Triple Crown is well within reach

IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll and coach Declan Kidney last night tried to put some perspective on this evening’s Triple Crown decider at Croke Park.

The pair know there is massive expectation, with the bookmaker making it a 14-pointer in the handicap and the side almost unmatchable favourites for a fifth Triple Crown in seven years.

But O’Driscoll and Kidney are well aware Ireland are rarely at their best in such a situation. True, Scotland look a good bet for the dreaded “wooden spoon” and Ireland certainly have had that winners’ look about them the longer the campaign went on. But the Scots have been decidedly unlucky in at least two of those games and are almost certainly a better side than one draw from four games would suggest.