As quotes buffets go over the next few days, with Ireland seeking their eighth successive win against Scotland, expect a large return of deference, tolerance and boiler plate replies. It will be strictly a total respect zone. But it hasn’t always been.
Players don’t need the distraction of ulterior motives. But there is no doubting the spiky relationship Ireland has had with their Celtic neighbours in recent times. Call it motivational tension.
“I think there’s a bit of simmering anger in the Irish team from five to 10 years of going to Murrayfield,” said former Leinster and Ireland Sevens outhalf Andy Dunne this week.
“A solid back-in-your-box performance? I think they are very driven to do that in Murrayfield against a particular Scottish group that have talked a lot.”
That ought to do it, increase the snarl between the sides, which could, in some part, involve Munster’s fractious relationship with Glasgow Warriors.
Keith Earls was sent off when the teams met in 2016 and complained that Fraser Brown overly animated a collision. A year later tempers flared again in the return match at Scotstoun.
Glasgow players were accused of targeting the exposed standing leg of Conor Murray when the scrumhalf box-kicked from the back of the ruck. Backrow Ryan Wilson later admitted with some pride that was the Glasgow strategy, and if Munster were annoyed it had evidently worked.
“There was that whole thing about us targeting Conor Murray when he was kicking the ball from the base of rucks, which we were,” said Wilson.
Murray, who believed there was a dangerous aspect to what Glasgow were doing, especially after a hit by Josh Strauss when no action was taken. He didn’t hold back.
“I’m properly pissed off about that. I don’t see any benefit in charging down someone’s standing leg. I only see it as a danger or as a potential to get injured,” said Murray.
This year, there is more at stake as Scotland threaten to push on from promising with potential to accomplishing something significant. The scalp of the world number one side and pool rivals would do fine a few months out from the World Cup.
But from 1989 to 1999 Ireland couldn’t catch a kick in a stampede in Dublin or Edinburgh. In that 10-year stretch the team didn’t win a single game against Scotland with just a 6-6 draw in 1994 at Lansdowne Road breaking the miserable run. A long time to ruminate.
Then, over the next 10 years, Scotland won just two of the meetings between the teams and that trend has continued. Of the last 14 meetings Scotland have won two.
That kind of imbalance both sharpens hunger this week and puts pressure on Ireland to dominate the growl and snap relationship in this of all years.
However, in 2017 the words turned sharp after Joe Schmidt complained following an Irish defeat in Murrayfield that the squad were 15 minutes late arriving to the ground, although he emphasised the delay was no reason for the loss. The Scotsman newspaper thought otherwise in a news piece the following year.
“Ireland blamed bus delay for Scotland defeat last year” ran the headline with the body of text beginning: “Ireland blamed the bus arriving at Murrayfield 15 minutes late for their 27-22 loss to Scotland.”
On the outside Schmidt took it well, even though ‘busgate’ was confirmed after it became known Scottish police had diverted it from the planned route to Murrayfield.
“It’s an incredibly simple route from The Balmoral [Hotel] to Murrayfield. How the policemen got lost will forever be a bit of a mystery for us,” said a deadpan Schmidt.
That same year Ireland took another blow when the IRFU lost out to France to host this year’s Rugby World Cup. National pride was on the line for this one. But Ireland just couldn’t get the votes they needed as the horse trading gathered pace.
The then IRFU chief executive Philip Browne expressed his sense of let down at Ireland finishing third behind South Africa, thanks to just eight votes from the secret ballot.
“We know that Scotland and Wales didn’t vote for us and that made a huge difference,” Browne told RTÉ.
“As our nearest neighbours, that is a huge disappointment to us. Scotland were pretty consistent in saying they would wait for the evaluation report and that they would go with the bid that produces the most money. But even so it is terribly disappointing.”
Closer to home recent Irish dominance over Scotland didn’t assuage the disappointment of the 2021 Lions squad selection that lost the series 2-1 in South Africa. Heads were doubtlessly scratched in Ireland, wondering what Scotland attack coach Gregor Townsend might have been whispering into the ear of Warren Gatland.
Ireland had eight players assigned seats on the flight to Cape Town and Scotland had eight players too. Finn Russell was chosen ahead of Johnny Sexton, Chris Harris picked instead of Garry Ringrose and Hamish Watson included while 2022 World Player of the Year, Josh van der Flier, was not on the plane.
Spice is baked into the relationship between Scotland and Ireland and with World Cup implications more so this year than ever. Fans embrace it. Players use it. That’s the way it has always gone.
