Scotland v Ireland debrief

The Scotsman

Graham Bean and Mark Atkinson discuss Scotland latest defeat by Ireland.

Transcript

00:00Good evening from Monifield Stadium. Mark Atkinson, Scotsman Sports, joined by our Chief

00:06Rugby Writer, Graham Bean, who just watched Scotland lose 32-18 to Ireland in the second

00:13round of the Six Nations. Graham, pretty underwhelming at the end of the day for Scotland.

00:17Yeah, it was very disappointing. I don't think we came in with too high expectations, but

00:24I think Scotland really struggled to get into this game today. Ireland were just far

00:29too good. They started off really well, Ireland just kept it going. It was a brief period,

00:34end of the first half, start of the second. Scotland did well, got back into it, reduced

00:39the lead to six points. It was 17-11, but after that Ireland just pulled away again

00:45and were far too strong.

00:46It's a familiar tale for Cricketers and the Scotland head coach when he comes up against

00:50Ireland. That's now 11 matches that the Scots are winless under his watch. It's fair to

00:57say that, and I think you made this point in your match piece, that the gap between

01:00Scotland and Ireland is not getting smaller, it's getting bigger.

01:04I think there were signs of progress last season in Dublin. Scotland competed really

01:08well in that game and I think the final margin was at four or five points, but today it did

01:15feel a little bit like back to square one, didn't it? Ireland were just far too strong.

01:22Verityngton disagreed with that, actually, after the game.

01:24Yeah, it was an interesting press conference that, where he didn't appear to concur that

01:31there wasn't progress being made. It feels like it flies in the face of what most people

01:36are thinking.

01:37Yeah, I think Ireland just looked far better than any team in the Six Nations on the evidence

01:41of the first two rounds of fixtures. Certainly, for a head of Scotland, as you say, 11 matches

01:49in a row, I'm not sure what Scotland can do to get the better of Ireland at the moment.

01:54There's a change of coach there, Simon Easterby, and for Andy Farrow, it made no difference.

02:01These players know how to win a game, don't they? And they're going for a third title

02:06in a row.

02:07That's the thing, they're winners, aren't they, Ireland? They know how to get the job

02:09done, they've got so many talents and dangers throughout the pitch. It didn't help, it must

02:14be said, a horrible incident that happened in the 21st minute when Darcey Graham and

02:18Finn Russell collided heads. A complete freak incident. But, of course, with the two players

02:25that you wouldn't want to lose when you're chasing a game. It really took a bit of stinging

02:28out of Scotland to tackle, didn't it?

02:29Yeah, it did. I mean, it was about a 10 minute delay while Darcey Graham was treated on the

02:36pitch. It was always a worrying time. Yeah, it took all the momentum out of the game for

02:44a bit. Scotland actually recovered well, given the changes they had to make. Tom Jordan moved

02:49to stand off and Jamie Dobie came on, played on the wing, did well, and Stafford MacDowall

02:54moved on to the centre. But, you know, Scotland did come back well, as I say, towards the

02:59end of the first half, the start of the second. But, yeah, I mean, Ireland just pulled away

03:04again. And we should say that Darcey Graham was taken to hospital. Gregor Tyson doesn't

03:12think it's anything to do with his neck, but he was suffering from a concussion. So, you

03:17know, fingers crossed for him. Hopefully we'll see him back for two months.

03:22He's got to be a major doubt for the game that Scotland have next. It doesn't get that

03:27much easier when you're playing an England team that's wicking them in the Calcutta Cup,

03:30who had a fantastic win themselves against France in London 24 hours ago. And they'll

03:38be smarting, won't they? Because Scotland have had the better of England in recent matches.

03:42And they'll want to redress that. And it's going to be a really, really difficult game

03:46for Scotland, not least if Darcey Graham, and indeed Finn Russell, don't make it.

03:50I mean, it's incredible to think Scotland have got out of Twickenham looking for their

03:53fifth win in a row in the Calcutta Cup, which is incredible. It's a real testament to what

03:58Townsend has done, you know, for all these. And I've got a bad record against Ireland,

04:01this record against England is absolutely superb. But yeah, I would very much doubt

04:07we'll see Darcey Graham at Twickenham, which is a real shame given the injuries he's had.

04:10He's missed the last two Six Nations Championships in their entirety. Finn Russell, interestingly,

04:19I agree with what Townsend said, Russell actually passed his HIA, but they decided not to bring

04:23him back on because he seemed a bit unsure about some of the plays and maybe a slight

04:27delayed reaction. So we'll have to see how he progresses over the next few days.

04:31But Scotland will obviously want him fit and firing at Twickenham.

04:36And of course, Townsend also said that Kyle Stane probably won't be fit for that game either.

04:41So you'd have a little bit of an issue on the ring, wouldn't you?

04:44Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, that is a concern. Yeah, I'll be interested to see what he does

04:50there because, yeah, I think Kyle Stane initially hoped he would be back, but he's maybe not

04:55making the progress that we'd have hoped. So, yeah, we've got a weekend off next week

05:01and then Scotland are going to Spain for a training camp the week after that and then

05:07flying straight to London for the England game.

05:10Yeah. Before we sign off, Graham, we're a bit disheartened, obviously, having watched

05:15Scotland lose yet again to Ireland. What do we expect for the rest of this tournament?

05:19It can still be a successful tournament, can't it?

05:21Yeah, definitely. I think it's pretty open because apart from Ireland, everybody's lost

05:25at least one match. So, you know, nobody's, apart from Ireland, pulling away.

05:30But the next game feels like a really important one for Scotland.

05:36I mean, the Cup Cup Cup is obviously always very important.

05:39But with England having beaten France yesterday, this really does kind of assume huge proportions.

05:46I mean, England look like they're coming on above a game.

05:49They do.

05:50Very impressive.

05:51They're improving.

05:52The times yesterday. So, yeah, we'll see.

05:56England, then Wales back here and then France. Two wins out of three.

06:01That's what you're looking for?

06:03Yeah, I think that would be a decent return, definitely.

06:07We'll see what happens. It takes a break for a couple of weeks, the Six Nations, but we'll

06:10still have plenty of content on scotland.com and in the newspaper.

06:14But from Graham and I here at Murrayfield tonight, it's goodbye for now.

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