m not sure how they will cope if Scotland get some organised chaos going though.
   If the ball does make it out to the back line the Ireland will no doubt look to target Huw Jones which may open opportunities for Horne, or more likely Hogg.
   If Ireland try to slow Scottish ball in the midfield with the choke tackle and Scotland get an offloading game working then there will be gaps to exploit.
   Cannae wait.

10. Fear not all those who were terrified a Captain’s run at Murrayfield would doom us before the match. Colin Gregor was reliably telling the world on Sport Today that Scotland did it at The Aviva Stadium and set off earlier for Dublin.

    That is practically the match and the championship in the bag now.

11. I would like to see Wilson whispering in Murrays ear down the Tunnel ‘Standing Leg’ with a delivish grin and the proceed to give him a ‘Pat’ on the leg, and then for the guys to group around Sexton and wind him up abit.

12. Appreciate this is not the most constructive comment, but I really dislike the joyless way that Ireland- and the likes of Ulster – play rugby. The dour Best, the wee nyaff on the wing and then the absolute worst, Murray and Sexton waving their arms around. I’d love a referee to tell them to wind their necks in.

    I’d love to win this game. Regardless of what happens Today, I’d even give consideration to wanting England to beat them.

    1. How do you like them apples – 2 tries for the wee nyaff on the wing. Haha muppet

       1. And now Murray. Bitter Scots as usual

       2. Well played, Ireland. Did what they needed to do and Scotland didn’t take their chances.

    2. Yeah it must be so “joyous” getting your arse handed to you ever other match. Wales beat Scotland out the gate, and Ireland secured a comfortable 20 point victory without playing very well. And by the way, Scottish teams don’t have some kind of monopoly on attractive rugby, Leinster/Scarlett’s/ La Rochelle/Sarcens have all done it while actually winning. Because throwing the ball wildly around is easy, but consistently winning rugby matches is hard.

13. Error has compounded error today so far. Not what you want at all. Still believe though. Much better performance than Cardiff however just about the same score. Both teams made mistakes but Ireland haven’t compounded them that is the difference.

14. Four words: Huw Jones can’t pass.

    Several more: forwards are going well. Sharpen the minds and the game is on. Try and force it and it’ll be a bloodbath.

    1. Too much time. At least it wasn’t an intercept like Horne! Plus Kinghorn looks like a liability.

       Still in it but whoever scores next.

       1. Take it back. Kinghorn has looked good. Denton looked good. Russell looked good. Mainland v good again. Huw Jones and Hogg good until final ball. Didnt take our chances – simple. This game was crying out for Dunbar / Taylor

15. Wayne Barnes at the usual also. About 8 forward passes missed.

16. Mistakes cost that 1st half..more than Ireland outplaying Scotland. Pretty even match really.. scoreline flatters Ireland.
    Scotland playing too loose at critical times in match…good intent but execution not as good as vs England.
    Jones and Russell are being targeted and haven’t really been in game.

17. Grrrr we should be in the lead here. Long way back now.

18. Ok, so both penalties in the second half so far have been wrong. Jesus, Barnes…

    1. And a third. Jesus.

19. I said it before the game. Dunbar should be playing. Horne is being killed.

20. Horne has had a nightmare and should be off. Another butchered try

21. We’ve butchered 2 and a half tries so far and scored one. Not really good enough but still in it. Ireland looking weak now really weak in the last ten. Another try and we are back in it.

    1. Too many certain tries butchered and Horne being poor cost us. We missed Ryan Wilson when he went off. Ritchie Gray should have been there instead of Swinston. Game was there if the stupid errors are stopped!!!!

22. Whatwever happpens today , I would like to say, so much better and we are finding gaps everywhere. It is just simple things, trying too hard. Steady the ship and do the simple things well. This is great rugby and overconfidence is our current enemy. Not a bad place to be.

23. This ref is at it.

24. Barnes ruining any game there was

25. The ref wearing his green underwear today?

26. Barnes is just killing the contest now but we are playing completely the wrong way. I though we learned after Wales that aimless flinging from side to side (and then dropping it) achieves nothing. We are kicking what little possession we have had but the kicks aren’t contestable, all of Ireland’s kicks are contestable and they are having success at retaining them. Not quite as bad as Cardiff but not far off it.

27. That’s two scrums now we have absolutely smashed them against the head but not even a sniff of a penalty.

28. Scotland should learn from the way Ireland has controlled this game. Until they develop that ability they will not be RWC2019 ready.

29. Look at the stats, Jocks lost all the key battles. Only thing you won was the tackle count.
    Ye celebrated like ye won the thing after England game

    1. No we celebrated like we beat England. Thoroughly enjoyable it was too.

30. Ireland fully deserved their win, played the referee better & Sexton (in a similar way to Russell suits Scotland) suits their game so well.

    I question Toolis not being in the starting line up, he is our best line out option, we NEED the ball.

    You don’t pass up/give up tries like we did today & expect to win.

    The luck that seems to smile on us in Edinburgh is not as prevalent when we play away.

    Positives so far – Berghan, Nel (being fit), our attitude, Hogg, Maitland, Russell.

    Kinghorn did well today

    I still reckon Dunbar is crucial to Scotland, Bennett is a Scottish Ringrose but where does he fit in?

31. Fourth in the table is the odds on result with three wins now which is a really poor return. This was a much closer game than score line suggests. Should have been within a penalty kick at the end and that is mostly our own mistakes that caused that. The way the breakdown was reffed didn’t help at all but we have to adapt.

32. At the start most of us would’ve accepted 3 wins

33. 1. Far better than the Wales game, especially in the first half.
    2. Ireland clinical but their vulnerabilities not punished.
    3. I don’t think any Scot played badly. Horne created great chances, but made a couple of poor choices at critical moments. Unfortunately, that’s two games running for him with ‘scoring’ passes. Clear area for him to work on.
    4. Imo, Barnes had zero impact on who won that game.
    5. Passes off the left hand were unsympathetic or we tried to do too much with them. Imo, that’s the difference between home and away. Too up tight in key moments to make the right decision or pass cleanly.
    6. If chances had been taken, the whole atmosphere and maybe the result would have been different.
    7. Had hoped Ringrose would be rusty but he was class shutting down Jones and creating opportunities himself.
    8. Well done to Blair Kinghorn on a great first-full-test performance.
    9. Must put out our strongest team against Italy and give them respect, especially in Rome. No complacency.
    10. Will still be optimistic/confident for our World Cup match with Ireland next year.