Irish ready to rumble as dream shoot-out with England looms
Denis Leamy believes a cup mentality is required as Ireland attempt to set-up a potential RBS Six Nations decider with England by dispatching the Scotland on Saturday.
Ireland meet the Scots in what is effectively a semi-final showdown to determine who will remain in the title frame during the last round of fixtures on March 18.
Victory at Lansdowne Road and an English triumph in Paris would set up a mouth-watering winner-takes-all contest at Twickenham, bringing down the curtain on the 2006 championship in fine style.
Leamy is delighted there will be Celtic representation in the title mix once again but insists the identity of the eventual winners is impossible to call.
“This game has a real semi-final feel to it. We’re playing cup rugby now so we need to concentrate against a very strong Scottish side who have beaten England and France,” he said.
“They’re going very well. Their backs are playing a wide game and they are very good around the ruck area. This is the closest Six Nations in years.
“The current situation with ourselves and Scotland challenging is great because it gets a bit boring and monotonous when it’s just one or two sides beating everyone else.
“It’s wide open – everyone is in with a chance and is hungry for success. It would be great to go on and win it but we can’t afford to look too far ahead.”
Ireland have manoeuvred themselves into a promising position as even allowing for Scotland’s revival, it should be game on for the Twickenham shoot-out.
The Scots have not won in Dublin for eight years and the feeling Ireland are on the brink of delivering a special performance is impossible to ignore.
They produced fireworks in the last quarter at the Stade de France and sparkled at times in the 31-5 victory over Wales, but have yet to hit top gear for an entire match.
Lansdowne Road’s final Six Nations match before undergoing redevelopment next year would provide the ideal setting for Ireland to realise their potential and Leamy knows there is more to come.
“There is room for improvement but things are starting to come together nicely now,” he said.
“We put some phases together against Wales and we had our moments against France. That win over Wales has given us the confidence to go on and improve.”
Ireland have fielded a new-look back row for the Six Nations with Leamy linking with fellow Munster forward David Wallace and Llanelli blindside Simon Easterby.
The unit has steadily improved since the opener against Italy and in Scotland’s loose trio – led by big-hitting skipper Jason White – they face arguably their greatest test yet.
“Jason White has been in outstanding form and their back row is strong – they are very athletic and fast,” he said.
“All year we have been coming up against very good back rows and Saturday is no different. We’ll have to slow down their ball and provide quick ball for ourselves.”
