Scotland: Shock the Irish
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Scotland kept their Six Nations title hopes alive thanks to a hard fought 12-8 victory over Ireland at Murrayfield on Sunday.
It's the first time since 2001 that the Scots have won back-to-back Six Nations matches.
After trailing 8-0 early in the second half, the hosts put 12 unanswered points past their Celtic rivals thanks to the boot of scrum-half Greig Laidlaw that helped his team to an unlikely win and that effectively ends Ireland's Six Nations challenge.
It certainly wasn't the most memorable Championship clash ever witnessed, as the two teams served up a borefest in the first half with Ireland - who dominated possession throughout - heading into the break with a slender three-point lead.
However, Scotland's fightback in the second half breathed some life into a tight contest.
Ireland started the game with a roar and a hiss, with centre Luke Marshall breaking the Scots' defence with ease in his Test debut. But Ireland failed to convert pressure into points - even against 14 men after Scotland prop Ryan Grant was sin-binned - and only had a 35th-minute Paddy Jackson penalty to show for their dominance.
Ireland finally found the breakthrough they deserved when wing Craig Gilroy crossed early in the second half out wide. The tricky conversion from Jackson, who missed three times from the tee, was unsuccessful.
That try only seemed to give Scotland the wake-up needed to mount a comeback and it didn't take long for Laidlaw to put his team on the scoreboard with his first penalty kick of the match on 53 minutes.
Jackson pulled another penalty wide two minutes later, but Laidlaw showed the Irish rookie how it was done with his second three-pointer of the afternoon that cut the deficit to just two points and suddenly the crowd came alive.
Laidlaw continued to find his target and made no mistake with two more accurate kicks to give the Scots a four-point cushion entering the final five minutes of what was turning into a gripping finale.
But Ireland weren't prepared to roll over yet, and threatened to steal the match from their hosts when they awarded two attacking scrums 10m out from Scotland's tryline.
However, Scotland dug deep in defence and there was no way through for the Irish whose knock-on sent Murrayfield into raptures.
Man of the match: Scotland lock Jim Hamilton won the official gong, and his hard work at the set-piece was a real standout for the hosts. But we've opted for hero of the day Greig Laidlaw, who's four perfect kicks at goal handed Scotland victory.
Moment of the match: There weren't many. But those last few minutes that so nearly ended in heartbreak for the hosts was a real nail-biter.
Villain of the match: Ryan Grant's sin-binning didn't prove as costly as Paddy Jackson's three missed kicks at goal which ultimately cost his side dearly.
The scorers:
For Scotland:
Pens: Laidlaw 4
Yellow card:Grant (15th min)
For Ireland:
Try: Gilroy
Pen: Jackson
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (c), 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Max Evans.
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip (c), 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Iain Henderson, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Comments
carpelone says...
How Ireland failed to secure that? It is a mistery.
ROG is playing like he was in a pub team.
After the third match of the week end, scrum is clearly becoming an issue. Early engagements win it and the ref are quite inconsistent in judging that.
Scotland were resilient, but also lucky to win this as this was probably the weakest Irish team in a decade, both due to injuries and wrong selection (Madigan, just the first name coming to my mind).
Posted 09:40 25th February 2013
three6three6 says...
Congratulations Scotland!
There is some serious navel gazing to be done within the Irish camp.... the lack of real ambition was palpable.... a change of Head Coach would certainly start to settle the frayed nerves of their Supporters.
This will bring us to the match of the season on the last weekend - when Wales play England at the Millennium Stadium. Will Wales be able to rise to this particular challenge? It should be an interesting contest.... and no doubt a 'final trial' for those still hopeful of selection for the Lions.
Posted 03:33 25th February 2013
ABlack says...
Ireland need a Kiwi coach....
Posted 02:52 25th February 2013
porridge_time says...
At least if England do go on to win the championship they will go down as the team to win the worst championship in living memory.
Actually thought the year Ireland won the GS was pretty poor as was the 2008 Welsh GS.
Posted 02:37 25th February 2013
swells07 says...
good on you scotland!
Posted 01:46 25th February 2013
porridge_time says...
The writing was on the wall for this result in my opinion. Can actually see both France and Italy making life difficult for this Irish team to be honest.
Their lineout and scrum are woeful and game plan non existent, they rely far to heavily on individual talent and in the forwards they have no leadership or direction... which is amazing since there is no lack of talent available.
Scotland will have to work hard this week to find a ways of getting ball and retaining it. They may also have to bring in someone to the mid field to see if they can free ball up for the back three... Lamont and Evans should be replaced by couple of the young Glasgow guys.
Against Italy,Wales kick a lot of possession away badly, but Italy failed to capitalise on this. If this is the same game plan to beat Scotland then I think Wales will come unstuck.
Finishing second to Grand Slam winning England is a real prospect here for Scotland.
Posted 01:19 25th February 2013
Patrickh says...
Sack Kidney, shoot O'Gara and send Earls off to play in Japan.
Paddy Jackson did well on his first competitive start. He and Marian should have half a dozen starts and at least if not more run ins off the bench by now. Only one man to blame for that.
Marshall was good also. Henderson looked effective when he came on. I wonder is it time for a total clear out?
Kidney, O'Gara and earls should have no more involvement with Ireland. It's a pity for O'Gara, he should have been allowed retire after the last wc.
Posted 01:16 25th February 2013
Jivinjeff says...
As a wallabies supporter that's a bit of deja vu. Wallabies with all the ball, Scotland's heroic defence carrying the day. Nice to see them do it to someone who isn't us.
Posted 01:12 25th February 2013
5Lock4ward says...
This is why Sexton can walk away confidently to France. Ireland have no back up for him and he knows it so he can go chasing the paycheck w/out fear of stunting his international career.
Posted 00:43 25th February 2013
jammster65 says...
ok the match was poor ...but and its a big butt the scots talked to each other ,believed in themselves ..all they way through the game they backed each other ,they are building something ......its called belief
hats off to them ,we where talking about this yesterday ,and how wales have a hell of a fight on there hands when they travel there
all the welsh boys said they would hammer them ,its going to be a very hard physical game ,the scots have become very fit as well as physical ,they used to run out of steam after 60 mins they dont now
winning gives confidence and belief ....good luck to them
(i can say that know because england have allready beat them!)
Posted 00:23 25th February 2013
Michtymauler says...
Jeez, what a load of moaning from the Oirish fans!! All the boring speculation for the last week or so and now all the knives out for Kidney!! I think time has surely been called for ROG and surely Laiflaw must now be in contention for a Lions place!!
Posted 23:35 24th February 2013
ben7 says...
That was the most boring game of rugby in years. But well done Scotland. However you would think that they had won the world cup with the celebrations afterwards.
Posted 22:46 24th February 2013
PREEST says...
I think the Melbourne Rebels, the Western Force, the Cheetahs and the Southern Kings could all beat the Irish and the Scots. Both teams were woeful, just that Ireland were more woeful. If you can only get 20% possesion then you are supposed to get punished. Woeful game and I dom't know why I sacrificed a nights sleep for that!
Posted 22:43 24th February 2013
ronanmeagher says...
@Gleek - thats a fair point, although I don't think Ireland have had any discernible tactics for the past 2 years, so not sure he's still using the ones from his Munster days.
Posted 22:24 24th February 2013
lacroix says...
i hate to say i told you so....ireland are so poor.
Posted 22:23 24th February 2013
kybone says...
First of all, how any team can have so much possession and territory and only score 8 points is unbelievable. The number of clean breaks that came to nothing is unforgivable. Its easy to blame the coach, and maybe he is partly to blame for his team selection, but he cant legislate for so many individual errors.
Secondly, for all those calling for Kidneys head, who is going to replace him? I've seen Conor Oshea's name mentioned, but would he leave Quins? Not sure. After him, who else is there? I see a lot of Posters on here banging on about the number of foreign players in the Prem and Top 14, but the lack of depth in key areas ie. front row, was there to see again today- and its due to the number of foreign props in ireland. With all 4 of the Irish provinces set to be coached by foreigners from next year, the depth of alternatives to Kidney is quite literally 0.
Posted 21:35 24th February 2013
jaycee_111 says...
So Scotland drop to 3rd in the Six Nations table after a poor performance against an Irish team who could not score in a brothel. They will have to up their game against the Welsh whose backs can catch a ball.
Sad to see the Irish supporters cannot lose gracefully, the team who played the best won live with it.
Posted 20:57 24th February 2013
olepete says...
Gosh! I wonder if Scotland would have done so well with more of the ball - better to let Ireland have it and mess it up. Thank goodness for the Super 15 for those who want to watch rugby.
Posted 20:52 24th February 2013
Iyhel says...
Oh now I get it, it's a contest of butchery between France and Ireland!
Seriously, I don't have the 2nd half stats but in the 1st, 81 % possession, 27 % in the opponent's 22 and you go back to the restroom with... 3-0? And Scotland can get away with a mere 85 % of successful tackles?
Based on this week-end's form, France could afford to field Fofana alone on the pitch...
I can't say I've ever loved o'Gara but come on, no one deserves to be humiliated this way. Didn't he said last year that he wanted to retire from international level?
On the other hand, I can only admit that o'Driscoll's been aging well.
Thought P. Jackson had an ok game - except from the tee but all were quite hard kicks - nice prospect indeed.
Slowly but surely, the Scotts are building something, it ain't pretty yet but who cares?
And Barnes definitely had a good game - found the yellow a bit harsh but got to admit there were to many blue shirts on the wrong side of rucks in the first 15 minutes.
Posted 20:45 24th February 2013
Sirjona says...
At least if England do go on to win the championship they will go down as the team to win the worst championship in living memory.
Posted 20:38 24th February 2013