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Friday, 19 March 2010

O'Driscoll wary of Scotland

Brian O'Driscoll wary of 'unlucky' Scotland

Brian O'Driscoll admits Scotland will be desperate to ruin the Croke Park farewell party when Ireland bring down the curtain on their RBS 6 Nations campaign on Saturday.

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Four highly-successful years at the cathedral of Gaelic sport will come to an end this weekend with the team returning to a rebuilt Lansdowne Road in the autumn.

At stake for Ireland is a fifth Triple Crown in seven seasons and a runners-up finish for the sixth time this decade.

Such consistency has been matched by Scotland - but at the opposite end of the table - and once again they find themselves battling to avoid the wooden spoon.

Despite their lack of success, however, captain O'Driscoll believes the influence of new head coach Andy Robinson is already having an impact.

"Andy is doing a great job. He did a great job at Edinburgh in turning them around and getting them playing some great stuff," he said.

"They were very difficult to beat and there's a similar policy with Scotland - building defensively alongside a very strong work ethic. It's a good foundation to build from.

"They've been unlucky with some results but you only have to look back to November when they managed to beat Australia to realise they're capable of big performances when the occasion arises.

"I'm sure they'll see this as a big occasion and a good opportunity."

Ireland's record at Croke Park includes victories over England, France and South Africa, a Grand Slam-winning season and three Triple Crowns.

"We've had some great days at Croke Park and some not so memorable ones, but that's part and parcel of professional rugby," said O'Driscoll.

"For the most part we have fantastic memories and part of us will definitely be sorry to say goodbye."

The pain of being routed by France, a result that all but ended their title defence, is fading but head coach Declan Kidney believes Scotland are capable of reopening the wounds of defeat.

"We lost in Paris but the way the lads have come back since then has been fantastic. The Triple Crown will be an added bonus," he said.

"I believe this is a very good Scots side that has improved no end and has many points to prove.

"They're hugely physical. They come at you defensively so we'll have to be very sharp in trying to take our scores.

"I don't think there will be much in it at the end of the day.

"They've very big men and they're hungry. You can't coach hunger - it's either in players or it's not.

"This Scotland team is on the verge of something. We just have to make sure that it doesn't happen tomorrow."

Teams for Ireland v Scotland, Croke Park, Saturday, 5pm.

Ireland: G Murphy (Leicester); T Bowe (Ospreys), B O'Driscoll (Leinster, capt), G D'Arcy (Leinster), K Earls (Munster); J Sexton (Leinster); T O'Leary (Munster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster), J Hayes (Munster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), P O'Connell (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), D Wallace (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster).

Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Buckley (Munster), L Cullen (Leinster), S Jennings (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster), R O'Gara (Munster), R Kearney (Leinster).

Scotland: H Southwell (Stade Francais); S Lamont (Scarlets), N De Luca (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow), M Evans (Glasgow); D Parks (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), J Hamilton (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow), K Brown (Glasgow), J Barclay (Glasgow), J Beattie (Glasgow).

Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), A Dickinson (Gloucester), R Gray (Glasgow), A MacDonald (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh), P Godman (Edinburgh), S Danielli (Ulster).

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa) and Jerome Garces (France).