Revenge, and not just for 2001, but for the seven visits to Edinburgh since 1985.
Memory Lane
Murrayfield, February 15, 2003
Ireland 36, Scotland 6
Ireland paid Scotland back for all that misery with sufficient interest by racking up a record margin in a David Humphreys/Brian O'Driscoll-inspired victory.
Humphreys was in a devilish mood, kicking 26 points in a seven-from-eight return of textbook kicking. O'Driscoll blunted Brendan "Chainsaw" Laney in the centre battle, a sweet return to Murrayfield after the dark experience of 2001.
It set things up nicely for the championship. Ireland looked the finished article and duly went through the rest of the campaign unbeaten until the winner-took-all showdown with Clive Woodward's England. That went completely pear-shaped, but at least they only faltered in the face of the best team since the advent of professionalism.
IRELAND: Girvan Dempsey; Shane Horgan (Geordan Murphy), Brian O'Driscoll (capt) (Paul Burke), Kevin Maggs, Denis Hickie; David Humphreys, Peter Stringer (Guy Easterby); Reggie Corrigan, Shane Byrne (Frank Sheahan), John Hayes, Gary Longwell (Leo Cullen), Malcolm O'Kelly, Victor Costello (Alan Quinlan), Anthony Foley, Keith Gleeson.
SCOTLAND: Glenn Metcalfe; Kenny Logan, Andy Craig, Brendan Laney, Chris Paterson; Gordon Ross (Gregor Townsend), Bryan Redpath (capt); Tom Smith. Gordon Bulloch, Bruce Douglas (G Kerr), Scott Murray, Stuart Grimes, Martin Leslie, Simon Taylor, Andrew Mower.
Head to Head
Jason White v Simon Easterby
This is a battle (similar to Stringer v Cusiter) that holds connotations regarding a certain flight to New Zealand in June.
Jason White took up where he left off in last year's Six Nations with a bone-crunching display in Paris. Time and again, he pushed the big French runners backwards in a style more akin to an NFL defensive end.
Easterby is always consistent, but with Eric Miller and Alan Quinlan breathing down his neck a performance at least on a par with White (presuming he is fit) will be required on Saturday.
Beware a flying Grewcock
Scrumhalves beware: Danny Grewcock is coming. Six Nations independent citing commissioner John West of Ireland deemed the lock's flying boot that clipped the head of Wales scrumhalf Dwayne Peel, and earned the 32-year-old a yellow card, did not merit a red card. Basically, it was considered more clumsy than malicious.
And yet, Grewcock has performed this trick before, in almost picture-perfect fashion.
When Leinster visited the Recreation Ground in January for the vital European Cup match against Bath, Guy Easterby received a tasty gash above his eye after getting up close and personal with a size 14 boot while trying to clear the ball from a ruck.
Early birds frozen out
The early birds in the media had little joy yesterday as they arrived for Ireland's training session but found the front gates of Naas RFC padlocked - some poor souls even descended on Terenure College as the late training ground switch took them by surprise.
Under the current circumstances it's hardly surprising that Ireland want to try out a few different midfield options.
Nevertheless, by 11.15 a.m., all and sundry were welcomed in.
Millennium turf wars
Those who watched the Welsh victory over England last Saturday cannot but have noticed the state of the playing surface. From the first scrum the pitch cut up badly, making it very difficult for either side to get a foothold.
Hmmm, doesn't England have the strongest scrum in the competition? Laughter reverberated around the stadium at one stage when a bouncing ball took some earth with it.
The Welsh RFU has apologised for the "embarrassing" scenario and has replaced 200 metres of turf.
Woodward learns little
Having already spent time with Mike Ruddock's Welsh squad last autumn, Lions coach Clive "no stone unturned" Woodward was at the back of the Scottish classroom yesterday.
Unfortunately for Woodward, Lions candidates Jason White and Simon Danielli both sat out training with respective bruised thigh and bicep muscles.
Woodward joins his assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan for the build-up to Ireland's game with France.
Robinson's youngest gun
The East Terrace (theeastterrace.com) continue their excellent coverage of the Six Nations with this latest, edited and completely fictional piece: "Robinson turns to 12-year-old outside centre for 'Le Crunch'. After the failure of the Matthew Tait experiment in England's defeat to Wales, head coach Andy Robinson has turned to an even younger player than the Newcastle 18-year-old in an attempt to fix up his injury ravaged midfield. Andrew Jackson, an uncapped 12-year-old from Plymouth, Devon, will be lining up against France in the upcoming Twickenham clash. 'I'm never afraid to select young, talented players if I feel they are ready,' said an under pressure Robinson at a press conference at Twickenham.
"The only useful footage of Jackson, a clash between Plymouth and Exeter under-13s, was held by his mother until it was accidentally erased last week when she taped an episode of Eastenders.
"However, the potential hitch in Robinson's scheme is that Jackson must make sure his room is tidy or his mother claims he won't be going anywhere: 'Every time I go in that room I break my neck on something or other. It's his last warning, I don't care if his mates are playing some big game on the weekend or not.'
"Robinson is considering adding a 'Domestic Arrangements Manager' to his plethora of coaching staff to address the potential crisis."
