IT’S NO SECRET there’s been an intense rivalry brewing between Ireland and Scotland over the last few years but for anyone still not up to speed with the current state of relations between the two Celtic cousins, Netflix went and got the evidence on tape for their Full Contact documentary.
During the series, released earlier this year, the viewer watches on as Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and his captain Stuart Hogg address the squad ahead of their home tie with Ireland in last year’s championship.
“The last few years I’ve heard a lot of things come out of Ireland,” Townsend tells his players. “The Irish players, the Irish media, believe we’re soft. Believe we’re the team that’s going to go for 60 minutes, and then fade. That’s not happening. We win.”
Hogg goes even further: “We’re due these fuckers one. We’re going to lift the Triple Crown, and have a shit-tonne of fun doing it, so let’s fucking go for it.”
Andy Farrell’s men went on to win the game 22-7, but the clip provided a telling insight into how Scotland view this Irish team.
The spark was reignited again at last year’s World Cup as Ireland won their Pool B meeting 36-14, a tetchy affair which saw Pierre Schoeman send Dan Sheehan flying over an advertising hoarding and Peter O’Mahony take a dig at Townsend’s men in his post-match interview.
“They were in the press beforehand saying they were going to knock us off our winning streak, and how they had figured us out and worked us out,” O’Mahony said. “I don’t think they did tonight.”
It was the latest bit of niggle in a rivalry which traces back to a series of fierly Munster-Glasgow games in the mid-2010s.
That rivalry has been rather one-sided recently but there’s an extra edge to this weekend’s meeting in Dublin, with both sides coming in off losses and both in with a chance of lifting the Six Nations trophy.
Tadhg Beirne has been involved in his fair share of scraps with Scotland and admits he wasn’t surprised to hear how Townsend’s team view Ireland when he tuned in to watch Full Contact.
“Not really, no,” says the Ireland second row.
“The Scots are the Scots, we have our perception of them and I’m not going to verbalise it here because they’ve given us ammo in the past from what they’ve said in the media, and I would be surprised if it was any different this week.
It’s a rivalry, isn’t it? That’s part of the sport, we both love beating each other, that would be the way I’d put it. And it’s going to be no different this weekend.
“It’s a very exciting weekend to go into because they have a chance to win silverware as well. So they’re in a similar situation to us where they’ve had to dust themselves off after a loss, and they’ll be hurting as well. We’re both going into this game gunning for a win, and there’s silverware there at the end of it for either of us if we do win.”
If selected this weekend, Beirne will win his 50th Test cap. It will be a special achievement for a player who only debuted for Ireland at the age of 26 in 2018, having left the Irish system to play with Scarlets in Wales before returning home and signing with Munster.
“It really is huge for me. Something, at 21/22 [years old], one [cap] would have been a miracle for me but then obviously after you get your first it’s then about getting your second and then it’s about your third, so 50 seemed like a long way away.
“So to be sitting here and getting 50 and then an opportunity to win a Six Nations on my 50th, you couldn’t really write it better so it would be a massive honour if I am given that opportunity.”
Defeat in Twickenham threatens to take the wind out of Ireland’s sails heading into the final weekend, but even with the dream of back-to-back Grand Slams gone, Farrell’s squad are looking to remain energised by the prospect of sealing successive Six Nations titles in Dublin, even if many supporters were left defeated by the England loss.
“The Six Nations Championship is an incredible achievement, to be able to do it and to be able to do it back to back is huge.
“If you were saying the public are disappointed and fans are disappointed that it’s not a Grand Slam, that’s also credit to this team and the expectations that we’ve created for the fans, that that’s where they have us, but that was our goal at the start of the campaign.
“Were we disappointed after the game? Of course we were, we’re devastated but an opportunity to win the Six Nations back-to-back is a massive opportunity for us and we’re unbelievably excited and I’m sure come Saturday, if we get the win, everyone in that stadium and everyone at home and in the pubs will be celebrating. They won’t be holding back, they’ll still be pretty happy.”
