Rugby World Cup: Rory Darge on Scotland’s reality check and his respect for Ireland

“Saturday was tough to take,” Darge said. “We are all gutted that it’s over – that’s the overriding feeling right now. With time, maybe we can reflect on the experiences we have had, playing in a stadium like the Stade de France with the support we’ve felt from the fans everywhere we’ve gone. But in a way that makes what happened against Ireland tougher, because we know how much people care. People have travelled and supported us, and we didn’t perform anything like we wanted to.”

There was a buoyancy about Scotland going into the tournament after an impressive warm-up programme and a highest ever world ranking of fifth but they failed to lay a glove on either of the Pool B heavyweights. South Africa beat them 18-3 in the opener in Marseille but it was the deflating nature of the 36-14 loss to Ireland in Paris that is causing widespread angst. Ireland scored the first try after a minute then added three more before half-time after soaking up a brief spell of Scottish pressure. Scotland did manage two tries in the second half but so too did Ireland. Darge cited their dominance at the breakdown as key and admitted it was a reality check for Townsend’s squad.

“Yeah it is. And I think that’s what we will take from it – the work we need to do still. There are huge areas of growth for us. They are world class at the breakdown and that’s the game. All the little turnovers they get on their line and the momentum they get from it. It starts with the carry but they’re also brutal about taking you beyond the ball and leaving the space for them to pick and go.

“We threw a lot at them in the first 20 minutes, and conceding early is not like us, especially like that. It wasn’t panic stations at that point, we were just trying to get some kind of foothold in the game and I thought apart from scoring we did that. We had to score in those 20 minutes and it always felt like it was just a breakdown away. They got a couple of big turnovers when we were really starting to put them under pressure.

“They are the number one team in the world and we saw some of why that is the case on Saturday night. A lot of people know what you have to do against Ireland. Doing it is the hard bit. We went with all the right intentions. We had a massive focus on the breakdown, but they are world class at it. We definitely could have done things better - there’s loads we could have done better, like taking our chances, but that came from the breakdown in the first 20. They were clinical in our 22.”

An enmity has crept into this fixture in recent seasons as Ireland have taken control after years of Scottish dominance. Peter O’Mahony, the Irish flanker, wasn't slow to have a pop at Scotland in a post-match TV interview and several men in green celebrated in the faces of their opponents when Dan Sheehan scored Ireland’s fifth try which came just after an all-in skirmish sparked by Ollie Smith's attempted trip on Johnny Sexton. Darge admitted emotions had run high but stressed there was plenty of admiration for all Ireland had achieved.

“There were 30 competitive sportspeople out there so there’s bound to be a bit of that,” said Darge. “Ultimately there is respect. Certainly on my side there is respect for what they have done and what they can do now. I don’t think it’s a bad thing when there is a bit of niggle.”

The sides will next meet in Dublin on March 16 in the final round of the 2024 Six Nations. It seems a long way off and Scotland have plenty time to stew as they try to come up with a plan to stop Andy Farrell’s side making it 10 wins in a row which would be an Irish record in this fixture.

“Everyone is pretty down,” said Darge. “It’s the end of our World Cup. In the week building up to it, we were building up belief, thinking we could do it. That’s sport. We’ve had a big loss and it’s gutting. There was chat in the dressing room that we will learn from this, and I think we will, but it’s tough to think of that right now. It’s about taking a bit of time to digest it and then start to reflect.”

Regarding his own emergence at the tournament, Darge said he has managed to shut out any external noise. “I have learned to not pay too much attention to selection, which sounds weird but I know what I can do, I work hard and I try to put my game out there,” said the 15-times capped forward. “If I get picked I get picked, but there’s not a lot I can do other than that to influence it. I’m so proud to have played in this World Cup. I just wish we could have done more on Saturday night.”