Ireland bracing for 'pumped up' Scotland with Triple Crown on line

Ireland understand that they are going to come up against a highly motivated Scotland team and are preparing accordingly.

Gregor Townsend's men host Grand Slam-chasing Ireland in Edinburgh on Sunday (3pm, live on RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ Radio 1) with a first Triple Crown since 1990 and, with just a solitary loss to France so far, a genuine championship shot on the line.

A passionate and expectant Murrayfield crowd await the Irish and World Player of the Year Josh van der Flier reckons Scotland, who beat England and Wales, are close to a "complete" performance.

"They won’t need much motivation I guess with the prospect of a Triple Crown for them if they win," said the Leinster flanker, who has noticed an improvement in the hosts over the last year.

"We’ll certainly be ready for a motivated and pumped up team. Thinking of their back row, from my perspective, they are top quality and they will definitely have all the motivation they need coming into the weekend.

"The way they have attacked, blended all the areas of their game.

"There were times [in previous years] when their lineout has been brilliant and other areas could have been better but looking at them now it's pretty all-round, complete performances in terms of how the forwards and backs are playing and how they are linking up.

"They look like a really dangerous team. It’s going to be a massive challenge and we are all aware of that."

Meanwhile, hooker Ronan Kelleher (above) says he hope he can feed off the energy from the Scottish crowd.

"It's really exciting to play at a packed Murrayfield," said the 25-year-old.

"I only played in a Covid game there before. So, we're really looking forward to the atmosphere and everything that comes with it.

"It's something that we