Try time: Eoin Reddan scored Ireland's second try
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Ireland scored three unanswered tries to beat Scotland 21-18 in a closely contested Six Nations game in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Jamie Heaslip, Eoin Reddan and Ronan O'Gara touched down for the visitors as Ireland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive - although based on this performance it's difficult to see them lift the championship trophy next month.
Neither side can be blamed for not trying to play attractive rugby as there was plenty of positive intent from the protagonists. Unfortunately, the harsh truth is that the skills levels failed to match their ambitions as a plethora of errors made the encounter a stop-start affair.
If anything, Scotland were once again victims of their own attacking mindset as their expansive style left them empty handed when a more pragmatic approach - especially in the closing minutes when they were desperate for territory - could have put Ireland under pressure.
Ireland were clearly the stronger side on the day but will head back to Dublin with plenty to think about as their knack for giving possession away through silly mistakes could well have cost them victory if Scotland were more clinical.
It took just six minutes for Ireland to find their way over the try-line as some slack Scottish defending around the fringes saw Heaslip cruise in for the opening score.
Scotland turned up the intensity and are were able to narrow to gap to a single point as Ireland were pressured into transgressions at the breakdown and Paterson could land two penalties.
Ireland would cross the whitewash again just before the half-hour mark after scrum five metres from the Scottish line. A huge scrum provided the platform for Heaslip to break off. Two defenders were unable to pull him down before he could off-loaded to Eoin Reddan, who burst over the line untouched.
O'Gara slotted his second conversion but Scotland continued to hang on as Paterson added his third penalty to leave the sides separated by just five points going into the break at 14-9.
The home side's hopes of victory took a major blow when loosehead prop Allan Jacobsen was sent to the bin for scrummaging in.
A minute before Jacobsen returned from the field Ireland broke through again as O'Gara found himself at the end of a massive overlap. The visiting fly-half duly added the extra points and the game looked settled at 21-9.
The Scots kept coming however as Ireland seemed content to try defend their lead. Another penalty for Paterson and then one for replacement fly-half Parks put Scotland back in contention.
It was all Scotland in the final ten minutes but the hosts couldn't find the gap that would have brought a famous comeback victory.
A date with England at Twickenham now looks a daunting task for Andy Robinson's men.
Man of the match: Jamies Heaslip deserves a mention for scoring one try and creating another. Max Evans was Scotland's most dangerous runner. But the gong goes to the man who, on his return to the starting XV reminded everyone why he has been Ireland's go-to man for years. Ronan O'Gara's try was just reward for a top performance.
Moment of the match: Ireland led from start to finish thanks to Heaslip's try. That early score had Scotland playing catch-up for 74 minutes.
Villain of the match: No nasty stuff to report.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Pens: Paterson 4, Parks
Drop: Parks
For Ireland:
Tries: Heaslip, Reddan, O'Gara
Cons: O'Gara 3
Yellow cards: Jacobsen (Scotland - 44th min - illegal scrummaging)
The teams:
Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Max Evans, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Moray Low, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Geoff Cross, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Dan Parks, 22 Simon Danielli.
Ireland: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements:16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Denis Leamy, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Jonathan Sexton , 22 Paddy Wallace.
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Andrew Small (England), Pascal Gauzere (France)
Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)
Comments
Carpelone says...
@ Crunchfit
Anyhow, Wales against Ireland is going to be extremely interesting, as they are quite complementary. Looking forward to it. In the meantime, some refreshing Super Rugby. Have a great week end, mate.
Cheers to all
Posted 14:45 04th March 2011
crunchfit says...
Carpelone
I wouldn't say it was the worst game... Scotland were threatening the whole match and Ireland were good at times. Three tries were scored, plenty of line breaks were made, there was a great display of kicking by ROG, Lamont and O' Brien made some great bashing runs, etc. It could have been better without the high penalty count.
And Ireland don't systematically slow the ball down. They, like every other team, used to do that when the laws allowed for it. Now they don't and you keep saying that they do based on reputation, not their actual performance.
And they aren't at the Level of England (although I still think they have a chance of winning if they drop the mistakes and penalties). As for Wales, I disagree.
Posted 19:45 02nd March 2011
Carpelone says...
Crunchfit.
I had the chance to see the game yesterday night. It was b....y awful, by far the worst in this Six Nation, marred by ridiculous refereeing.
I did appreciate however Sean O'Brien, who is one of the candidate to the player of the tournament.
I am annoyed by the way Ireland systematically slow the ball down.
I may be wrong, but I do not think that Ireland is at the level of both England and Wales. Let's see.
Posted 09:41 02nd March 2011
crunchfit says...
leinster7
Agree with you 100%. I'm sick of Munster rugby. Look what happened when they finally gave SOB a bit of space. He sliced / rampaged through the defense two or three times in the 2nd half.
Kidney, pleas update your tactics.
Posted 23:51 01st March 2011
dropgoal says...
Steady improvement going forward for Ireland is where its at. Cut down on the
penalty count which is becoming more and more difficult to do in the set pieces these days. At least cut out the stupid penalties and the stream of loose passes
we are capable of wasting when we loose our concentration. We are scoring tries
of late as good as any Irish team in the past and this is where test matches are won, I cannot see us losing to Wales unless we totally self destruct. The game
against England in Dublin in two weeks will be a real cracker. Hopefully a seven
try showcase by the fine line up of attacking players on both sides will justify a
fitting end to the SiX Nations.
Posted 00:35 01st March 2011
DaveJ says...
...and for the record, Frances complete and utter inability to manufacture a try from anything other than an opposition error is the reason they lost on Saturday, perhaps aided by their complete defensive frailty where by they have conceded 7 tries in 3 games. The longer that Liervermont is couching their backs the longer it will continue....... Viva Lievermont!!!
Posted 17:30 28th February 2011
DaveJ says...
I don't doubt for a second that JeanLucJoinel is full of hot air, in fact having read his posts over the past few months I would almost suspect that he is a troll, he is just that hypocritical and ridiculous so often that he can't actually be serious or at the very least sane.
Posted 17:25 28th February 2011
wallyk says...
@mlbp... legendarious?
Posted 14:00 28th February 2011
DaveJ says...
spike19 - completely agree, the penalty count is killing us, we had almost conceded 10 penalties by half time and ended up giving Scotland 6 very kick able penalties which they took 5.
I think the fact that Ireland have scored 9 tries in the 6N so far and conceded 2, yet are only +2 in the points different sums up how badly these penalties we freely dish out are hampering our progress.
Posted 13:31 28th February 2011
DaveJ says...
Morel76 - The Italy Wales match on Saturday was far from boring, I thought it was very entertaining. There have been far worse games.
Posted 13:24 28th February 2011
DaveJ says...
JeanLucJoinel - how was the second try a forward pass when Reddan ripped it from Heaslips arms? Also O' Brien had a try disallowed for a "forward pass" that on reply appeared that it wasn't at all.
Ireland showing they have a lot to offer in attack, a lot more than France or England so far, but unfortunately it's ill-discipline and errors that are letting Ireland down so badly. Not the worst place to be ahead of the world cup I suppose. Work to do in the Irish camp but a lot of positives to take and an attacking style of play that if perfected could pose tough opposition to any team in the world cup.
Posted 13:23 28th February 2011
adamk says...
All moaning aside, what do you think about O'Brien + Gray in a Lions backrow?? That'd be some amazing running rugby!
Posted 12:07 28th February 2011
ztekkiwi says...
Andy Robinson's attempt to pin the loss on poor officiating (it was shabby to the nth degree) is an effort to keep the blame from landing where it squarely belongs; on the shoulders of Andy Robinson for inflicting a pattern of play that did not match the abilities of the players he selected! With TWO giant locks to dominate the lineouts it seemed clear that kicking the ball to touch inside the Irish half was the provident thing to do! The Irish Wingers further obliged by playing up and tight leaving heaps of space behind them. It wasn't til late in the second half that this tactic was finally utilized with positive effect. One must also question the long throw-in on their own 5 meter line (that caught their own receiver napping) and the use of the three man lineout. Kellock and Grey are weapons to be used, not forgotten!
Admittedly Nigel Owens had a shocker with the whistle particularly at the breakdowns (where he was inconsistent at best) and set scrums where he seemed clueless. HOWEVER, I have seen referees across the globe in both hemispheres struggle with set scrums. Something must be done before the World Cup; the various cadence used by the refs, their inflection, and the incompatability of the"pause" phase of the commands with the very nature of scrumming is set to ruin the game. Today one set piece took more than TWO minutes to engage and collapses were rampant; This is Unacceptable!
IRB wake up! The players, coaches, and fans deserve and demand better.
Posted 03:31 28th February 2011
lostprofit says...
Nigel Owen's has lost my respect as a ref. For some time now I feel his standards have been slipping. I used to trust him. Now when I see his name on a match program, for either HC ML or 6 nations I groan.
Apart from Evans, Scotland's only threat seemed to come from 4 to 8 they are a great set of players but so predictable to defend against.
Ireland where atrocious though. Absolutely atrocious. I dont know what I am more annoyed about, the 20 odd penalty count against us or the utter colapse at the end.
Is it just me or does anyone else think Kidney is doing a Gatland?
First year - Grand slam. Woo hoo we are so good.
second year - Some missed chances but still ok
Third year - Its getting a bit crap now
Forth year - %&^£"* dont tell me HE'S leading us to the world cup/what ever tournament is on????
A certain Mr. Nick Mallet will become available soon. Wonder how he feels bout living in Dublin?
Posted 21:32 27th February 2011
scot_rsa says...
I must be the worst kind of addict, I keep paying huge prices to go to Murrayfield. I then get the long-term pyschological damage but without the high. Scotland didn't wake up until the final quarter even against an Ireland playing poorly. I'm not going to blame the ref or anyone. One thing sums up our tackling today more than any headline, it's the fact that Ronan O'Gara actually scored a try against us. No offence ROG, but you're usually about as threatening as a girl guide. Some scottish standouts, Max Evans, Richie Gray, Sean Lamont. Otherwise, sheesh. Such a promising year, and now between us and Italy again for the wooden spoon. I'll be back for another fix though, god help me.
Posted 20:51 27th February 2011
jbscott19 says...
No mid-field penetration from the Irish backs. Darcy - OUT. DOWNEY - IN.
Posted 20:16 27th February 2011
spike19 says...
Ireland are there own worst enemy. We took the initiative early on but kept letting the scots back in to the game. It was just like the french game giving away countless penalties in there own 22. In the end we nudged it and were lucky a better side would have made Ireland pay, its becoming an extremeley stressful experience watching Ireland play. Need to cut out the errors if we want win the tc.
Posted 18:58 27th February 2011
mlbp says...
I feel for Scotland. Great commitment but little benefit.
O'Connell had a stellar performance in the last ten minutes. He disrupted all the attempts at continuity by Scotland.
Ferris-O'Brien-Heaslip: that is a fantastic backrow who could be in the starting line up of the British and Irish Lions. O'Brien's breaks were a beauty. He was so fast no other Irish player could run next to him in support.
I still cannot understand Jacobsen's yellow. Ireland took the initiative well when he was sin-binned. Scotland shot themselves in the foot several times.
Richie Gray had a quiet match until the last quarter. He will grow into an immense player soon. His partnership with Courtney Lawes for the Lions could be legendarious.
Ruaridh Jackson looked out of sorts at times. He needs to learn a lot still. Parks gave some more fluency to Scotland's game. Of course they were throwing everything (even the kitchen sink) at the Irish and he could benefit from the fierceness of the forwards, but still he had a calm head to kick well.
Paterson's light body makes Scotland suffer in defence. It's a pity for such a talented player.
I would hate Scotland or Italy to finish this 6 nations winless. Their last match will be like an all-out war.
Ireland can threaten England and their last match for the Triple Crown will be another match to look forward to.
It looks as if all teams are getting better as the tournament is advancing. I hope they get even better for their last two rounds.
Posted 17:08 27th February 2011