Ireland coach denies World Cup conspiracy to knock out Boks

Assistant coach and former England international Mike Catt says Ireland will not be “going into cahoots” with Scotland to ensure both progress to the World Cup playoffs at South Africa’s expense.

A myriad of possibilities means that Ireland, Scotland and South Africa are all in contention for the last eight of the World Cup, going into the final round of pool fixtures.

Springboks dropping out

The Springboks, who have already played all four of their games, currently top Pool B with 15 points, while Ireland are second on 14 points and Scotland are third on 10 points.

Ireland and Scotland will face off in Paris on Saturday, with the Scots only needing to win and deny the Irish any losing bonus points to progress on the head-to-head rule.

However, a 49-28 victory for Scotland, with Ireland scoring four tries, would see both teams go through to the quarter-finals, with the defending world champions dropping out as a result.

This has led to talk that Ireland and Scotland could arrange the result to ensure an easier route to the title.

“Yeah 100 percent, that stuff is just white noise in the background. No, we’re not going to go in cahoots with Scotland,” Ireland assistant coach Catt said.

“Firstly I’d ask you, would we want Scotland to beat us by 21 points? If you asked any player in this room, any of us would they want Scotland to beat you by 21 points?” he added with a dismissive laugh.

“No, sorry.”

‘Both teams need to win’

Catt, who won the World Cup in 2003 and was part of England’s 2007 team that lost the final to the Boks, said Ireland are only focusing on getting a win from Saturday’s match.

“I’m just focusing on our performance and the preparation of the players. But as a group of coaches, Andy [Farrell] is fully aware of what’s going and what needs to happen,” he said.

“Ultimately, both teams need to win the game. If you do that then you put yourself in a good position. That’s what we will try and achieve.”

This story first appeared on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission. For the original story click here.