The seemingly endless permutations for Scotland v Ireland have got a lot of people talking this week and anything that does that in our sport, when it is in the shop window for seven weeks, is a good thing.
The only discussion Ireland would have been having is about how they win. If Ireland win then they are in the quarter-finals, plain and simple. Clarity of mind leads to the clinical type of performances that we’ve seen from them for quite some time now. Ireland have a mindset that they know if they play well, they win and that is all they will be thinking about.
For Scotland, the challenge is far harder. Clearly there is some frustration at being written off before a ball is kicked but, I’m sorry, it’s just the reality of the situation. They’re playing against the best team in the world according to the rankings, having already lost to the defending champions. It’s only reasonable to say that Scotland are underdogs – New Zealand would be underdogs if they end up going into a quarter-final against Ireland.
Scotland can, however, harness their frustrations. They can use it as positive fuel but the biggest issue is that it is not just a straight shootout. They have a winning margin they need to aim for and that makes their task all the more difficult. In saying that, the first thing they need to focus on is defending as robustly as possible. Ireland are going to enjoy a lot of possession and they have shown themselves to be so clinical when they have the ball and go through multiple phases.
Above all else, Scotland need to repel those endless waves of attack because if your sole focus is chasing points, I promise you you’ll leave the backdoor open and your defence may just go missing. There’s no point scoring four or five tries, conceding four or five tries and it all being fruitless. The first thing they have to do is get their defence right.
Equally, they cannot chase their end goal too early and start thinking about the bonus point from the word go. Scoreboard pressure is an unbelievable asset in international rugby. Just look at the pressure Georgia put Fiji under for large spells, or how England turned the screw against Argentina. I don’t think Finn Russell has ever kicked a drop-goal in his career but Saturday may be a good time to start.
Russell’s showdown with Johnny Sexton is a delicious subplot in this match, driven by how the former was preferred for the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour. Russell is a magician, a beautiful player and one of the most talented fly-halves on the planet but this is effectively knockout rugby and there is no debate in situations like this considering all that Sexton has achieved in the game.
Above all else though, I just hope we can appreciate the differences. I refer to Ian Foster’s comments about preferring to watch a match like the All Blacks’ victory over Italy than Ireland’s over South Africa but I genuinely believe that supporters want to see both styles and that to truly enjoy one, you have to appreciate the other. By the same token, what sets up Saturday night’s match perfectly is that the manner in which both fly-halves play is ideally suited to how Scotland and Ireland have to approach the fixture. That makes for a tantalising prospect but Scotland have it all to do.
Time to accept officials will make mistakes
In the opening month of this World Cup there have been inconsistencies from officials and there has been human error. That has to be expected and if we are going to get mistakes from coaches and players then we must accept that we will get the same from referees and TMOs. When they get abuse as a result – as we saw with Wayne Barnes not so long ago – it crosses the line and Matt Carley came in for some pretty rough treatment after Fiji v Wales.
It is incomparable to what referees and officials have to go through in football, however, as demonstrated by the fallout from the VAR controversy in Tottenham’s win over Liverpool. It can be difficult to compare the two sports because football has a global reach that rugby simply cannot compete with, but I am genuinelystaggered at the approach in football this week and the decision to release the audio and the transcript of the decision-making process. As an observer, I’ve found it really quite difficult to stomach. Is it now going to happen in every match? Who are they trying to satisfy or appease with what has been done?
We have to accept imperfections. We don’t live in a utopian world but all that has been achieved is more vitriol and abuse for officials trying to do their best in such a high-pressured environment. The end decision was not their best, it was incompetent, but we’ll have no referees if this is our attitude towards mistakes by officials. What is the incentive for any young boy or girl to go into refereeing knowing that at the highest level you can be open to this level of criticism and public battering for days after the event.
For every referee going out to do their job this weekend there is considerably heightened pressure and we expect them to operate at the same level. Players and coaches struggle with pressure and referees are no different. A Pandora’s box has been opened and I don’t know how they draw the line under it and move on.
