Ireland vs Scotland 2023 Rugby World Cup: Catt Dismisses Collusion Claims to Knock Out Springboks

• Ireland have laughed off working with Scotland to knock South Africa out of the Rugby World Cup
• South Africa could suffer a group-stage exit if a set of highly unlikely results happen against them
• The Springboks are the defending champions having beaten England at the 2019 final of the RWC

Ireland rugby assistant coach, Mike Catt has come out to strongly dismiss the possibility of his side colluding with Scotland when they face off on Saturday in Paris.

Both teams could together knock out the defending champions, South Africa, should the results go their way.

The Springboks have already completed their group matches, where they beat Tonga, Romania and Scotland but fell to Ireland.

South Africa currently sit top of Group B but are yet to secure automatic qualification to the quarter-finals.

Should the Scottish win by 21 points and the Irish get a losing bonus point by scoring at least four tries, the two teams will sail through at the expense of the 2019 winners.

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Jacques Nienaber: That would be match-fixing

South Africa head coach, Jacques Nienaber had earlier been asked what he thought of the two nations possibly colluding.

"Could I believe in a scenario that they will decide 'do we want to get this amount of points and then get South Africa out of the way?' That would probably be match-fixing, I would say. I hope not. Rugby is clean," he said, as quoted by Wales Online.

Catt has now moved in to dismiss those assertions, calling it 'white noise,' as reported by ESPN Scrum.

"That stuff is just white noise in the background. No, we are not going to be in cahoots with Scotland. Would we want Scotland to beat us by 21 points? Would you want Scotland to beat you by 21 points?"

While the result is a possibility, it is highly unlikely it will happen on Saturday, given Scotland's sorry record against Ireland in recent games.

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The Gregor Townsend-coached side haven't beaten their Six Nations counterparts by more than 21 points since 2001.

Ireland vs Scotland betting preview

Ireland will look to continue winning as they prepare for their final pool match at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

They will square off against Scotland this coming Saturday in a blockbuster clash at Stade de France in Paris.

Read on as Sports Brief brings you a preview of this all-important showdown as Group B begins to wrap up.