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Preview: Scotland visit all about how Ireland play their game

Updated / Saturday, 1 Feb 2020 00:43
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton and Scottish counterpart Stuart Hogg
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton and Scottish counterpart Stuart Hogg

The Andy Farrell era gets under way this afternoon when Ireland welcome Scotland to the Aviva Stadium for their opening Guinness Six Nations clash.

For many it will be a chance to cleanse the system of the last remnants of 2019 – a miserable and drawn out affair made worse by the seed of hope planted in a wonderfully successful 2018.

The last time we saw these players in green they slumped off the pitch at the Tokyo Stadium after a 46-14 defeat to New Zealand.

The year started with a devastating defeat to England in Dublin and was followed by losses to Wales, England (away) and Japan.

Beating the All Blacks was always going to be a stretch but it was a punch-drunk side that rocked up and they never really had a shot.

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But the gods of the Six Nations fixture list have been kind. Barring an opening-day clash with Italy, this is the best draw Farrell, who steps up to the top job after four years as assistant, could have got.

Ireland have lost just four times in the sides’ last 20 championship meetings and you have to go back to 2010 to find the last time the Scots won in Dublin.

Under Joe Schmidt, Ireland completely outplayed them at the World Cup, winning 27-3, and Gregor Townsend’s side crashed out after a limp 28-21 defeat to Japan.

Normally these previews come with a note of caution about those stubborn Scots and how they have form in upsetting the odds. That’s not included here.

Not that form automatically transfers from club to country (Wales, the prime example) but 11 of the Irish starters have helped their province reach the last eight of the Champions Cup, while new captain Stuart Hogg (Exeter) and Sean Matiland (Saracens) are the only two Scots from the XV who will see action in Europe in April.

That Finn Russell was not considered due to a "breach of team protocol" is a massive blow to their slim chances.

Everyone knew the Racing 92 out-half had a bag of magic tricks but who would have thought it included making pints disappear faster than Townsend could count them.

Glasgow Warriors out-half Adam Hastings takes over, winning his 17th cap on his first Six Nations start. He is considered a player in the same mold as Russell but has not yet been tested at this level. 

Edinburgh’s Nick Haining gets a debut at number 8.

But this match will, once again, be about how Ireland go about their business.

Asked how Farrell differs to Schmidt as a head coach at Thursday’s press conference, Johnny Sexton, the new captain, blew out his cheeks and told RTÉ Sport: "Wow, em, I think the beauty of having Andy working under Joe for as long as he did, is that he has taken a lot of the good stuff with him.

"There is a few differences but obviously I can’t go into them because I don’t want to tell Scotland our game plan. 

"But I hope that you get to see it on Saturday. Sometimes you can prepare to play a brilliant expansive game and if you don’t get the right set-piece and get first-phase ball or get put under pressure it can disintegrate.

"We will try our best to put out the new style of play that we have been working on," he added.

"It could take a while, it might not appear in this campaign or this game or it could all come to fruition on Saturday.

Let's be satisfied from that reply that the skipper is hinting that we will see a less risk-adverse game.

Farrell has made five changes to the team beaten by New Zealand with Rob Herring replacing retired captain Rory Best at hooker.

There is a debut for 21-year-old Caelan Doris at the back of the scrum, who "has proven that he can stand out at European level," said Sexton. 

The Mayo man’s inclusion means CJ Stander shifts out to 6.

Conor Murray has held off the in-form John Cooney, while Bundee Aki gets the nod over Robbie Henshaw.

Andrew Conway gets a well-deserved Six Nations start on the wing, while Jordan Larmour will get a chance to light up Lansdowne Road from full-back. He said that Farrell wants them to "express" themselves. 

The comments of former skipper Brian O’Driscoll about Ireland’s lack of a 'dog’ were brought up during the week but it’s a factor that Sexton believes will be evident, although, as opposed to Herring, he did see where the Irish legend was coming from.

"I saw the headline and the gist of it," he said. "Look, I can understand what he is saying.

"But there is a few guys in there who have a bit of grunt about them. Hopefully they can show that on Saturday."

The Scots have been talking it up this week but they won't walk the walk on Saturday afternoon.

"We must be a relentless collective on the pitch and a nightmare for the Irish to deal with," said Townsend as he named his team, who won just one championship game last season. 

Ireland can sleep easy.

Ireland: Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Johnny Sexton (capt), Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, James Ryan, CJ Stander, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Peter O'Mahony, John Cooney, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.  

Scotland: Stuart Hogg (capt); Sean Maitland, Huw Jones, San Johnson, Blair Kinghorn, Adam Hastings, Ali Price; Rory Sutherland, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Nick Haining

Replacements: Stuart McInally, Allan Dell, Simon Berghan, Ben Toolis, Cornell du Preez, George Horne, Rory Hutchinson, Chris Harris.

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Michael Glennon RTÉ Sport Journalist

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Michael Glennon

RTÉ Sport Journalist