Back to Back They Faced Each Other
For reasons determined only by the rugby Gods everything is now measured by France.
How was the pitch; was it more playable than the Stade de France?
How unpredictable were they; more unpredictable than France?
How did their back row do; did they play well against the French back row?
That last one is the most pertinent. Picking through Scotland's loss to France last Sunday has been bizarre because many agreed Scotland played well, but they were still chalking one up in the loss column. Many were gushing over the performance of that losing back row.
After the game Man of the Match Ross Rennie said he really enjoyed playing in a back row with bruiser David Denton and a John Barclay with his nose to the ground. It was "fun apparently. The unparalleled joys of playing with a brutish carrier and two sevens was scarred onto Rennie's smiling face.
So forgive me if I use France as the yardstick here, but in a roundabout way I want to compare Scotland's new look back row with two opensides, a back row Andy Robinson merrily compared with 1990's trio of Calder, Jeffrey and White, with Ireland back row that has no opensides.
So for take two in Paris “the realisation of that aborted farce where the game was cancelled minutes from kick off “many will be watching to see how Ireland fare against Dusautoir, Harinordoquy and Bonnaire. In particular, can Ireland's destructive runners Ferris and O'Brien cope with having an indefatigable Dusautoir waiting for them on the turn of that corner?
Against France, Scotland had their own pair of Rennie and Barclay ready to park over ball or claw it out if they had to. Rennie always looked to strip an attacker and Barclay's turnover, despite whether it was completely legal or not, led to a Scottish try. Both were fast and ambitious with their play and tried their best to compliment play, rather than dictate it. France were caught cold by it in the first half. Will they be caught cold by the Irish?
I loathe this term 'fetcher' that has parasitically burrowed into the rugby lexicon. It is nonsense. McCaw and Pocock have distinctive styles and because they are fantastic at killing play in the two most hyped teams in rugby everyone believes, wrongly, that that is how a 7 should play.
Dusautoir disproves this.
The 'Dark Destroyer' is a defensive force, sure, and he makes more tackles than most. He can also create, though, and his sole job is not to kill opposition ball. He is that effortless link that conjoins ugly forward play with beautiful French back led attacks.
Scotland play two 7s. Against France the better turnovers came before the ball was on the ground. No 'fetching' required. France's turnovers came from dominant rucking. Dusautoir was not the sole actor in this.
So I have to decide how Scotland's back row could play Ireland's and how different they will be. That difference will come from personnel, though. Rennie loves to tie people up and use his ripping technique and Barclay like to hit someone to the deck and keep driving forward. This will meet up, I assume, with Ferris who is about blunt force contacts and O'Brien who thinks exclusively in terms of yardage. Numbers on the back matter not.
Before we get there, though, we have to see if Ireland can get their nose in the dirt against France. Scotland will hope that so much rugby in a short space of time will damage Ireland, and they will hope that their own rest will help them when it comes to performing at the same volume they produced against France.
Can Ireland get past France's back row by running right at them?
Can Scotland's back row put on the same all-action display against Ireland that they produced against France?
Will France grind another one out?
Having this week off is strange when there is another game of international rugby going on. It is a great opportunity to analyse future opposition, though, and Robinson will be glad his charges will be fresher come the clash at the Aviva.
Credit - INPHO/Dan Sheridan
