What do Irish think of latest Scotland collapse?

BBC News

09-02-2025

Losing to Ireland is depressingly familiar to Scottish rugby fans.That's now 11 losses in 11 matches against the Irish, a dismal run of form spanning more than eight years.There have been narrow defeats and crushing beatings across those 11 games, spanning from Edinburgh to Dublin and Paris to Yokohama.And every time the post-match dissection of what went wrong has alighted on a similar theme: just how far behind Ireland are Scotland?It was the same again at Murrayfield on Sunday after Ireland asserted their dominance in the first half, before halting their hosts' early momentum after the break without every hitting top gear.Former Scotland captain John Barclay spoke of the "alarming" start, and how Gregor Townsend's side must find a way to deliver 80-minute performances.It's all been said before, and written about after most, if not all, the 11 matches. But what do those in the Irish camp make of Scotland's latest inability to compete whenever the boys in green stand before them?
'Scotland game plan was wrong'
After Jack Conan's try put Ireland 29-11 in front on the hour, former Ireland lock Donncha O'Callaghan - a Grand Slam winner - tore into Scotland's lack of preparation on BBC Radio 5 live.Townsend spoke before the game how Scotland were focusing on their own plan, in an attempt to not become too focused on Ireland."You can make excuses for them, but we're in international professional set-ups here and for this Scotland team not to scenario coach, to not plan for this, is quite frustrating," O'Callaghan said."We'll be tough on the players, they need to bring more physicality, but they need to have a look at this game plan. I think they've got it badly wrong."Having had time to digest the full picture, O'Callaghan doubled down on his criticism of Townsend's approach after the full-time whistle."I think Scotland got the wrong set-up," he said. "They tried to run from too far in their half. "The players lacked physicality and, though they brought that in the second half, they left themselves too much work to do."
'It felt like a 40-point victory'
Ireland fly-half Sam Prendergast's comments after the game told their own story."It wasn't perfect from us," he said. "But it was better than last week and we'll keep trying to get better week on week."Prendergast is a relative newcomer on the international stage - the 21-year-old only made his Test debut in November, but bossed it at Murrayfield, kicking magnificently both off the tee and out of hand.The fact Ireland cruised to victory yet their young fly-half felt there was room to improvement shows how far ahead Ireland are.It was only a late try from scrum-half Ben White that made the scoreboard respectable for Scotland, with the 14-point margin perhaps flattering the hosts."If you're looking for a formula of how to win away in the Six Nations, you should study that," Ronan O'Gara - another Irish Grand Slam winner - said on BBC One."It was ruthless from minute one. Total domination. Normally in a Test match, the lead changes hands a couple of times and it's in the balance."Today the biggest surprise is that it finished 32-18. It felt like a 40-point victory and maybe if Ireland need to, I think they've another couple of gears to go."And it wasn't just Irish pundits critical of Scotland's performance and application. Martin Johnson lifted a World Cup as England captain. He knows what it takes to win, and in his opinion, Townsend's side never gave themselves a chance. "Scotland didn't have any attitude in the first half," he said on BBC One. "It was like they didn't think they could win the game."They made mistakes and made it too easy for Ireland. That scoreline flatters Scotland."
Have your say
What did you make of yet another Scotland defeat at the hands of Ireland?Did Townsend get it wrong? Or are the players to blame?Let us know here, external