| SCOTS MUST RISE TO THE OCCASION |
| Tuesday, 16 March 2010 | |
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Head coach Andy Robinson wants Scotland to rise to the occasion in the final match to be played at Dublin’s Croke Park this weekend. Ireland will revert to their traditional – but newly revamped Lansdowne Road – after Saturday’s closing match in the RBS 6 Nations Championship and with the hosts striving for the Triple Crown there’s an expectation among their supporters that it will be party time. Robinson, however, has other ideas.
Robinson – who has delayed announcing the Scotland team for 24 hours in order to have a clearer picture following injuries sustained in last weekend’s Calcutta Cup tussle at Murrayfield – declared: “I have a lot of time for this Ireland team and the way they play. “They are something we aspire to in terms of their setpiece ability and the way their backline plays where they have the finishing ability of Tommy Bowe, who is in phenomenal form. “We played well in parts against England but I’m looking at how we respond this week. We have not beaten Ireland in Dublin since 1998. Saturday is the last game at Croke Park and it’s a great arena with a great surface so it’s important that we respond.” The Scotland team will be announced tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile Ireland Coach Declan Kidney has named an unchanged team following their victory against Wales last weekend. Fittingly for the final game at Croke Park the match will mark a 70th Ireland cap for Paul O'Connell who led Ireland out for the first rugby international there against France in 2007. Centre Gordon D'Arcy has been included in the starting XV as he continues to recover from the deep bruising to his leg. He will be monitored in training and a final decision made on Friday. Ireland 15 Geordan Murphy (Leicester) 14 Tommy Bowe (Ospreys) 10 Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) 1 Cian Healy (/Leinster)
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