Pre-Match Quotes: Scott Johnson

…Wales ‘ caretaker coach Scott Johnson takes a look around Lansdowne Road…

SCOTT JOHNSON QUOTES:

– ON TODAY’S GAME –

“It’s about rugby now and we are excited. This is what we come to do and it can’t come quickly enough for us. There is no pressure whatsoever. This is play-time now and that’s fun so we are going out to have it. You know what you are getting at Lansdowne Road. You’ve got to prepare for the conditions and we’ve done that.

“The true champions can overcome those elements. We go in fully prepared to play our way, our style and see if we can have some success.

“Ireland know what to expect. We are a team that will come at sides and we are under no illusions that everyone knows that. We are here to come out and score more tries than the opposition. That has been our mantra for some time and that’s our intention for Sunday.”

– ON IF IT’S A MUST-WIN GAME FOR WALES –

“I’ve said during the week that the only pressure we’re putting on ourselves is to maintain our work ethic and our integrity, and if we’ve got that under control then there’s no pressure at all.

“You can’t control the outcome. You can only worry about those things that you can control and that means making sure that the side that goes out on to the pitch is well prepared, and gives everything for the cause.

“If, at the end of the day, you get beaten by a better side – there’s no shame in that. This is modern sport. This is about work ethic, representing you country and giving your all. Yeah, it would be nice to win because that’s what we’re over here to do.

“But winning isn’t everything, trying to win is, and I can assure that this team will be trying to win this weekend.”

– ON HOW THE WELSH PLAYERS WILL PERFORM AFTER MIKE RUDDOCK’S DECISION TO STEP DOWN AS COACH –

“You can’t hide from facts – you just have to front up. But let’s be honest, worse things have happened all around the world during the week.

“Let’s get sport in reality here. What we have here is a young bunch of kids representing a proud rugby nation. Yes, there are issues outside this game (referring to the Ruddock saga) but it’s up to others to decide all that.

“These kids are representing all that’s good about sport, and that’s what makes this country what it is.

“You can’t hide. I won’t be hiding. We’ve come here to play and that’s what we’re going to do. Rest assured that these kids will have nothing left in the tank after the game, and they’ll do their nation proud – just as they have done over the past three or four years.”

– ON WHAT HIS ‘JOB’ ENTAILS –

“For the moment, my job is to put out a team I feel is representative of this country. I think for the tenure I have been here, I’ve seen the dark and light side of this team. I have seen them in their darkest hours and I have seen them in their greatest hours.

“This team doesn’t have to prove anything to any fair-minded Welshman, because they have proved it. They are the hardest working bunch of people I have ever been involved with, so if anyone wants to say otherwise, they are coming from a position of ignorance rather than knowledge.”

– ON THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN GARETH THOMAS DUE TO ILLNESS –

“Gareth is a big player and he is a big loss. We lost him last season and won a Grand Slam. He represents all that is good with the team, and that is why the aura of ‘Alfie’ will always be around us.”