Ireland tend not to do penultimate games well after winning three from three, leading as it does to idle talk in the air of a Grand Slam. Perhaps that comes with the baggage of wining just two in their history, and one in the last 70 years.
Since the advent of the Six Nations in 2000, Ireland have only been in this position four times, most recently in 2015 when their Slam hopes were derailed with a 23-16 defeat in Cardiff, albeit compensation did come by way of retaining the title a week later in Murrayfield.
Even when reaching the Holy Grail in 2009, Ireland travelled to Murrayfield in round four and eventually wore down a Scottish team whose only win that year was at home to Italy, but that 22-15 win was a bare-knuckle ride until the final play.
Ireland trailed 12-9 at half-time and even after Jamie Heaslip’s try, needed a 74th minute penalty by Ronan O’Gara to keep the Scots at bay. Cue O’Gara’s drop goal and more endgame dramatics in Cardiff a week later.
In 2005, Ireland entertained France having gone three from three by beating England at Lansdowne Road a fortnight previously, but lost 26-19, before Wales beat them to complete a Slam.
In 2003, Ireland were three from three when they travelled to Cardiff in round four. Wales had been beaten by Italy, England and Scotland, and would ultimately suffer a whitewash, but led entering injury time thanks to a Stephen Jones drop goal, before an injury time drop goal by O'Gara, and then Denis Hickie charged down another attempted drop goal by Jones. Again, not good for the ticker, before England put Ireland to the sword in the Grand Slam shoot-out in Dublin.
Mention of the Grand Slam therefore has been, understandably, banned from inside the camp, according to prop Jack McGrath.
“You know that more than I do,” he said, venturing good-naturedly that the media should adhere to it too. “You shouldn’t be talking about it.”
But he acknowledged it’s a dangerous mindset coming into the penultimate round of a hitherto winning campaign.
“We owe a good performance against Scotland because we didn’t do ourselves justice last year, so we really want to get stuck into them, and they’ll be looking to get stuck into us. It will be a tight, hard-fought game and we’re not looking past it.”
However, now retired, the captain of the 2009 Grand Slam winners, Brian O’Driscoll, has no such compunction. Speaking on the BBC Radio 5 weekly rugby podcast, O’Driscoll ventured: “Personally, I have to say, because we’ve only won two Slams – like a Championship is a big deal – but none of them [the players] are thinking about another Championship. They’re 100 per cent thinking about the Slam.”
Select group
"Joe Schmidt has been asked in the last couple of weeks by the media 'are you thinking about the Slam or are you allowed to think that far ahead?' And he's obviously doing the whole thing about 'we're just focusing on Scotland' but undoubtedly he's got two Championships in the bag; he wants a Slam as well."
"It's such a collector's item in Ireland that he wants part of that prize. The Johnny Sextons of the world, when you have a couple of Championships in your back pocket, it's a lovely footing to be working from because you've got them there. There's security in that.
“But you want to elevate yourself into a really select group of players and coaches that have had an involvement in it. I am telling you they are only thinking about a Slam. The Championship would be a poor second in their eyes.”
In any case, as the only team that can win the Slam, therein lies the risk that it could be distracting.
"I guess you'd like to think not," agreed forwards coach Simon Easterby, "but it's so important [to realise] that we don't get a chance to do what you're saying if we don't get this week right. But our next focus was always going to be Scotland, and that hasn't changed this week.
“It’s easy to say but I think it is part of the quality of this group that they are next-job focused and what comes after Scotland will only be as a direct impact of what happens against Scotland. We’ll focus on that when we get past the weekend and hopefully it’s a positive outcome on the weekend so we can look forward to the potential of going to London and trying to grab something really special.”
Perhaps, as McGrath intimated, it helps that Ireland still have fresh memories of losing to Scotland last season, as well as being forewarned by their back-to-back wins over France and England.
“Eh, it wasn’t nice,” said Easterby with a rueful smile when recalling last season’s 27-22 defeat. “I’m not saying you’d want to lose to create a reason to win but there’s lots of things in that game that we feel we could have done better and Scotland to be fair to them, they were good that day.
“This is a different year, a different venue, it’s a different group of players and it’s a different situation we’re in as well, in terms of where we sit in the table, and the potential that’s at stake the week after.”
“But yeah,” said Easterby, smiling again, “it’s a different game.”
