With three teams still in contention to win the championship, the Six Nations is set for a blockbuster finale over the course of Super Saturday.
It all kicks off when Scotland face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, with Wales then hosting Italy in Cardiff, before title favourites France take on England in Paris on Saturday night.
Scotland and Ireland both need to win in order to have any chance of the title, before then hoping England can do them a favour against the French.
Regardless of what happens in the bigger picture, this is a huge match in itself as Scotland chase what would be their first Triple Crown since 1990.
Looking to win four matches for the first time in the Six Nations era, they face an Ireland team who have beaten them 11 times in a row stretching all the way back to 2017.
There has been a lot of niggle and needle on both sides over the years. Here, former Scotland captain JASON WHITE discusses the nature of the rivalry ahead of a seismic encounter.
Princess Anne and Sione Tuipulotu very nearly share a hug following Scotland’s win over France last weekend
Q – Do Ireland respect Scotland?
Jason White: I do believe there is respect among the players. Quite a lot of these guys have now been on a Lions tour together. I experienced what that’s like myself when I was on the tour of New Zealand in 2005. It’s funny when you actually spend time together and get to know each other, you can end up striking up a friendship with someone you just wouldn’t expect at all. So, yeah, in terms of the players, I think there is respect.
I read a piece from Josh van der Flier this week talking about how Ireland know they have to be pretty much at their best to beat Scotland. As for the Irish media? No, there’s no respect whatsoever. They think the Scotland team are a joke who should be ridiculed. It happens every year. As soon as any Scotland player opens their mouth and says anything at all, the Irish media jump on it and cite Scotland as being cocky or whatever. It’s not always true.
There’s nothing wrong with players showing a bit of belief, but the Irish media seem to twist that into something else and this narrative of Scotland getting ahead of themselves. The likes of Matt Williams and other pundits in the Irish media love giving Scotland a kicking. Given our record against them, it has been all too easy for them to stick the boot in.
I’m sure nothing would give Gregor Townsend and his players more satisfaction than ramming all those words back down Irish throats with a win this weekend. Whatever happens in Paris in terms of the bigger picture of the championship, that will take care of itself. But victory this afternoon would undoubtedly be the sweetest of Townsend’s time in charge. The England game stands alone and obviously has greater historical significance. But, in the Six Nations era, Scotland v Ireland has developed into the best rivalry in the championship in terms of the needle between both teams.
Q – What about Scotland’s record? No win in Dublin since 2010, Townsend hasn’t beaten Ireland in 11 attempts, are they forever destined to be his nemesis?
JW: There is no doubt, Ireland have had the hex on us. Even going back to my own time as a player, we didn’t actually beat them all that often. We beat them in 2001 in the Six Nations. That was a really strange year, with the end of the championship being delayed due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. We then beat them in 2007 in a World Cup warm-up match. That was pretty much it.
So, although there’s a lot of focus on Gregor Townsend’s personal record against them, the reality is that Ireland have dominated this fixture throughout the Six Nations era. With regards to the Townsend years in particular, what hurts most is the nature of some of those defeats. The two World Cup games especially, in 2019 and 2023, became humiliating from a Scotland point of view. They were not competitive at all in those matches.
Townsend has never beaten Ireland, nor the All Blacks, despite running them extremely close on a couple of occasions. We’ve fallen short against South Africa the few times we’ve played them, while beating France on a few occasions now. Those have been the four major scalps in world rugby for a number of years. Victory over Ireland is the one that Townsend would probably covet above all the others. If he eventually leaves his position with Scotland and has never beaten Ireland, it would eat away at him forever.
Huw Jones scores against Irish in Dublin in 2024 but Scots still fell to a 17-13 defeat
Q – What have you made of Ireland so far in the championship? Darcy Graham said earlier this week they are there for the taking. Is that fair?
JW: In all honesty, I don’t actually have an issue with what Darcy Graham said. The Irish media have jumped on it, as they always do, but I don’t disagree with the fundamental point he was making. He could maybe have phrased it in a slightly more subtle way, but Ireland are a team in transition at the moment.
They were outstanding at Twickenham a few weeks ago when they hammered England and racked up a record score. But they have been a bit scratchy in their other games and were soundly beaten by France on the opening night. How much currency do we place on that result at Twickenham given that England have basically fallen off a cliff during this championship?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with saying Ireland are not quite at the same level as we’ve seen from them in previous years. That’s fair comment. Their scrum, in particular, has really struggled and they’ve not had that same level of physical dominance over teams. The key for Scotland is to prove they have finally come of age. Otherwise, if they end up taking another sore one, that victory over France last week, brilliant though it was, will just feel like another false dawn.
Q – How do you see the game panning out?
Scotland were absolutely sensational last week and really took France to the cleaners. For that first hour or so, that’s as good a performance as I can recall from any Scotland team, maybe ever. Barring the injuries to Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown, they really couldn’t be in a better place in terms of form and confidence.
I think Ireland will rely on the likes of van der Flier, Dan Sheehan and Caelan Doris up front, guys who are outstanding at the breakdown, to get over the ball and slow down Scotland’s attack. Ireland will want to make it a mess on the floor so that Ben White, Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones don’t have quick ball.
There’s almost a part of Ireland that will now see games against Scotland as rinse and repeat; they know exactly how to beat them, so just go out and execute. Whereas Scotland on the other hand don’t know how to beat Ireland. They’ve tried umpteen different things over the years and never had any success.
Darcy Graham has upset the Irish media by saying their team are ‘there for the taking’
The key for Scotland is quick ball. If they can provide that platform to Russell and Co, I do think the form that the backline are in at the moment will be too much for Ireland.
I’ll stick my neck out and say Scotland will edge it 30-25 – and we will have this wonderfully bizarre scenario where everyone will then be supporting England in Paris.
I’ve found the relationship between Tuipulotu and Princess Anne really funny to watch over recent weeks when she has presented him with the trophies after beating England and France. I’ve been in that position myself as captain. I met Princess Anne a few times, and I also met the Queen once as well.
The main objective in those situations is to not make a fool of yourself. Let them take the lead and extend their hand out to you. But it would be brilliant if, for just one day only, Princess Anne breaks all protocol and gives Tuipulotu a big bear hug as they celebrate a famous Scotland victory!
