“Whatever happens, happens”.
Ireland lost the 2007 Six Nations in a hotel room. Going into the final game against Italy in Rome, they needed to win and hope for a swing in the points difference if they were to take home the title.
They went out that day and put 51 points on the Italians, but the two late tries they conceded would come back to haunt them.
For a while it looked like they’d do it. In the dying seconds in Paris, France led Scotland 39-19, but ultimately trailed Ireland by three on points difference. Elvis Vermuelen’s late, disputed try put the hosts back on top of the pile, and after England were beaten by Wales in Cardiff, the title was theirs.
Four points in the difference.
Tomorrow, Ireland go to Scotland in a similar situation. They need to win, first and foremost, but their fate will be decided long after they’ve hosed themselves down in Cardiff.
Paul O’Connell missed that game in Rome through injury, but knows the feeling all too well.
“It’s dangerous territory. You just have to focus on trying to win the game, trying to do as well as you can from the first minute of the game and try to win it and whatever happens, happens.
“I won’t be paying much attention to it. If we were coming over to play Scotland here in any other year, we would be coming over here to win the game first and foremost. That would be the sole focus on our minds and that would be the same case tomorrow. That is what I have been preaching to the players, that is what Joe has been preaching to the players.”
Thinking about winning margins is pointless, he says, when there’s a game still to be won. With Scotland facing a potential wooden-spoon with defeat tomorrow afternoon, O’Connell knows they’ll face a side ready to front up, and notes that while they’re regularly beaten, they’re rarely beaten well.
“I suppose I’ve played against teams coached by Vern Cotter a few years and they’re excellent sides. I don’t think they’ve been well beaten in any of their games, I think they were very unlucky not to get some results. No team has pulled away from them, every game has been really tight even going back to the New Zealand game, the Autumn games.
“The same with us last year, it was very close around half time, we were 6-3 up and we managed to pull away. I am surprised and we have a lot of respect for them. A big spine of the team is the Glasgow team, which has been so consistent over the last number of years, incredibly difficult to beat, especially over here. We’ve a lot of respect for them and I am surprised they’re in this position.”
While O’Connell has been in this situation before with Ireland, he’s also seen the game from Scotland’s side, having a point to prove, and lying in wait with title chasing side on the horizon.
“I think we’ve all been there. I remember being in the Aviva Stadium in 2011 when England were coming over trying to win a championship and we’d struggled. We had struggled for form and that game was a massive spark for us.
“We saw it as a great opportunity and we weren’t really playing for anything, we’d nothing to lose. We went out and we started at 100 miles an hour and we didn’t stop. Those are the dangers of days like tomorrow, so that’s why the preparation hasn’t changed.”
After a classic bruiser in Cardiff last Saturday, it’s a quick turnaround for Murrayfield tomorrow. Despite this, O’Connell says the two off-weeks mid tournament play a big part in keeping the body right for the business end of the championship.
“The 6 Nations, the way it works out, with two weeks on, a week off, a week on, a week off and two weeks on is actually quite a good way to play. You do get rests. We are at the end of the Championship and we always going back four or five years, we’ve always began to manage the load a little bit towards the end of the Championship.
“A lot of guys like Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip are grateful of the playing time a bit further down the line than they were at the start of the Championship. It’s the 6 Nations, the way it works. it does put you in a good position at the end of the competition. You are not as battered and bruised as you can be if it was five games in a row, or two in a row and three in a row, so I think the guys are in good shape.”
For the captain, tomorrow will likely signal the end of his Six Nations career. A third title may or may not be in his hands come Saturday night, but in true O’Connell fashion, he’ll always wonder why there wasn’t more.
“I’d love to win a championship, there have been plenty of close calls throughout my career, particularly under Eddie when it looked like we were never going to get there at times.
“It would be great but it’s a massive obstacle tomorrow, I know where Scotland will be mentally, I’ve been there before like in 2011 when we played England. So it’s a massive challenge, and talking about championships is something that’s not on my mind at the moment. It’s just a big focus on a big performance and a big start to the game tomorrow.”
Hat-tip to @killeroc for the quotes
