The rugby Gods know what they’re doing. Scotland’s last barrier to glory is in the home of the team that has caused them the most pain. It’s almost like a movie script – Scotland trying to defeat their great nemesis. Rocky in rugby boots.
There are a million things that Scotland must get right, but it can all be narrowed down to physicality. Ireland have had too much of it in the past and Scotland have had too little.
You can make rugby as complex as you like but one simple truth remains and Sione Tuipulotu, Scotland’s deeply impressive captain, delivered it on Friday.
“I think that’s the game, to be honest,” he said of the need to win the physical confrontations.
“In Test rugby you go through all these things of game planning and all the intricacies around the lineout, scrum or even kick strategy, but I feel like Test rugby is pretty simple, you win the collisions, you win the game.
“The collisions are the breakdown, the collisions are the target, the collisions are the defence. If you can win those three – I haven’t seen many people lose when they win those three.
“The breakdown is going to be a big part of it. Definitely [Ireland] have picked some guys that are pretty notorious as breakdown pests. That’s the part of the game that we need to control in order to get our game out there. That’s no secret.”
Scotland have been reluctant to show emotion in their public utterances this week. Townsend was particularly deadpan on Thursday and no wonder. Keeping a lid on that stuff is sensible. Going overboard on the momentous nature of this contest is not a smart play.
Tuipulotu went close, though. There is such power in so much of what he says and that was the case again on Friday at the Aviva when he was asked about his father Fohe, who was in the Murrayfield crowd last weekend to watch his son captaining Scotland for the first time.
“My dad doesn’t speak much,” he said. “He’s been coming to all my rugby games since I was a kid but he doesn’t have much to say after any game.
“He has probably a bit more to say if we lose or if I’ve played bad than if we win. Usually if we win there’s not much said, so it was probably a good thing that there wasn’t much said after last week and hopefully he doesn’t say anything after Saturday either.”
Fohe will be immensely proud of his son, but if he’s not one of life’s orators (his boy is definitely one of those) then how does he articulate his feelings?
“Like I said, it’s hard to gauge. Tongan dads are all pretty similar, they don’t show their emotion much. It’s hard to gauge his mood around things, but I know he wants this one just as much as I do and he’ll be there to support.
“[His pride] is probably something that I’m still figuring out. But that’s my dad and I’ve just grown up like that, I suppose.
“Playing rugby, since I’ve been a kid, has always been a little bit like chasing that approval from my dad. That hasn’t changed for me my whole career so I’m happy he’s in the crowd because I get to chase it again.”
In his tactical assessment and his mood-setting, Tuipulotu was razor sharp.
If Scotland have another 22 on his wavelength then something special might unfold at the Aviva. History is at hand if they can reach out and grab it.
They have done so much to get this far, but the toughest bit is yet to come.
Chasing a title and exorcising demons. This is the moment they’ve waited for.
