Resurgent Scots now a direct threat to Schmidt’s Slambitions

By all accounts, it was the same across the rugby clubs and bars all over the country, Irish supporters on their feet, cheering deliriously for Scotland as developments in Murrayfield were unfolding immediately following Ireland’s tight win over Wales.

That derailing of the chariot will, of course, have a big bearing on the destination of this season’s Six Nations championship, with the defeat of Eddie Jones’s men offering Ireland some breathing space at the top of the championship heading into our next challenging encounter against Gregor Townsend’s charges.

Ironic really how the rugby public get so animated by the sight of the English, the only home country to row in behind our ill-fated 2023 Rugby World Cup bid, being smashed by the Scots whose lack of support, along with the Welsh, to host that tournament proved so decisive.

Having also supported Irish rugby in its time of need by travelling to Dublin back in 1973 when Wales and Scotland refused to travel the previous season due to the escalating troubles in the North, we really should cut the English slack sometime soon.

The timing of that famous Scottish win, only England’s second defeat in the 26 games since Eddie Jones took charge, will have been warmly welcomed by Joe Schmidt for two reasons. The most obvious is that it puts Ireland firmly in pole position to win the 2018 Six Nations title.

The second reason, a recognition and timely reminder to all that the Scots, despite that appalling opening day collapse against Wales in Cardiff, pose a credible threat to Irish ambitions — something that might have been harder for Schmidt to sell to the media and general public had Scotland lost two of their three championship outings — when they arrive in Dublin.

England coach Eddie Jones.

There was never any question of the Irish squad taking that challenge lightly, especially after what happened in Murrayfield last season, but by beating England so comprehensively last weekend, everyone has been put on notice that Scotland have the capacity to pose problems for us, not least in attack.

Had they lost to the English, there would have been so much hype about that potential Grand Slam showdown in Twickenham, with the Scottish game portrayed as a clash to get out of the way before the final hurdle.

While there would have been no such talk within the squad sometimes, despite the management’s best efforts, it’s difficult to avoid outside influences taking hold within the confines of the team room and seeping into the subconscious.

I wonder how much of a factor that was in England’s lacklustre performance in Edinburgh on the back of everyone in the English media and on television predicting another comprehensive win after demolishing Scotland 61-21 in London last season.

I did comment in these pages only two weeks ago how distinctly underwhelmed I had become watching England last November and in their opening two games and having observed some of their key performers in action for their clubs in Europe. I felt sure that someone, hopefully Ireland, would expose them soon. Unfortunately, Scotland beat us to the punch. Whether or not that works to our advantage, we will have to wait and see.

What we can say with certainty is that there will be a reaction from within the England camp with the French likely to feel the immediate brunt of that in Paris in 10 days’ time.

There will have to be a pretty serious response and that just might serve to drain some of their reserves of physical and emotional energy in the week leading to our visit to Twickenham.

Eddie Jones often sets himself up for a fall through his pre-match utterances but more often than not, he walks the walk. Not on this occasion however and he came across as pretty poisonous in at least one of his post-match interviews.

Tough job being a pitchside interrogator these days, just ask RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue.

RTE's Tony O'Donoghue and Martin O'Neill.

Jones was being more than a little disingenuous during the week when describing Scotland No 10 Finn Russell, who had a very poor opening to his Six Nations campaign, as a special player. You could sense the sarcasm and the chuckle under his breath.

Whether or not his disparaging comments about Welsh No 10 Rhys Patchell in the previous round had an impact on his poor performance, only the player himself can comment but Russell, to his eternal credit, showed how resilient he is after very poor outings against Wales and France to respond with a really commanding performance.

While I’m not so sure it warranted the man of the match accolade — Scottish captain John Barclay and try scoring hero Huw Jones were immense — Russell showed admirable character, as have the Scottish squad as a whole given that disastrous showing against Wales after the hype surrounding them entering the tournament.

At least Townsend has two weeks to bring his players back to earth and reset the focus on the race for championship honours which a win over Ireland would offer them.

Given that they face a beleaguered Italian side in what is likely to be a dry track in Rome on the final day of action, a win in Dublin would place them in a really strong position.

That brief hiatus from championship action also offers Joe Schmidt time to ponder the recurring defensive issues that has resulted in six tries being conceded, mostly in the wide channels in the final quarter of action, against Italy and Wales.

Townsend will relish the opportunities those system glitches offer his exciting back three of Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, and the free-running Stuart Hogg.

Rob Kearney and Bundee Aki at Ireland training February 2018.

On far too many occasions their Irish counterparts Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale, Rob Kearney, and Fergus McFadden when he came on last Saturday were faced with covering large tracts of space with two or three attackers running at them.

That has to be fixed before it proves as costly as it did in the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina in 2015.

At least the other major issue that sank Ireland that day, the loss of key players to injury, is being addressed as evidenced by the performances of championship rookies Chris Farrell, Andrew Porter, James Ryan and Dan Leavy against the Welsh.

All four made really positive contributions — sadly’s Farrell’s championship is now over after suffering a ligament injury.

It now appears Schmidt will have the added comfort of having recent injury victims Iain Henderson, Tadhg Furlong, and Gary Ringrose back in the selection mix for the final two games against Scotland and England.

At the very least that will serve to strengthen the bench impact, which has been a real factor in the tournament to date, even further. Unfortunately, it looks as if Sean O’Brien won’t play any part in the campaign due to the ongoing issues surrounding his hip.

As if to add further credence to the pounding that back-row forwards are exposed to these days, not one of the Lions starting trio of O’Brien, Sam Warburton, and Taulupe Faletau from the decisive second and third tests against New Zealand last summer have experienced a minute’s action in this season’s tournament, with Faletau now the only one likely to do so.

Tournament’s of this nature often come down in favour of the squad that displays the greatest resilience and instinct for survival in the face of adversity.

Ireland displayed those key attributes right from the off in that remarkable endgame in Paris and again last Saturday when Wales refused to go quietly. Chances are they will be asked to do so once again before this championship is ultimately decided.