Rugby: A crowning glory awaits? No doubt the T-shirts have been printed and all that remains is for the t's to be crossed and the i's to be dotted. And therein lies the rub. For to win the Triple Crown, Ireland most probably need initially to forget about the Triple Crown.
Hype and and heavy expectations rarely sit well with Irish teams. The last time Ireland had a shot at this prize, in 1985, the hype was almost overpowering.
The concern, therefore, for Ireland is as much mental as anything else, given recent performances on big occasions.
There's a core of Leinster players who have additional baggage here on big days, if you add in last season's Heineken European Cup semi-final at home to Perpignan to the 46-6 Grand Slam defeat to England and the 43-21 World Cup quarter-final defeat to France, not to mention the nervy effort against Argentina.
But there's a professionalism and confidence about this team that suggests they shouldn't be overcome by stage fright and can play the game rather than the occasion. And ultimately, the prize should even inspire them.
There are also, of course, those dastardly Scots. They like to spoil a party, and generally have at least one big win or performance up their sleeve; witness when they denied England the Grand Slam and averted a whitewash in the last match four seasons ago. Coincidentally, though, they were last whitewashed in 1985.
Despite their results, Scotland have a strong spine through their pack in Gordon Bulloch, Scott Murray and Simon Taylor; and not only Chris Paterson but the team in general may benefit from him reverting to full back, though the jury is out on the relatively inexperienced 25-year-old Dan Parks.
They've also lost flanker Cameron Mather, who is replaced by Alastair Hogg, with Jon Petrie on the bench, whereas John Hayes and Marcus Horan have both been passed fit.
Hayes is a key component of the set plays, and a key source of Ireland's strength in their last three wins - indeed for over the last year - has been their excellent lineout. Statistically, Scotland have the best lineout that Ireland will encounter in this championship and as coach Matt Williams said yesterday, their set pieces have held up pretty well. "It's in multi-phase attack and defence where we've had the problems."
Their confidence, however, looks to be at a low ebb. After four defeats out of four in this championship under Williams, it would probably require things to go right at various junctures, especially early on, to convince the Scots they can win this game.
Thus, to ensure that doesn't happen, Ireland mightn't be too flashy to begin with, preferring instead to ensnare the Scots in a vice-like grip. Heretofore they've had Ronan O'Gara's vastly superior kicking game and a potent lineout maul to do just that.
By comparison, Scotland haven't had the same means of go-forward ball, and it's been the same with the two back lines and general running game. Granted, Eddie O'Sullivan made a valid point when noting the Scots had better joy when simply running hard and straight with the likes of Jason White, Taylor, Bulloch and Simon Danielli. It could well be that they'll ask more questions of Ireland's defence than they did of France last week, all the more so given the loss of Keith Gleeson's tackling and defensive organisational skills.
Williams cannot be enjoying the prospect of presiding over a whitewash in his first campaign, especially with a conclusion in Dublin. It will be fascinating to see if he can tailor Scotland's tactics, and primarily their defence, to negate the running skills of players he knows as well as anyone: Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan and Girvan Dempsey.
However, up until now, Scotland's in-and-out, drift defence has struggled after a few phases and looks tailor-made for O'Driscoll and D'Arcy to exploit with their ability to hold the line, change direction and take on tacklers one-on-one on their inside shoulders. Throw in the menace of Geordan Murphy, and sooner or later Ireland will start probing through the middle and out wide.
The sense of occasion will be altogether grander than last week, and if the forecast holds true it will not impose any limitations on Ireland's game. O'Sullivan maintained "anything above a 1-0 win would be a bonus", but if they get clear well before the end, Ireland could well sign off the campaign with a fitting flourish.
Former players may be sniping away at Williams already, and though he says "it goes with the territory", he did admit he found some of their observations "ignorant about the professional game", adding that anyone who thinks Scotland merely need to try harder and they'll start winning games is "off the pace" and that changing coaches is not a short-term fix. "But," he added, "opinions are like backsides - everybody has one."
The bottom line is that, as Williams asserted, Ireland and Irish rugby are five years into a cycle Scotland are only kickstarting. Just as pertinently, they don't have the same quality of players right now, especially in the backs.
Aside from a vastly sharper cutting edge, there are clear signs that Ireland have matured significantly in the post-Keith Wood era, that more players have assumed responsibility, and that the high-achieving O'Driscoll has the midas touch.
Brian O'Brien watched the 1948 Grand Slam decider in Ravenhill with his father, and was a selector on the 1982 Triple Crown-winning side but would rate this higher because he's more involved. His life story is evidence that opportunities like this don't come along very often, about every 20 years, he notes, "and one of the reasons is that on each occasion we simply had great players".
Ireland look like a side who have maturity to handle this, and after just half a dozen of them in 130-odd years, a Crown would be worth crowing about.
RELEVANT STATISTICS
Overall record: Played 116. Scotland 61 wins, Ireland 49 wins, Draws 5, Abandoned 1.
Last five meetings: (2000) Ireland 44 Scotland 22. (2001) Scotland 32 Ireland 10. (2002) Ireland 43 Scotland 22. (2003) Scotland 6 Ireland 36. Scotland 10 Ireland 29.
Five-game formguide: Ireland - 21-43 v France; 17-35 v France (a); 36-15 v Wales (h); 19-13 v England (a); 19-3 v Italy (h). Scotland - 16-33 v Australia (a); 10-23 v Wales (a); 13-35 v England (h); 14-20 v Italy (a); 0-31 v France (h).
Leading try scorers: Ireland - Brian O'Driscoll 3, Anthony Foley, Shane Byrne 2 each. Scotland - S Danielli, Simon Taylor, S Webster 1 each.
Leading points scorers: Ireland - Ronan O'Gara 36 (1T, 5P, 8C). Scotland - Chris Paterson 22 (5P, 1DG, 2C).
Betting (Paddy Powers): 1/20 Ireland, 33/1 Draw, 9/1 Scotland. Handicap betting (= Scotland + 24 pts) 10/11 Ireland, 16/1 Draw, 10/11 Scotland.
Forecast: Ireland to win.
