Rob Kearney laid into Scotland after their 36-14 defeat to Ireland in the Rugby World Cup pool stages.
Gregor Townsend’s side were at the last chance saloon stage when they took on Ireland in the Stade de France on Saturday night but, having conceded a try after 62 seconds, they were never really able to make a game of it.
Despite having lost eight games in a row to Ireland, Scotland had talked up their chances before the game. Their full back Blair Kinghorn stated, for example, that Scotland would end Ireland’s great run of form.
“They have been on a good run of form recently, but we’ll end that on Saturday,” he said leading up to the game.
But they weren’t able to live up to the big billing and, having performed similarly poor in their 18-3 loss to South Africa, it marked the end of a very disappointing World Cup campaign for Scotland.
“It’s leaving with a whimper,” said former Ireland winger Shane Horgan after the game.
“There was a lot of big talk. I don’t mind it.
“I understand that they have to challenge themselves. I maybe don’t agree with every utterance but that they don’t verbalise that they’re massive underdogs, and they’re beaten before they go out,
“I think that is good but if you do that, you’re really relying on a decent performance. And that was the thing here.
“I expected Ireland to win, but I expected Scotland to show up. And they didn’t show up, anywhere,” he said.
Horgan’s former international team-mate Rob Kearney, meanwhile, criticised the Scots for their failure to back up the talk.
“At what point do you say to a team, lads, stop with the chat, start to back it up, because they’ve been doing this for years now.
“Time and time again. And you spare a thought for Blair Kinghorn, tomorrow morning, you know saying ‘nah, we’re going to end that run.’ You’ve been absolutely beaten out the door.”
"At what point do you say to a team, 'lads, stop with the chat and start backing it up.'"
Where does Gregor Townsend now go with this Scotland team after their World Cup exit.#IREvSCO | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/ACdYEhBC79
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) October 7, 2023
Ireland had led the game by 36-0 after 58 minutes and it was only when they emptied the bench that Scotland made a burst, with late tries arriving from Ashman and Price.
Andy Farrell’s side take on the All Blacks in a crunch quarter final, next Saturday night at the Stade de France at 8.00.
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