ALL WEEK, SCOTLAND’S players and coaches have sat in front of microphones and been reminded of a stat that weighs heavily over their team. As they well know, it’s eight games since they last defeated Ireland. Tomorrow, Ireland aim to make it nine when they take on the Scots in their final Pool B clash in Paris.
The two teams were at the Stade de France today for captain’s runs that took place in beautifully sunny conditions, and afterwards, Scotland second row Grant Gilchrist was the latest to be presented with the 8-0 stat. This time, the question was framed around whether that winless run is actually an unfair reflection of the gap between the two sides.
“It’s reality, it’s what we have to face,” Gilchrist replied.
“It doesn’t matter what my perceptions are. The reality is we have not been able to beat Ireland in a long time. That is the record facing us.
But history doesn’t scare this team. We want to do things we have struggled to do before. That’s the kind of challenge it gives you, the really special moments in your career, and this is what this team is striving to do tomorrow.”
Under Gregor Townsend, Scotland have threatened to take the next step in their development but consistency has been a killer. Time and again, they have dropped off the tempo for short periods of games and let a result slip out of their view. Even in recent meetings against Ireland, Scotland have found ways to bungle their shot at victory. They know that tomorrow, they’ll have to perform for 80 minutes if they are to send an in-form Ireland team home from the World Cup.
“Obviously you can’t ever have a perfect game but something we’ve been striving towards is being more consistent and putting together an 80 minute performance, staying live within every moment and really just staying focused,” added centre Huw Jones.
“We’ve had a few games where just five or 10 minutes of a loss of focus has cost us the game. So we know we can’t have that, but also know that if we can have that (consistent performance) for 80 minutes, and stay in every second of it and just take our chances when they arise, that we can beat top teams.
We know we’ve got the quality, we know we’ve got the gameplan. We can win, we’ve just got to go out and do it.
“They’re coming off a really good run so we’re not taking anything lightly, we know it’s going to be very tough, but we’ve got belief.”
“This is as big a moment as you’ll get in your career,” Gilchrist continued.
“It’s all or nothing for us. It’s a hugely exciting challenge, the stuff of dream for players to go out in an arena like this with everything on the line, having had the journey we have had to this point. It’s about bringing that emotion, don’t be scared of it. We’re going to embrace it. We’re going to put absolutely everything we have got into the game and we believe that’s going to be enough to win.”
They might not have any recent wins against Ireland to lean on (the last coming in 2017), but Scotland have managed to piece together impressive performances against the likes of England and France under Townsend. Those performances will be the blueprint as they attempt to record a famous win in Paris.
“The way we played when we beat France in this stadium in 2021 – the way we defended a man down, then came back to go through multi-phases at the end to score,” Gilchrist said.
“That’s the levels of effort it will require. The big games away recently at Twickenham, where we have had a bad record, there are similarities there.
“This Scotland team has done things that other Scotland teams haven’t done. We know beating Ireland on a big stage is something we have not done, but that’s what excites us. We have got to go out and give our all for ourselves and our country to get into a quarter-final.”