After all most 200 years, one of rugby’s oldest “tenets of faith” still holds solid. If your tight five dominate their opposition, then you will win the game.
The term tight five is no accident. As the great Wallaby player and coach Dave Brockhoff, use to scream at his pack: "I want to be able to throw a tea towel over the lot of you."
A big, strong, powerful, tightly bound mass, of rugby flesh.
Tomorrow at the Aviva, this truth will be ringing out as loud and clear as a highland Kirk’s bell. Calling the rugby faithful to hear the true word of “the game they play in heaven”.
“If thou shalt have a dominate tight five, victory is yours,” says the grizzled wise old coach. “The Fighter Pilots,” in the backrow and the “Rock Stars” in the backs, shall only benefit if thy team has a mighty five ‘piggies’ up front, in thy engine room.”
The interpretation of this passage from the rugby’s old testament, tells us that if your front and secondrow dominate, you will win.
“Piggy” being an ancient expression of loving endearment towards our less glamourised comrades, numbered one to five, while the “engine room” refers to the place where the forwards collide, creating rising steam.
All from a time long ago and a place far, far away. Laugh if you will, but if you fail to heed the message your team will fail.
Amid the wreckage from last year's Rugby World Cup in one match, Ireland did listen to the grizzled old rugby prophet. In their pool match against Scotland, the Irish game plan was, as the great Bill McLaren would have said, "absolutely ticket-y-boo".
Ireland aimed their attack at the space underneath the Scottish forwards with devastating effect. At scrum time, at the maul and in the close quarters ball carrying, the Irish tight five pumped their legs and got under the Scottish forwards’ centre of gravity.
Ireland's pack demolished their Scottish counterparts. You can have Michelangelo and Albert Einstein behind the scrum, but if your tight five get beaten up, no backline genius will save you.
Now, Finn Russell is such a genius and an absolute joy to watch, but his own actions have denied the Irish public the opportunity to watch his brilliant, instinctive abilities.
By drinking while in camp before a Test match, Russell has sent a message to his team-mates that he is not prepared to place his ego secondary, to the performance of the Scottish team. He has a mountain of work to perform before he regains the trust and respect of his team-mates.
Gregor Townsend has rightly banished Russell because no individual is bigger than the team. Townsend's decision should be applauded. The conspiracy theories about arguments between the two are rubbish. Players who forcefully express themselves to coaches, like David Campese and Johnny Sexton, do not go out drinking while in camp. These are two separate issues.
International rugby teams are populated by humans who are obsessed with winning and full of creative tension. If there is no blood spilt through at training or passionate discussions about how the team performs, then that team is in a comfort zone and they will be defeated.
Comfort zones get exploited when opposition teams bully your team and Ireland’s front five will try to bully Scotland.
Cian Healy, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, James Ryan, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, David Kilcoyne and the hugely promising Rónan Kelleher, will dominate the Scottish pack.
If Andy Farrell empowers his tight five to attack the heart of the Scottish forwards, he will also provide many opportunities for his newly minted number eight, Caelan Doris, to carry from the scrum base. Something the explosive 21-one-year old does very well.
As always, when the Irish forwards dominate, then the Irish halves will be provided with an armchair ride.
If this occurs, and I believe it will, then Scottish hopes end here.
In selecting Sexton, after a long layoff and the out of form Murray, coach Farrell has done the right thing for himself. Farrell’s long-term survival pivots on him being uncontroversial and gaining some victories in his first year. He must also maintain the loyalty of the older players. Only then can he look at RWC 23.
Regrettably, John Cooney suffers the collateral damage.
This is an observation of Andy Farrell, not a criticism. I would do the same.
For Andy Farrell and Ireland's new attack coach Mike Catt, a non-negotiable is we must see the reintroduction of counterattack into Ireland's game. Larmour, Conway and Stockdale can be a world-class counterattacking unit and a real try-scoring weapon.
The Scots will run everything and hope that Stuart Hogg and Sean Maitland's individual skills will create opportunities for their replacement outhalf Adam Hastings. Ireland cannot afford to underestimate this young man. He is good.
In the end, Townsend and his team will find it impossible to neutralise Ireland’s power, talent, skill and speed.
With Wales at home next week, then England and France away, an Irish win against Scotland is imperative.
As a fledgeling head coach, Andy Farrell will take his first tentative steps forward, with an opening victory.
