Andrew Goodman: 'Who knows what's going to happen the way this competition's been going'

Assistant coach Andrew Goodman during an Ireland Rugby media conference. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Ireland may have been roaring Scotland onto victory over France last weekend as the Guinness Six Nations turned from a French procession into a three-horse title race but with a Triple Crown on the line in Dublin this Saturday, the focus has shifted to earning a 12th straight win over the Scots.

Attack coach Andrew Goodman on Tuesday spoke of an Irish squad energised not only by their third victory in a row in this 2026 campaign, after a bonus-point win over Wales last Friday night at Aviva Stadium, but also by Scotland’s 50-40 victory over the defending champions the following day which ended French dreams of a Grand Slam in emphatic style. 

Antoine Dupont’s side were left shellshocked at Murrayfield by a Scottish onslaught as the home side opened up a 47-14 lead. 

France rallied sufficiently to claim a four-try bonus point in the final quarter to make it a 10-point game but their grip on the title has loosened now with the winner of this Saturday’s Celtic clash waiting on a potential upset with England travelling to Paris for the final match of the championship later in the day.

“It's an amazing buzz,” Goodman said. “It's great to be part of a last week when there's plenty on the line. As you can imagine, there was some quite loud roaring for Scotland on Saturday afternoon.

“So, yeah, it was great to sit back after getting the five points, still knowing that we didn't get the performance we were chasing down, but it creates a good edge for the week.

“And we know there's a Triple Crown within our control, and then who knows what's going to happen the way this competition's been going.

“What a great advertisement for the game. And I think it has to be one of the best Six Nations for a long time, with the competition week to week. So it's been great to be part of.” 

Goodman said Ireland, currently third and two points behind both Scotland and France, were not getting carried away with title talk as the French take a vastly superior points difference into the final round.

“It's what’s in our control, and that's the performance, to get a Triple Crown, which we know is a huge thing for Ireland as a nation,” he said. “So we'll look after that through our process during the week, and then we'll sit back and have a good watch of the next games.” 

Yet Ireland have embraced the cup final vibes around this fifth round Triple Crown decider, their attack coach said.

“It's class, isn't it? You can come in together back on Sunday night, Monday morning into training, and you can just feel the edge around the place. It's a nice feeling to be.

“It's where we all want to be. I suppose the players and the management group want to be part of these big games that have got real importance to them.

“As I said, there's lots of excitement, a little bit of nerves, as you can imagine, and some good edge around the place.” 

Head coach Andy Farrell is set to name his matchday squad for Saturday on Thursday afternoon with a full squad reported as taking part in Tuesday’s training session at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Abbottstown, west Dublin.

Farrell made five changes and one positional switch from Ireland’s record 42-14 over England at Twickenham in round three for his line-up which started the home win over Wales, bringing the number of players used in the 2026 championship to 33. 

With left wing James Lowe and loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman having missed the Welsh game and both ruled out through injury this weekend, Goodman said the head coach’s selection would need to strike a balance between those XVs of the last two rounds.

“Yeah, I think what Faz has done with the selection is created real competition within the group. And if you're able to see the training today, there was that carrying on today. So there'll be some good discussions with the coaches tonight. And I'm sure there's going to be some really tough decisions to be made.”