Gregor Townsend: Scotland lacking 'reference point' of a victory over Ireland

Scotland haven't beaten Ireland since 2017.

COMPOSED: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend said "Ireland probably have a calmness and confidence about them when they’re in trouble". Pic: Sam Barne, Sportsfile

Gregor Townsend is hoping Scotland’s recent successes at club level over the Irish provinces can translate to a first Six Nations victory over Ireland in 11 attempts when the champions travel to Edinburgh on Sunday.

While acknowledging the Scots have levelled the playing field against their Calcutta Cup rivals and auld enemies England with four straight victories over the Red Rose, Townsend admits Ireland have established a dominance over his side that will be extremely difficult to end.

The last time Scotland defeated the Irish, in 2017, Joe Schmidt was in charge of an Ireland side captained by Rory Best with Jamie Heaslip at No. 8 and Paddy Jackson at fly-half. Centres Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw, plus Conor Murray and Tadhg Furlong, if he successfully comes through the week’s training without any setback to his calf strain rehabilitation, are the current squad members to have experienced a Murrayfield defeat having lost 27-22 that day eight years ago. Ireland have since completed seven consecutive Six Nations wins, two World Cup victories and an Autumn Nations Series success behind closed doors in 2020.

They twice inflicted misery on the Scots last season by knocking them out of the World Cup in the final pool game in Paris with a 36-14 win at Stade de France and then lifting the Six Nations trophy in Dublin last March in a 17-13 final-round victory at their expense. Townsend, admitted the lengthy losing run might “wreck your head”, yet he also recognised Ireland’s Aviva Stadium win 11 months was hard fought and that the success of Glasgow Warriors’ URC title run that followed a couple of months later, including a semi-final win at Munster, will stand his players in good stead for Sunday’s clash.

“I suppose it does (wreck your head), if you’re losing to a team every year up until this year it is disappointing.

“It’s not through a lack of effort, the effort we put in in Dublin last year was outstanding, the physicality. At half time, we (had) conceded a soft try which was (off) our lineout ball and it was close at half time (Ireland led 7-6) and in the last minute of the game when Huw (Jones) scored and it was a four-point game.

“A lot of it is about what we would do differently, but we also understand that Ireland have been a top team now for a while and it’s harder to break that cycle when the team you’re playing against has been that good and has that experience.

“There have been opportunities. Two years ago in Murrayfield was a good opportunity, we played well in the first half, Ireland had injury issues in the second half and we made errors, the game was there for us.

“Ireland recovered after their injuries and deserved to win, but there was a moment there where, if we’d upped our game we’d have won, but we didn’t and you can’t let any moment slip against the best teams which Ireland have been.” 

Asked if Scotland’s players had a mental hang-up about their record against Ireland, Townsend, speaking in Rome at the tournament launch, replied: “I don’t think much, there’s a reference point we have against England where, if they’re in a bit of trouble the players can think ‘we’ve been here before and won’ and we have not had that against Ireland.

“Ireland probably have a calmness and confidence about them when they’re in trouble, not just against us, and they see it through.

“But, we’ve had other experiences against other teams, sometimes good and sometimes bad, but it all goes into the mix. Our players, at club level, have had experiences of winning against South African and Irish teams, that should help.

“But we know it will take a huge effort to get over the line.” 

A trip to Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium and a bid for a fifth straight Calcutta Cup win to follow in round three offers another challenge for the Scotland head coach, that if sustaining a winning run and that, he said may be just as difficult.

“Against England, we’ve been there before and won this fixture. It’s something we’re striving to do against Ireland. We’ve not broke that cycle the last eight or nine years now, it’s hard to break the cycle but once you’ve broken it, it just becomes another match.

“The weight of history between Scotland and England has dissipated, it’s now a game of equals who are competitive against each other. You can’t guarantee the outcome, but for a number of years people expected England to win.

“We’ll have to be close to our best."