'I'm not going to answer that': Townsend refuses specific Ireland question
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend refused to be drawn on a specific question about his side's next Pool B opponent, the sport's number one side Ireland.
Scotland and Ireland will face off in a mouthwatering pool of death decider that will ultimately determine who makes it to a quarter-final berth and in what order.
Following Scotland's crushing 84-0 victory over Romania in Lille, Townsend was asked did he think Ireland's quarter-final curse would have any bearing on Andy Farrell's men, who have never made it past the first knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup.
'Toonie' deftly batted away the question.
"I am not going to answer that question," replied Townsend. "Ireland are the number one team in the world, they are on the back of 16 [consecutive] wins so I'm sure they aren't thinking about what has happened in previous tournaments.
"They have got a lot of confidence in how they have played over the last two or three years and they'll take a lot of confidence from the last game they managed to get a win there [South Africa match]."
The 50-year-old was also quizzed on his selection thoughts ahead of what is effectively a knockout game for Scotland, who need a bonus point win or a win that denies Ireland a losing bonus point.
"We will sit down tomorrow night and discuss selection. But this gives us really good momentum going into a training week ahead of our biggest game of the World Cup. It's a credit to the 23 tonight who have trained and played well.
"I thought our intent to work hard was right there from the beginning and was carried on throughout the game. Romania were very physical, it was tough conditions with the wet ball. We managed the physicality and we kept the performance going."
Scotland look like they have a full deck of players to choose from for the Ireland game, with nothing bar the 'usual' post-game bangs and niggles.
"No, they're the usual straight-after-a-game collisions. Ollie [Smith] got whacked in his shins, I thought Kyle [Steyn] did very well to get over his jarred ankle but he played 80 minutes, so he feels he will be good to go for next week."
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No longer able to except the excuses offered up for Rob. The red jersey has lost it’s mana and become a joke. I do not wish Mr Penny any wrong but it is time to go. Do the right thing Rob and retire, PLEASE.
Go to commentsIt is a travesty that 8/12 teams play in the finals, and that 4 wins out of 14 might be enough to get you there, but every competition has this to some degree. If it was only the top 4 going through, then this season would have been over for 6 of the teams 4 weeks ago. Super Rugby is simply a feeder competition for the All Blacks and Wallabies. There are low stakes and no consequences because so few people care who wins Super Rugby. In football, winning the Champions League is the pinnacle for any player or fan. The fate of national teams in the world cup or Euros is a complete second fiddle to The Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundelsliga etc… Same with the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB. Players and fans care deeply about their team winning NBA title, but don’t care at all about USA winning gold at the Olympics. Or more locally with Rugby League, the Hierarchy is probably NRL > State of Origin > International. For some maybe State of Origin is the top. Super Rugby is low consequence and low stakes because no one cares enough about the outcome. Players ultimately want to play for the ABs, not the Hurricanes or Blues. Casual fans aren’t talking about SR selections but everyone has an opinion on Sam Cane or Ian Foster. Super Rugby is a means to an end. The only context it has is how it effects who is selected for the ABs.
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