Stephen Ferris gave his view on Ireland’s Six Nations showdown with Scotland tomorrow, and explained the difference between the current team, and the team from 2010 who were the last Irish side to lose to Scotland at home.
Ferris was playing that day in Croke Park during the 2010 Six Nations where a Triple Crown was on the line. Ireland had had a mixed tournament, losing to France away but also beating England and Wales. Scotland were staring the wooden spoon in the face, having lost to Italy earlier in the competition.
Ferris noted the dangers of complacency when going into a game you as heavy favourites on the final day of the Six Nations. It was this complacency that undid Ireland in 2010, but Ferris does not see a recurrence on Saturday for what he feels is a superior Irish side.
2010 Six Nations
“Just to touch on that game in 2010. In the first half I can remember Tommy Bowe breaking the line, breaking the line, Gordon D’Arcy breaking the line, and just the fullback to beat and there was nobody around him. And we squandered four or five opportunities, and we were going in at half time going the same will happen again in the second half and it didn’t.
“Dan Parks kicked the leather off the ball, they got a couple of scrum penalties, got the referee on side with good pictures for him. They got a break-away try in the first half as well which seemed to give them a lot of confidence. That was a bit of a nightmare day, nobody really played that well. I know I certainly didn’t play that well. Our front row, a bit like last week, a few decisions went against us, but we didn’t regather ourselves.
“And that’s where I think this Irish team are a lot better than the Irish team were in 2010, because when it does get sticky and it does get tough they seem to come up with the answer. And I think they’ll have too many answers for Scotland on Saturday afternoon.
“Scotland for me are a team with lots of quality, lots of good players, but as a team they just leak too many points, their defence just isn’t good enough. I’m going to go for Ireland with a fifteen to twenty point win.”
The overall vibe of this Irish team would suggest that Ferris is correct. Farrell’s side seem to be more sure of themselves than Kidney’s outfit.
They can also draw upon the experience of the win over the All Blacks in November and last Saturday’s Six Nations win over England, two tight games where they managed to dig deep and pull away in the last ten minutes.
Yesterday, Andy Farrell names his team to against Scotland, and it features three changes to the team that beat England last week. Finn Russell meanwhile starts from the bench for the Scots.
See Also: Mike Ross Explains England's Scrum Dominance Over Ireland In Last Saturday's Six Nations Clash
