Forget England, here's why IRELAND are now Scotland's biggest Six Nations enemies after a decade-long war of dirty tactics, poleaxings and 'bus-gate'

If one player could ever be the physical embodiment of a rivalry between two teams, then Peter O’Mahony would surely be the poster boy for all the aggro and argy-bargy with Scotland and Ireland over the past decade or so. Ireland are now enjoying a period of unprecedented dominance over the Scots. In a run stretching back to 2014, they have won 14 of the last 15 matches between the sides. Scotland’s one and only triumph during that run came in 2017 in Vern Cotter’s last Six Nations as head coach, meaning that Gregor Townsend has never beaten Ireland in 10 attempts.

Rivalry? What rivalry? This has been a horribly one-sided affair for far too long, a flexing of green muscle that so often results in a brutal slap-down for those wearing the blue jerseys. No player has contributed more to that than O’Mahony, the great enforcer in Ireland’s back row who is now winding down his career on a farewell tour in this Six Nations. Now 35-years-old and with over 100 caps under his belt, O’Mahony didn’t play in the win over England last weekend and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be involved against Scotland.

Peter O'Mahony is the pantomime villain that Scots target their ire towards. Ireland sealed the 2024 championship with a 17-13 win over Scotland in Dublin. But, whatever his involvement on the playing side, you can bet your bottom dollar that his influence and leadership will be to the fore in the Irish camp this week. With retirement looming at the end of the season, the Murrayfield crowd would certainly love to give him one final send-off.

Why? Because O’Mahony is the player that Scottish rugby fans love to hate. He is the pantomime villain who has ruled this rivalry for a decade. Broadly speaking, there have been too many nice guys in the Scotland camp over the past 10 years and not enough Peter O’Mahonys. That is the long and short of it. This is a guy who has left Murrayfield countless times over the years with the lunch money of Scotland players rattling around in his pocket.

Certainly, no player has contributed more to the niggle that has brewed and festered between both teams. For Scotland, this is the big one. Forget England. There is no point hamming-up tired old narratives about the Auld Enemy for a Scotland squad where so many players grew up overseas and need to learn the words to Flower of Scotland when they are called up. If you were to ask Townsend and his players which team they dearly love to beat in the Six Nations, they would, almost without exception, all say Ireland.

Conor Murray is another player who Scotland fans have grown to dislike. The two teams have clashed a lot in recent years, with Ireland usually coming out on top. Andrew Porter celebrates scoring against Scotland in their Six Nations meeting last year. In the modern day, there is no greater rivalry for Scotland. This is the grudge match which tops all others. It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact moment where it all started. The genesis of the rivalry depends on who you ask.

But it is generally viewed that it was around the time when Glasgow Warriors started competing for silverware under Townsend a decade ago. For instance, when Glasgow won the Pro12 title under Townsend in 2015, they beat Ulster in the semi-final and Munster in the final. The previous season, they had beaten Munster in the semi-finals before then losing to Leinster in the final. Those contests at club level laid the foundations for what was to unfold with the national teams, but it was in 2017 when things really moved on to a new level.

In January of that year, in a Champions Cup game between Glasgow and Munster, Conor Murray claimed some of the Warriors players had deliberately tried to  injure him. Munster and Ireland scrum-half Murray felt that he had been on the receiving end of some rough treatment and dirty tactics from Ryan Wilson, Josh Strauss and Jonny Gray. The 2017 Champions Cup tie between Glasgow and Munster was a brutal affair.

The 2017 clash at Murrayfield became known as 'bus-gate' for what happened pre-match. Murray insisted afterwards that he was ‘properly p***** off’ by Glasgow’s approach to tackling him and said they were deliberately trying to target his standing leg during his box-kicks. That game then set the tone for the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield a couple of months later and the nonsense of what became known as ‘bus-gate’.

Ireland arrived at Murrayfield later than planned after being forced into what they felt was a questionable detour around Edinburgh on the team bus. They went on to lose 27-22. Prior to that game, former Ireland fly-half Ronan O’Gara had been asked about Scotland and said: ‘I hope we hammer them. They’re too mouthy, but they can’t back it up.’. That’s essentially the nub of it. There is a perception in Ireland that Scotland are all talk and no trousers, a team who too often over-promise and under-deliver.