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You’ll be familiar with the line: it’s a long road that has no turn. For Scotland their fixture with Ireland must feel like one of those forever highways you come across in South Africa that run on for as far as the eye can see. So the rugby gods convened and contemplated and came up with the heartless option of pushing them further into double figures in their tale of woe with the colour green. It’s a hard and unforgiving old station, this Six Nations lark.
Its dark side currently comes in stereo in the Celtic Club, the sub group in the Championship. Wales haven’t won a game in the tournament since March 2023, against Italy, while Scotland haven’t beaten Ireland since 2017.
Conveniently the next couple up on the dancefloor are Wales and Ireland, in Cardiff. Just when we were wondering if Warren Gatland might hop another ball over the roof at the Principality – open, closed, or maybe ajar – he burst the ball and left the scene. He will look back with fondness on those days when debates like that could give Wales some bounce. For Gatland’s successor, Matt Sherratt, it will be about shutting every door and gate and battening down the hatches.
Simon Easterby on the other hand has a different agenda: his next test is to challenge the players over the issue of high performance. Genuine practitioners of the art can park the obstacles that are knee high rather than a foot taller and find some other way to excel.
For the week leading to Murrayfield the theme was two fold: speed out of the blocks, and ruthlessness in dealing with the opposition. They got the first bit right; and were a bit off the mark with the second – they immediately disabused the Scots of the idea it would be a different experience, but at the same time let them off the hook a few times. All of which is actually good news for the interim coach.
As is the two week gap between games. That space allows Easterby to develop a narrative to take his squad through to kick-off, interested and engaged at every turn along the way. Coaches increasingly lean on this to keep players on track and in the right direction. For Ireland that will be how many boxes they can tick on the road to self-sufficiency: it doesn’t matter how good or bad Wales are, what can Ireland do for themselves?
If he [Jack Conan] maintains his current form then combined with his Test experience from the tour to South Africa four years ago the backrower will be on his way.
After two games, 25 players have had a run, which opens the door to some interesting calls against Wales. It was a big shout to parachute Peter O’Mahony into a starting role ahead of Jack Conan for Murrayfield; less so – though it got plenty of airplay – swapping Garry Ringrose and Robbie Henshaw. The latter call doesn’t have to be made on form alone. If you sit down at the start of the tournament with three top quality centres and say everyone is going to get a start over the first two rounds, fitness permitting, who can have a problem with that? Does that improve Ireland’s chances of reaching their target of a Grand Slam, and third Championship in a row? Of course it does.
Moreover – though this is not Easterby’s primary aim – it better serves the chances of all three getting on the plane for the Lions this summer. Speaking of which, when I floated Conan’s name in that regard on this site last month it raised a few eyebrows. If he maintains his current form then combined with his Test experience from the tour to South Africa four years ago the backrower will be on his way.
The scary prospect for Easterby, when Andy Farrell took a step back for Lions duty, was that Irleland’s ordinary November would stretch into this year, prompting him to give the boss a shout after two games. No need.
In the space of a week there was an alarming swing in lineout activity from 23/23 against England to 6/10 a week later. If you were told before a Test match you’d have to make a meal out of six lineouts and eight scrums (it was 28 set-pieces combined against England) you’d think it was a loaves and fishes job.
Ireland are listing their front rowers on the team sheet as kings of versatility. Healy for example is covering all three positions while the starting props Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham are down to look after both sides, as is replacement Thomas Clarkson.
Yet they got the job done with a minimum of fuss. The only issues are with the shortage of young blood in the mix. In fairness to O’Mahony he did everything asked of him in Murrayfield, and by the time Conor Murray came on there was little to mop up. Cian Healy had even fewer minutes but not one of them looked comfortable for him. This is a real concern. If the loose head has to come on against France with 10 minutes played instead of 10 minutes left to play how will that impact the team. The model of Cian Healy in 2025 is remarkable for its endurance, for still being available for a spin, but not its performance.
Currently Ireland are listing their front rowers on the team sheet as kings of versatility. Healy for example is covering all three positions while the starting props Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham are down to look after both sides, as is replacement Thomas Clarkson.
In the warm-up at Murrayfield the emergency stand-by was coming from hooker Gus McCarthy and Leinster’s uncapped loose head Jack Boyle.
With Dan Sheehan fit again McCarthy might have to wait a while for another run, but Boyle needs to be capped now.
The depth of back-up at prop has been a steady drone rather than a shrill alarm. It seems bizarre that the emphasis put on developing a scrum culture, driven by Greg Feek on Joe Schmidt’s watch, was allowed to slide into the store room. The appointment last month of a man to pick up this ball – Joe Toomey – to work alongside Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty can only improve things. The danger is in being caught short before those lads get up to speed on what inevitably will be a slow-burner.
At least that won’t be an issue in Cardiff. By close of business that weekend Ireland will be a step closer to hitting another landmark.
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