Ireland captain Paula Fitzpatrick is wary about the threat Scotland will pose in Friday’s Six Nations opener in Cumbernauld.
Ireland haven’t lost to Scotland since 2007 and they’ve put at least 30 points on them in each of their games since 2013. Two years ago the girls in green hammered the Scots by 73-3.
Fitzpatrick’s team are raging hot favourites to extend their winning run and get their campaign off to the best possible start, but the skipper isn’t taking the opposition lightly.
“We have had good results, but within the games themselves the first halves were quite tough,” said the 31-year-old backrow who plays her rugby with Toulouse in France.
“Scotland will come out all guns blazing and they’ll be very tough. They lost to Spain in a world cup qualifier recently which means they’re missing out on the world cup so they’ll be looking to take a big scalp in the Six Nations and prove their worth.
“They’re a proud group of players with a lot of talent within their team. They’ll really be looking to put a marker down.
“We’re very conscious that anything can happen. The more years the Six Nations goes on the closer the teams are coming together.
“The time you take a team for granted is the time you slip on the banana skin so we would be wary of that - we’re confident, but wary of that. Playing at home in front of a home crowd in Scotland will come out with all guns blazing,” said Fitzpatrick, speaking to RTÉ Sport.
All of Ireland women’s Six Nations matches will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2 television this season, which is a first and a major boost for the game.
Fitzpatrick says she was delighted when she heard the news and believes it’s an important stepping-stone along the way to the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which takes place in Ireland later this year.
“It was a big boost to hear that RTÉ were covering all the games – it gives you a bit of backing that the demand is there and that people want to see it,” she said.
“With the world cup coming up it’s great to get that buzz going and make sure that there’s going to be a great atmosphere at UCD in August.”
Watch live coverage of Ireland v Scotland on RTÉ 2 on Friday, kick-off 6.35.
