ormer Johnnie Beattie, a Scottish rugby player, thinks Ireland’s demolition of Scotland at the Stade de France on Saturday night revealed a “big gulf” between the teams and that Andy Farrell’s team is capable of winning the Rugby World Cup.
The 38-cap Scotland back-row reveals how Ireland pushed their way past the Scots as “ruthless.”
The world’s best team will finish first in Pool B after to the 17th straight victory, setting up a match against New Zealand on Saturday.
Beattie claims that there was a wide gap between the opposing camps.
I believe we observed the difference between having that level of performance, organisation, detail, desire, and passion that comes into defending through those periods and having been the number one team in the world for two or three seasons regularly.
Ireland promptly dashed Scotland’s aspirations with a try within the opening few minutes, putting Gregor Townsend’s men on the back foot despite all the hoopla in the week leading up to the game about Scotland aiming for an eight-point victory.
Beattie contends that the Scottish onslaught was stymied by Andy Farrell’s men because of their sheer size and organisational skills rather than a lack of effort on their part.
“They completely outclassed Scotland in the opening session, and Scotland had no response.
There was a Plan A, which involved a lot of lateral movement and sprinting with the ball, but they lacked the strength or punch to succeed.
“I think Sione Tuipulotu carried everything he could and really toiled at the gain-line — he made about 21 carries and nearly 150 metres, but aside from that, there just wasn’t the physicality or the powerplay to break down Ireland — they looked at ease in defence, absorbed the pressure, and then picked up some turnovers with jackals.
It showed a gap between the two teams and was horribly impressive by Ireland.
While Beattie acknowledges that overcoming Ireland was always going to be an unlikely quest, he also points out that Scotland did themselves no favours by launching a relatively one-dimensional approach that was ineffectual against a resolute disciplined and fired- looks Irish defence.
“I think Sione Tuipulotu carried everything he could and really toiled at the gain-line — he made about 21 carries and nearly 150 metres, but aside from that, there just wasn’t the physicality or the powerplay to break down Ireland — they looked at ease in defence, absorbed the pressure, and then picked up some turnovers with jackals.
It showed a gap between the two teams and was horribly impressive by Ireland.
While Beattie acknowledges that overcoming Ireland was always going to be an unlikely quest, he also points out that Scotland did themselves no favours by launching a relatively one-dimensional approach that was ineffectual against a resolute disciplined and fired- looks Irish defence.
We almost ever used our kicking game since we wanted to run everything but were having little luck doing so. How can you be creative if you lack the strength or ability to control midfield collisions? Could we have used Garryowens or cross-field kicks? Making metres can be done in a variety of ways. You must draw lessons from that, and you will need to start again from scratch.
Beattie believes that Scotland can draw from this experience and continue on its upward trend, which saw them move to fifth in the international rankings coming into the competition. Scotland have made progress under head coach Gregor Townsend, according to Beattie.
“I think it was obvious as day that there was a difference in the two in terms of performance, intensity, and intricacy. Gregor (Townsend) has, in my opinion, done an outstanding job with the player pool we have. Gregor has a contract in place through 2026, and everyone believes in him.
We simply need to move on and discover new methods to triumph. There was always going to “be one of the top five nations going home” in this brutal pool.
Whom he would be rooting for to win the competition was crystal evident in his response:
“I’d be thrilled if Ireland ended up taking first place.
For a team from the northern hemisphere, our Celtic relatives are a delight to watch because of their attention to detail, their organisational structure, their leadership, and their senior players.
“I believe that the competition will be won by whoever advances from this side of the draw to the final, and I would be thrilled if it was them.”
