Ireland captain Paul O'Connell has admitted that he will be wary of Scotland's wounded animal as he and his team-mates try to tie up the RBS 6 Nations title at BT Murrayfield today.
Ireland, the reigning champions, are locked in a three-cornered fight with Wales and England to secure the trophy on the tournament's last day. With all three sides having already won three of their four matches, the issue is likely to be decided on points difference.
Wales, who play Italy in Rome, are the backmarkers, with a differential of plus-12. England, who will host France at Twickenham in the day's final game, are on plus-37, four better than Ireland. If all three sides win, Ireland will only take the title if they can overtake England's lead and Wales post a modest total.
However, O'Connell confessed that he is worried by the threat posed by a Scotland side which has played impressively without clinching a win, and which has no reason to hold back in what is effectively a last throw of the dice.
"I am definitely concerned [about Scotland]. It is not a nice place to be, but sometimes having nothing to lose, and playing at home against a team that has something to win, is a great position to be in. It is an empowering position. I have been there with Ireland before."
Ireland derailed England's Grand Slam plans with a famous win in the Aviva Stadium in 2011. The previous year, Scotland had denied Ireland the Triple Crown when the two sides met in the last rugby international to be hosted at Croke Park.
O'Connell, who captained the Lions in South Africa in 2009 and who won his 100th Ireland cap in last weekend's loss to Wales, also pointed out that he expected Scotland's players to show little fear against their Irish counterparts as they are well used to meeting, and often beating, them in the Guinness PRO12 league.
"Familiarity probably allows that," O'Connell admitted. "In recent years, Glasgow in particular have been incredibly confident and they have played a great brand of rugby. All the provinces have found them really hard to live with at times. And there is a big spine of Glasgow players in the Scotland team.
"This is a very tough pace to win , especially against a team that is improving and which has struggled to get the results. They probably feel they are on the verge of a win now. We just have to focus on winning the game, addressing things from last week and putting new things in place."
Playing last today, England will have the advantage of knowing what they must do to take the title, and Irish defence coach Les Kiss suggested that tournament organisers should re-examine that scenario for future tournaments.
"Perhaps it is something that can be addressed," said Kiss. "Perhaps it could be changed so that on the last day we all play at once. But that's not the format at this stage and we just have to deal with the situation that exists."
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