Catt: Ireland focused on winning v Scotland, not permutations

Assistant coach Mike Catt says Ireland won't get bogged down in permutations, with winning the only outcome they're aiming towards in this Saturday's final Pool B game against Scotland [live on RTÉ Radio 1 with a live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app].

Ireland know a win or a draw would be enough for them to advance to the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup as pool winners, while there are also scenarios in which they could qualify with a losing bonus-point.

And while the Ireland attack coach said they will be up to speed on the the mathematics involved in the game, he stressed it's not something they will be putting too much weight on.

"Me personally? No. I'm just focusing on our performance and the preparation of the players," Catt said.

"But as a group of coaches, Andy [Farrell] is fully aware of what's going and what needs to happen. Ultimately, both teams need to win the game. If you do that then you put yourself in a good position. That's what we will try and achieve."

Among the many permutations, there is one extremely specific and unlikely scenario in which both Ireland and Scotland could advance at the expense of South Africa, which would require Scotland to beat Ireland by more 21 points or more, with both sides scoring at least four tries.

Catt laughed off any potential conspiracy theories.

"That stuff is just white noise in the background. No, we're not going to go in cahoots with Scotland.

"Firstly I'd ask you, would we want Scotland to beat us by 21 points? If you asked any player in this room, any of us would they want Scotland to beat you by 21 points? No, sorry," he scoffed.

The squad continue to report a clean bill of health with all 33 members of the group taking a full part in training.

James Ryan sported