6 Nations 2014 - Ireland v Scotland

Ireland’s 6 Nations last year was one of the worst for the Celts in living memory but there’s plenty of reason to think that things can be vastly different for them this year and they can kickstart their weekend with a good win over Scotland at the Aviva stadium.

Last year started in the best possible fashion for them with a fluent, vibrant and ferocious win against Wales, opening a 27 point gap before holding out from a second half onslaught, but as soon as Jonathan Sexton injured his hamstring in a first half of a wet defeat to England the wheels quickly began to come off Declan Kidney’s men, with defeat against Scotland in the reverse fixture probably the nadir of their season.

Their England defeat took Simon Zebo and Gordon D'Arcy for the tournament and Mike McCarthy out of the match with Scotland, setting the tone for the rest of a limp tournament in which they wouldn’t win again, ending with two sin bins in a first defeat to Italy – a significant factor behind Declan Kidney’s removal and Joe Schmidt’s much anticipated appointment.

Scotland’s third place, their best result, came as a result of Scott Johnson’s invigorated backline, which scored more tries than they had in any tournament since 2007, with Stuart Hogg and Tim Visser making a massive impact around Matt Scott to trouble defences in a way that Andy Robinson hadn’t been doing for some time. The Autumn was less promising, with a good showing against Australia having come after an obliteration at Springbok hands, with South Africa strolling through 32-0 the week before, and with considerably less favourable fixtures this year they’ll do well to match last year’s efforts, especially with Matt Scott not fit to start at centre, for all that it’s hard to argue with Johnson’s assertion that he’s building the basis of a good side.

Given the intense disappointment of their collapse against Australia, coming off the heels of a good debut for the former Leinsterman against Samoa, It’s too narrow minded to focus only on Ireland’s mesmeric first quarter showing against the All Blacks, but it proves what they’re capable of when all are firing on the same cylinders and Ireland’s lack of challenges since 2010 seem to come from a lack of consistency rather than inability and hopefully the cohesion bought through a coach who has seven former players in today’s starting XV can see them maintain a better average level of performance through the tournament than seen in recent years.

Both teams have big players in their pack, although Ireland, even without Sean O’Brien, still have plenty of ball carriers and power to bring to the table, and they should feel capable of making a platform for their backs – likely to be chopped and changed through the tournament – to thrive on.

Scotland, for all their highlights last year, have only won two of their last 27 away matches and were brushed aside by England on the first weekend of last year. A handicap of 11 is fair enough, although the option for a win by 16-20 points makes appeal at 6/1, alongside the 9/4 offered for a win by 11-20 points from Paddy Power.

Advice

1 pt Ireland to win by 11-20 points (9/4 Paddy Power)

1 pt Ireland to win by 16-20 points (6/1 general)