Denis Leamy says Jamie Heaslip must lead at breakdown

Denis Leamy knew what it took to get the better of Scotland and the former Ireland back row believes the onus is on Jamie Heaslip to lead the way against the much improved visitors to Aviva Stadium this evening.

Resurgent Scotland come to Dublin for the final round of the 2016 RBS 6 Nations searching for an historic three wins in a row after seeing off Italy and France to end a run of nine successive losses in the championship.

And much of that turnaround has been achieved on the back of some exemplary breakdown work by the Scottish back row.

Acknowledging Andrew Trimble’s assertion that this is the best Scotland team his former Test team-mate will have faced in a decade of playing Scotland, Leamy believes Heaslip’s leadership at the breakdown will be essential.

“The one thing you get with every Scottish side is that they’re very technically good in that aspect of the game and if you’re not on the money you’re going to come out second best against them,” said Leamy.

Denis Leamy

“They use that platform, the Scots, for the rest of their game and the Irish back row will have a lot to do. I know they had a very good day the last day but this should be up another level and the likes of Jamie will have to be very good in his leadership.

“It was a very good display last weekend (from Ireland against Italy) and it’s just about taking the positives and looking to recreate them in a different level of task.

“I think the players will feel very good about themselves and Scotland will come to town with a lot to play for as well, so it should be a great tussle.”

Former Munster and Ireland star Leamy won all five of his Six Nations meetings with the Scots between 2006 and 2011. He was not involved in the 2010 defeat at Croke Park and only experienced defeat to Scotland in a 2011 World Cup warm-up fixture.

“It was never easy though. There was never a whole lot between us but we, by and large, had the edge on them. I think that would be a fair comment from Trimby. They look to have a little bit more about them. They’ve got the likes of Hogg and Seymour in their backline and they’re threats that can damage world-class defences. Scotland probably haven’t had those sort of players for a little while and Hogg in particular is very exciting.

“Everything good that Scotland do, he’s involved in. But they’ve got some very good players up front as well that keep that constant flow of ball. They’ve quality right throughout their side.

“It’s the first time in a long time that they come to Dublin and they’ve got a real chance.”

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