Scots fired up for duel with ‘best Irish team since the war’

Chris Roberts

The Australian had no hesitation in giving the 22 who had their hearts broken by France last Saturday a vote of confidence by naming the same squad for the visit of pre-tournament favourites Ireland to Murrayfield.

But even with home advantage, Williams expects Eddie O'Sullivan's men to be an even tougher challenge than France.

"I think they are the most talented Irish team since the war," said Williams. "It was tough to go to France and get something but we will have to be even better here."

Hugo Southwell's last-gasp mistake cost his side a famous result in the Stade de France, but the Australian has decided to stick with him at inside centre.

"This is justified reward for the positive effort from all who were involved in Paris," added the coach.

"We need as much cohesion with that group as possible against the tournament favourites.

"We always review after every match and after reviewing the performance I was generally pleased with the performance.

"I wasn't too happy with the last few minutes but on analysis everything else was quite good."

Williams was critical of touch judge Simon McDowell and referee Nigel Williams for crucial mistakes in the same game but he had no concerns over French official Joel Jutge.

He joked: "I support all officials like always."

Ireland have suffered a huge blow with the loss of injured skipper lost injury concerns over centres Brian O'Driscoll, and possibly Gordon D'Arcy, but Williams believes their opponents can deal with that. Williams added: "We can control a lot of things but we can't control the opposition's side.

"We purposely don't focus on two players and whether they are playing or not playing because they still have plenty of great players waiting by.

"That's the real plus with Irish rugby at the moment. Their strength in depth is excellent especially in the backs they are full of class players."

Williams has urged the Scottish public to get behind their players and in return promised the performances to be proud of.

"You usually go phases without winning but the players have to block those things out and concentrate on their game," he concluded. "We can't do anymore in terms of effort.

"But all of us heard the Flower of Scotland in Paris and it was quite extraordinary and the French crowd were quite quiet.

"But I want to hear them support the players here because we need that support this week. The game is a sell-out and it's a great message to all rugby supporters in Scotland.

"The players are giving everything and if people see that then that's a really good message for the future of Scottish rugby.

"That's a great reason to support the national team and I would ask people to come along and give it their best.

"We want to give a performance for the nation to be proud of and if we keep doing that then the winning will start to come."