Six Nations silverware on the line in Dublin: 5 talking points
Ireland hope to snatch Guinness Six Nations glory when they complete their campaign at home to Scotland.
Victory over the Scots would move Andy Farrell’s men top of the championship standings, but their title hopes would still rely on England upsetting Grand Slam-chasing France in the evening kick-off in Paris.
Here, the PA news agency picks out some of the main talking points ahead of Saturday’s finale in Dublin.
Silverware at stake
Beat Scotland at the Aviva Stadium and Ireland will clinch their sixth Triple Crown of the Six Nations era – and first secured on home soil since 2004.
Yet Farrell’s side have designs on a far bigger prize. They go into the weekend two points behind table-topping France and with the title tantalisingly close.
Another French victory would crush that dream, but a major favour from Eddie Jones’ side at Stade de France could see Ireland pinch the championship crown.
Given they have a superior points difference to Les Bleus, there are also scenarios where a draw – or even a defeat with two losing bonus points – would be sufficient for Ireland to pip their rivals to top spot.
Shades of 2015
Seven years ago Ireland approached round five of the tournament in similar circumstances. Back then they defeated the Scots 40-10 at Murrayfield before being forced to anxiously await the outcome of an England-France clash.
The English required a 26-point winning margin to wrestle away the title but fell agonisingly short at Twickenham, prompting wild Irish celebrations in Edinburgh.
Ireland lock Iain Henderson, who is set to make his maiden start of this year’s tournament this weekend, played on that occasion and recalled a day of “nervous excitement”.
Wales were also involved in the captivating title race of 2015, which ultimately saw the top three teams separated only on points difference. Permutations appear to be slightly simpler this time around, but ‘Super Saturday’ is once again likely to be a nail-biting affair.
Scotland out to spoil the party
Scotland were tipped as outside title challengers after retaining the Calcutta Cup by beating England on the opening weekend.
But Gregor Townsend’s side faded fast from the promising start and remain an inconsistent force. They are now battling to avoid a second-bottom finish above perennial wooden spoon winners Italy.
And their Dublin record makes for grim reading. Scotland have triumphed only once on their last 13 visits to the Irish capital, a 23-20 success at Croke Park in 2010.
That dismal run of results aside, Scotland are capable of mixing it with the best on their day – as evidenced by last year’s victories in London and Paris – and could yet be party poopers.
Russell demoted to Finn-isher role
Scotland talisman Finn Russell was selected ahead of Ireland captain Johnny Sexton for last summer’s British and Irish Lions tour.
But an intriguing battle between world-class fly-halves will have to wait as the mercurial Russell has been dropped to the visitors’ bench and replaced by Blair Kinghorn.
The performances of the 29-year-old Racing 92 star during the championship have been the subject of scrutiny from some critics. And his eyebrow-raising omission is particularly notable since Townsend has made only two changes to the side which started last week’s win in Italy.
Quizzed on the surprise selection, the Scotland head coach preferred to focus on the merits of starting Edinburgh man Kinghorn, who has excelled recently at club level.
Scrum struggles
All eyes will be on Ireland’s scrum on the back of last weekend’s stuttering win over 14-man England at Twickenham.
The English forwards engineered six penalties in London, leaving head coach Eddie Jones questioning why referee Mathieu Raynal did not penalise the misfiring visitors more harshly by reaching for a yellow card.
Ireland coach Farrell promised a harsh review into what went wrong after conceding his pack came off second best.
Yet he also defended his side’s malfunctioning set-piece, describing it as “world-class”, and has opted against changes to the all-Leinster front row of Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong.
Comments on RugbyPass
The game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
2 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
5 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
1 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
1 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
2 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
5 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
5 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
5 Go to comments