- Although Cherry provided a highlight with his back-door offload for White’s try, Ashman is a more mobile option as his 11 tackles in 29 minutes showed
- Jonny Gray was steady enough on his comeback, although it may be a big ask for the lock to start again so soon against Irish
- Jack Dempsey made big impact off the bench and his rampaging style should make him nailed-on starter, possibly at Jamie Ritchie’s expense
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Gregor Townsend wasn’t giving much away when he claimed after Scotland’s win over Italy that he might not tinker too heavily with his line-up to face Ireland.
The head coach suggested that the starting XV that eventually proved too strong for the Azzurri hadn’t done much wrong to deserve being displaced, and that there was something to be said for continuity and allowing combinations more time to bed in.
That’s all well and good but, respectfully, Ireland are a different beast to Italy and Townsend will surely adjust accordingly.
The Italian pack didn’t cause Scotland many problems at Murrayfield beyond winning one scrum penalty. It will be a different story this weekend against an Irish side already up and running with a win over England.
Townsend went with a 5-3 bench split on Saturday, but it’s hard to imagine him starting with any fewer than six forward replacements for the clash of the Celtic rivals.
The eight that started up front on Saturday didn’t do much wrong. Dave Cherry showed that he deserved his unexpected recall with a stirring display both at set-plays and in the loose. Every line-out went to Scottish hands, while the hooker’s dash from the maul and then his back-door offload for Ben White to score was perhaps the pick of Saturday’s highlight reel.
Jamie Ritchie, right, played well against Italy but could yet be sacrificed for Jack Dempsey
Ben White scored a superb try after a quite wonderful offload from team-mate Dave Cherry
Rory Darge got the Scots off to the perfect start on Saturday with an early try against Italy
Jonny Gray was the other forward returning to the fold after a lengthy absence and lasted 57 minutes before being replaced by Gregor Brown. Gray was steady enough, although given his lack of recent match minutes it might be a big ask for the Bordeaux lock to start again so soon against the Irish.
Elsewhere, the tried and trusted of recent years all stood up and were counted. Zander Fagerson put in another tremendous 68-minute performance — a half-shift by his usual standards — and led the forwards with 16 carries, just one ahead of brother Matt and Pierre Schoeman.
Rory Darge excelled in the back-row, scoring a try and making 13 tackles, the most in a Scotland jersey. Grant Gilchrist went the full 80 minutes, a vital contribution given the absence of regular second-row partner Scott Cummings due to injury. Jamie Ritchie looked lively during his 51 minutes on the field, too.
Dropping any of them might seem harsh but Townsend can’t be driven by sentiment, only by what he believes will give Scotland the best chance of beating Ireland.
Ewan Ashman’s set-play inaccuracy might have cost him his starting jersey but he’s a more mobile option than Cherry as his 11 tackles in 29 minutes showed. Brown — one of the new breed of lock/flanker hybrids Franco Smith is producing at Glasgow — was also busy after replacing Gray.
Jack Dempsey was another who made a big impact off the bench and his ball-carrying rampaging style should make him nailed-on to start this weekend, possibly at Ritchie’s expense. These are all big calls for Townsend to make in the coming days. But if Scotland are to finally get the better of Ireland he’ll need to get them right.
