With the Six Nations set to kick off this weekend, it’s fair to say Ireland are going in with lower expectations than we’ve become accustomed to in recent years.
This time last year, Joe Schmidt’s team were preparing to enter the Six Nations as Grand Slam champions and with a famous win over New Zealand in the back pocket.
Since then, we’ve endured a fairly below-par World Cup campaign, which culminated in a humbling defeat at the hands of the All Blacks at the quarter-final stage. Schmidt has now exited stage left and handed the reins over to his defence coach Andy Farrell, who this week divided opinion with his team selection for the opener against Scotland.
Fear not though because as anyone who has ever seen Team America will know, when the chips are down all you need is a montage to put things right. Virgin Media have certainly delivered on that front with the Six Nations promo they’ve released ahead of Saturday’s match.
The two-minute clip starts off by addressing the heartbreak of Tokyo before reminding fans of the journey that led to Ireland entering the World Cup with such high expectations.
From O’Gara to Sexton, O’Driscoll to O’Connell, the memories of happier times come rushing back and it will certainly get you pumped up for the Six Nations campaign. Check it out below…
The Guinness Six Nations.
Saturday from 1pm on Virgin Media One.
Let's get hearts racing again!#VMTVRugby #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/pBH0fc08NS
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) January 30, 2020
And breathe. Ireland’s 2020 Six Nations journey gets underway at the Aviva Stadium at 4.45pm on Saturday when Andy Farrell’s men line up against Scotland.
Bring it home, boys.
