Gregor Townsend: Scotland can match Ireland for physicality 

UNDAUNTED: Scotland's head coach Gregor Townsend says his sides match against Ireland is a straightforward shootout. Pic: INPHO/Craig Watson

It was a game that awed the rugby world but Gregor Townsend didn’t see anything in the meeting of Ireland and South Africa on Saturday night that his Scotland team hadn't experienced before.

The consensus was that the Pool B clash of the world’s two top-ranked sides brought a physicality and a general intensity that was several levels above pretty much anything we had seen up to that point at this World Cup.

The suffocating nature of the contest was emphasised by a scoreboard that squeezed just 21 points out of the 80 minutes and it certainly existed at a level well above Scotland’s game against Tonga in Nice on the Sunday.

Townsend, though, wasn’t about to genuflect at anyone’s altar.

He heard the post-match chat after the Paris encounter and he took note of the talk about who Ireland would meet in a seemingly inevitable quarter-final. He was piqued, clearly.

“It was intense, but so was our game against South Africa [on the opening weekend],” said the Scotland head coach. “There was a lot of physicality in our Tonga game, a lot from us. Remember that Tonga got six jackal turnovers against Ireland.

“So even though [Ireland v South Africa] was a big game and went right down to the wire, it was no more physical than the games we have played and the physicality we can bring. We will have to bring that against Ireland, we know that, but we are more than capable of matching what South Africa and Ireland did on Saturday night.” 

Townsend had admitted prior to the weekend that he had a preferred outcome in mind for the game between their two pool rivals. He didn’t say what that was but the obvious best-case scenario for the Scots, having lost that first game in Marseille to the world champions, was a Springbok win.

Now the third favourites for the pool find themselves needing to beat Ireland by more than eight points on Saturday week, or to beat them with a bonus point while preventing Andy Farrell’s side from claiming two in order to beat them to a quarter-final place.

The possibility of a three-way tie with the Boks is a possibility but remains highly unlikely as it’s hard to see Scotland drill a miserly Irish defence for the four tries they would need to make it to 15 points. Whatever the maths, this group is still alive and kicking.

“If we were to win that Ireland game by more than seven points we get through to the quarter-finals. It’s as straightforward as that, but when we’re playing the number one team in the world in two weeks’ time, we know it’s going to be a difficult challenge.

“We believe in our players and there were a lot of positives against Tonga. The physicality, the response our players showed after that defeat against South Africa, the try opportunities we created… 

“We can’t take that for granted. That was a very good performance, but we do set ourselves higher standards and we have to make sure we are clinical all the way through for 80 minutes.” 

There’s no doubt but that Scotland were landed with an awkward schedule here. That opener against the Boks in Marseille meant they had to peak early and then sit tight for two weeks before returning to the park with their 45-17 defeat of Tonga in Nice on Sunday.

A meeting with Romania awaits next weekend in Lille before they get the chance to show Ireland and everyone else that they still have a say in this tournament and Townsend is adamant that the world's fifth-ranked team will do just that.

“It would probably have been better if we had played before Ireland and South Africa played their third game, but it doesn’t change much. Our players got stuck in against Tonga, and I was really pleased with the intent to go after quick ball, to ride those tackles and have confidence in what we are doing as a team.

“We were down on the scoreboard at one stage but it didn’t affect the mentality of the group, or the confidence. We just have to work on that bit when we are well ahead and the game gets really loose - that’s when we should put two or three more tries on the board. 

“But that’s wanting everything.”