Darge hoping Scotland can harness the Sir Chris Hoy effect and claim victory against Ireland

Scotland co-captain Rory Darge believes the presence of Sir Chris Hoy can inspire the team to a Six Nations victory over Ireland on Sunday afternoon. Olympic legend Hoy will present the match ball prior to kick-off and will be afforded a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd of over 67,000 at Murrayfield. The 48-year-old Scottish cyclist was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, with doctors confirming the illness to be terminal and that Hoy has between two to four years left to live.

A true icon of British sport, Hoy became one of the nation’s most decorated Olympians, winning six gold medals and a silver from 2000-2012. He was also an 11-time world champion and, more recently, has done a huge amount of work for various charities and fundraising initiatives. Insisting that Scotland can harness the emotion of the occasion, Darge said: ‘It will be really special. He’s obviously a massive inspiration for sporting achievements in cycling, but also what he’s going through personally is really inspiring, too.

Sir Chris Hoy will present the match ball ahead of the Scotland v Ireland match. Co-captain Rory Darge believes Scotland will be inspired by the presence of Sir Chris Hoy. ‘I’m sure he’ll get a good reception at Murrayfield and it will be a special moment and a good start to the game.’. Hoy will also drive a Lead the Legends car at the front of the Scotland team bus as they arrive at the stadium this afternoon.

He spoke earlier this week about how his drive to raise awareness of prostate cancer has ‘given me a purpose’. Hoy remains a prominent supporter of the Doddie Weir Foundation, set up by the late, great former Scotland rugby star to help fund research into Motor Neurone Disease. Weir passed away in 2022 after a brave battle with MND, twice delivering the match ball prior to Scotland matches against New Zealand in 2017 and again just a few months before his death.

On both occasions, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house at Murrayfield — and Darge (pictured left) expects something similar when Hoy, born and bred in Edinburgh, steps out on to the pitch this afternoon. ‘Absolutely (it will be similar to what happened with Doddie),’ said the Scotland back-rower. ‘The sort of figure he is would be an inspiration in what he’s achieved. Darge addresses the Scotland squad ahead of Sunday's Six Nations clash with Ireland.

‘I’m sure the Murrayfield crowd will get behind that and make it an even more special moment. That energy will hopefully be something that we can feed off as players and put into the performance.’. Scotland will try to halt a run of ten straight defeats against an Ireland team gunning for their third successive Six Nations title. Both teams won their opening fixtures last weekend, with Scotland beating Italy 31-19 at Murrayfield and Ireland seeing off England 27-22 in Dublin.

Darge was keen to try and play down the rivalry that has built with Ireland over the years, as has been the message from the Scotland camp all week. But he is under no illusions if Scotland are finally to end their barren run against the Irish and claim a victory that would blow the championship wide open. ‘You can’t really argue with the fact that Ireland are one of the best teams in the world, in the top two or three sides in the world,’ said the 24-year-old, who was outstanding against Italy and is being tipped for British and Irish Lions selection.

‘We’ve played them in recent years and come out on the wrong side of the results. We’ve just got to focus on what we can do better from those games and more recently, what we can do better from Italy last week. Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is hoping to secure his first win against Ireland. ‘We had a good review and came in this week and looked at what we can do better. It was obviously a good performance, but there were loads of things we can do better.

‘Ireland are world-class. I think that’s the danger when you play them. They don’t necessarily go away — they stay at it. ‘There are so many words you can use to describe their qualities. They’re clinical. If you give them those opportunities, they usually take them. Their breakdown work is world-class. I thought they played really well against England. ‘We know that it’s going to be some challenge to get a result. But we feel ready for it and we’re looking forward to it.’.

Meanwhile, Gregor Townsend has confirmed that Kyle Steyn is unlikely to have recovered from his knee injury until the final two rounds of the championship. It had been hoped that Steyn might be back in time for the trip to Twickenham in round three in a fortnight, but Scotland head coach Townsend confirmed: ‘I would say it would be unlikely. I’d be more now looking towards the last two games. ‘Kyle’s had to stay in the brace a bit longer. I think he gets out next week, and then he’d be coming back to training, so I think a Test match (would be too soon).’.