'Hopefully Finn Russell doesn’t find them too often' - Lowe well aware of Scottish wing threat

'And then you look at the behemoth (van der Merwe) on the other end. He’s a few inches taller than me and he’s definitely got a bit more muscle than me as well,' James Lowe said.

WARY: James Lowe during an Ireland media conference after the captain's run at the Stade de France in Paris, France. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

Ireland have targeted Scotland’s expansive attack as their primary threat for Saturday night’s World Cup showdown at Stade de France.

After three wins from three in Pool B leading into this final match, the Grand Slam winners need just two match points from the clash with their Six Nations rivals to secure passage into next weekend’s quarter-finals and a last-eight date with New Zealand.

Yet despite going into the match as heavy favourites to beat Scotland for their ninth consecutive time, the Irish camp is wary of a play-making axis of fly-half Finn Russell and full-back Blair Kinghorn and the firepower of in-form wings Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham.

Scotland, who lost their opening pool game 18-3 to defending champions South Africa, can also qualify for the quarters at Ireland’s expense despite with a bonus-point victory and winning margin of 21 points and Irish wing James Lowe is under no illusions about their capability to achieve their objective in Saint-Denis on Saturday night.

Comparing Graham and van der Merwe to South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse following Ireland’s captain’s run training session at Stade de France on Friday, Lowe said: “Obviously Darcy Graham is an exceptional player, and fortunately I haven’t actually had to man-mark him. I’ve never played opposite him in an international.

“Very, very good feet, he’s similar to the two South African boys we played last week. Catch and pass and his ability to create something out of nothing, probably challenged by the two boys last week.

“He’s definitely a handful but you want to challenge yourself against the best.

“And then you look at the behemoth (van der Merwe) on the other end. He’s a few inches taller than me and he’s definitely got a bit more muscle than me as well.

“He’s a serious threat (with) ball in hand, but I mean, we’re going to try our best to put them under as much pressure as we can, and hopefully Finn Russell doesn’t find them too often in too much space.” 

 Assistant coach John Fogarty also dismissed the suggestion that Scotland’s attacking play revolved purely around number 10 Russell.

“I think Blair Kinghorn, both him and Russell, decision-making, seeing space and being able to use these wingers that James talked about, that’s a real concern, a real threat.

“They are world-class at seeing the game unfold, looking for opportunities. We talk about being off our feet, making sure we’re making good decisions off the ball to put ourselves in good positions so that we’re closing off gaps, not giving them opportunities to see too much.

“South Africa did a good job in that second half of containing Scotland. From the very start we need to make sure that we’re on our feet, all connected in defence, making good decisions to go to where we’re needed so that we limit what they see and put as much pressure on them as possible and take away that time so they can make poor decisions or kick.” There was positive news for Ireland on Friday with the sight of Robbie Henshaw undergoing a rehab session at Stade de France, including some light running away from the squad’s training run.

Henshaw has been ruled out of the Scotland game with a hamstring strain with head coach Andy Farrell on Thursday suggesting the centre could be set for at least two weeks on the sidelines, with a decision still to be made on his future with the squad. Loosehead prop Cian Healy has been touted as a possible replacement, a position not denied by Farrell, following his return to training with Leinster following a calf injury in the final warm-up Test against Samoa on August 26.

Yet during Friday’s media conference, Fogarty said: “He’s good, as you saw, he’s out running so he’ll be assessed as we go along and we’ll see after the weekend how he pitches up next week.”