Ireland centre Gordon D’Arcy took part in a snap interview before squad training on Monday. See below for what the Wexford man had to say, ahead of next weekend’s Six Nations clash with Scotland.
ON FACING ROB DEWEY:
“I’ve played against him a good few times. I’m kinda getting sick of it now. Every week it’s ‘how are you going to tackle a fella that’s bigger than you?’
“I’ll put a line in the sand now. Everybody’s bigger than me.”
ON SCOTLAND:
“The last time we played Scotland was by no means a comprehensive victory. We got away with two tries in the end. Up to that point, it was neck and neck.”
ON SCOTLAND’S DEFEAT TO ITALY:
“Any team you give 21 points to in the first five minutes, it’s going to be hard to come back from. I don’t think Scotland necessarily played badly but they got freakish bad luck and after that they played themselves back into the game.
“You could definitely compare it to that (Ireland’s 2006 loss to France). The difference was that we got back into the swing of things a bit quicker than Scotland did against Italy.
“But they did play themselves back into the game. There were a couple of penalties, straight after the early Italy tries, when they went for pushover tries.
“They will have learned from that, and they’ll be smarter. They will keep the scoreboard ticking over on Saturday, if we give them the opportunity.”
ON IRELAND BEING FAVOURITES AT MURRAYFIELD:
“We never expect to win against a team. That’s disrespectful to the team and it means you may be getting cavalier with your approach. You play to a game plan and try to implement a game plan.
“Scotland had very bad luck in the first five minutes against Italy – two intercepts and a blockdown. I can’t think back to when that happened before, probably the Under-13s in Wexford.”
ON THE CHANCE TO WIN A THIRD TRIPLE CROWN:
“Look at Irish sport over the last few years – it’s not exactly littered with Triple Crowns so just because we’ve won it twice over the last three years, it doesn’t make it any less impressive for us.
“To win the Triple Crown we have to beat England, Scotland and Wales. The importance doesn’t lose any of its impact.
“No, I didn’t know that (no Irish player has ever won three Triple Crowns). That’s something you look back on when your rugby career’s over.”
ON NEXT WEEKEND AND THE YEAR AHEAD:
“The greater picture here is over the next six months. There will be four or five internationals before we play France in the World Cup in Paris.
“So, we have an awful lot of work to do between here and the World Cup outing against France.
“The point is, that we have two games left in the Six Nations, and we want to perform in pressure situations. The same sort of situations we will face in the World Cup.
“The important thing is that, as a team, we play to, and implement our game plan.
“We want to repeat the level of performance shown against England. If we manage that, the result should take care of itself.”
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