Whatever happens on Saturday at Aviva Stadium, expect Darcy Graham's comments to be discussed after the game.
If Scotland do finally end their 11-game losing streak against Ireland, then his proclamation that this Irish side are "there for the taking" will have been bang on the money, and just a further sign of the confidence instilled by Gregor Townsend.
If Ireland continue their dominance in this fixture, those words will be coming back to haunt him. After all, we’ve seen that movie before.
Back in 2023, Blair Kinghorn made an equally bullish claim ahead of their meeting at the World Cup in Paris, insisting his side would end Ireland’s then 16-game winning streak, only to be blown apart at Stade de France, much to the delight of Peter O’Mahony.
"They were in the press beforehand saying they were going to knock us off and end our streak, how they figured us out and worked us out. I don’t think they did, to be honest with you," the Ireland flanker witheringly put it after the 36-14 win.
The sides have met twice since, and Ireland have won both to make it 11 consecutive wins against their Six Nations rivals, who last came out on top in this fixture in 2017.
In previous years, that Scottish confidence was often hard to justify, considering they haven't won the championship since 1999, and are 36 years waiting for a Triple Crown.
While they lost to Italy in their opening round in Rome, that result hasn’t aged badly now that we’ve seen the level Italy are playing at, and after producing a sensational 50-40 win against France last weekend, Ireland assistant Andrew Goodman believes they have every reason to come to Dublin with their chests puffed out for Saturday's Triple Crown decider.
"They've earned the right to be confident from the way they've played, to put 50 points on a French team that were flying high and everyone was saying was unbeatable in this competition," the Ireland attack and backs coach said yesterday, when asked about Graham's comments.
"They've earned the right to have confidence and belief in their game. It’s adding to the occasion of the game.
"We take massive pride in playing at home in front of our people, so it's our job to make sure they come here and they don't get to play that brand of rugby at our home ground. That's our challenge."
If Goodman and his fellow coaches learned anything from how Scotland carved up France, it would have been the importance of controlling your own game.
With Finn Russell pulling the strings of the Scottish attack, and with game-breaking backs like Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn and Graham outside him, the Scots thrive off unstructured rugby.
And Goodman (above) believes game management will be a major focus for them this week.
"It was one of our big review points," the Ireland assistant added.
"I don't think we managed that middle third of the field that well against Wales, and we've looked at that and discussed how we can be better there as a group.
"Again, the accuracy in the kick in the air makes a big difference. If we are going to kick, we've got to make sure it's on point and we've got to make sure we're really contesting in the air, so they don't get any of those scrappy balls, because with the likes of [Blair] Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, etc in the back there, they’re dangerous and they've got time and space on the ball.
"So we'll make sure we talk about that, both sides of the ball, attack and defence."
With that in mind, the likes of Rob Baloucoune, Jamie Osborne and either Jacob Stockdale or Tommy O’Brien will have key roles to play in ensuring that when Ireland do kick contestables, they come back on the Irish side.
That was one of the big failings of the opening-round defeat to France in Paris, but it’s been an area of strength since through the wins against Italy, England and Wales.
"Every week we're making sure we put massive effort into the skillsets in terms of the kicking and the catching, but also the ability to play off that unstructured ball and make sharp decisions and skill accuracy under that pressure. So it’s something we're still growing."
"I thought, in the Italian match and again against England, we had some good aerial moments which led to some good transitional attack. Probably again on the weekend, we didn't have the success we wanted in terms of the aerial game and we know how important it is to get that attack against the unstructured [defence]," Goodman added.
A win for Ireland would secure a fourth Triple Crown in five seasons, and would keep them in the hunt for the Six Nations title itself, needing France to slip up at home to England in order for that to happen.
But with the second part of that equation out of their hands, Goodman insists his side are only thinking about what they can manage.
"It's what's in our control, and that's the performance," he said.
"To get a Triple Crown, which we know is a huge thing for Ireland as a nation. So we'll look after that through our process during the week, and then we'll sit back and have a good watch of the next games."
Follow a live blog on Ireland v Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday from 2.10pm on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
