Ireland seek to top Pool B ahead of Scottish game in Paris
By Oisín Brennan
Andy Farrell’s Ireland are set to take on Scotland in their final Pool B encounter tonight at the Stade De France.
An Irish win will see the boys in green top their group at the rugby world cup and essentially put them into the quarter final stage of the tournament as group winners.
Scotland on the other hand, are seeking to cause an upset and navigate their own way into the last eight.
Not only do the Scots require a win, they must secure a bonus point win or win and deny Ireland a losing bonus point.
Quite a tough challenge waits ahead for both sides, and all permutations will be in the back of the minds of both teams throughout the duration of the 80 minutes.
Team News:
Ireland’s James Ryan is set to miss out on the crunch clash as result of a hand injury and will begin this weekend’s fixture on the bench.
Peter O’ Mahony will make his 100th appearance in an Ireland shirt and will play a pivotal role in deciding who takes the points in Paris.
The other Irish change from the side that defeated the Springboks will see Dan Sheehan replace Ronan Kelleher at hooker.
Scotland have made twelve changes to their XI that enjoyed a comprehensive 84-0 over Romania last weekend.
They will be boosted by the return of their captain Jamie Ritchie following concussion and veteran Blair Kinghorn will make his 50th appearance in the Scottish jersey on the night.
Ireland’s full starting 15 and substitutions can be viewed below
Ireland’s Perspective
Andy Farrell’s men will head into the game feeling confident but will be made well aware that anything other than a top quality performance may lead them being back at the Emerald Isle earlier than expected.
Ireland’s James Lowe said “Complacency is something that can’t creep into this group as well and it doesn’t, we understand the serious threats and we’ve respected every opposition that we’ve played so far in this competition.
Scotland’s Perspective
The Scots understand the key challenges they will face tonight and are confident that they can produce an 80 minute performance to match Ireland physically.
Scotland’s Grant Gilchrist said: “This is a big moment as you’ll get in your career. It’s all or nothing for us. It’s hugely exciting challenge, the stuff of dreams for players to go out in an arena like this with everything on the line , having had the journey we have had to this point.”
The match will be shown live on Virgin Media One in Ireland and coverage will begin at 7pm with kick off at 8pm Irish Time.
