Ireland 28
Scotland 8
Murray Kinsella reports from the Aviva Stadium
OVER TO YOU, Eddie.
Ireland’s bonus-point win over Scotland involved some hairy moments in which the visitors butchered three clear try-scoring opportunities, but this fourth victory in four Six Nations fixtures leaves England under severe pressure.
Eddie Jones’ men meet France in Paris today with a 4.45pm kick-off and if they don’t beat les Bleus with a bonus-point, Ireland will be confirmed as Six Nations champions for the third time in five years under Joe Schmidt.
It would be an impressive feat for the head coach but the Kiwi will be focusing on the new possibility in Twickenham next weekend.
Ireland have won just two Grand Slams in their rugby-playing history, the most recent under Declan Kidney in 2009, but now stand on the verge of new history.
They made some of that this afternoon in Dublin as they won for a record-breaking 11th time in a row, a sign of the consistency Schmidt has managed to bring out in this talented team.
Proven leaders like Rob Kearney, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony had big moments against the Scots, but there were also impressive impacts from some of the fresher faces.
Garry Ringrose was absolutely outstanding in midfield as he won his 12th cap, his footwork, passing and defensive nous all shining in what was just his second game back from an ankle injury.
Left wing Jacob Stockdale scored twice in the first-half to bring his stunning haul to 10 tries in eight Test matches and if he can stay injury-free, it looks likely that he will be challenging Brian O’Driscoll’s record of 46 in the future.
Murray and replacement hooker Sean Cronin scored the other two of Ireland’s four tries, both of them coming off close-range mauls from the strong Irish pack.
While Scotland created gilt-edged opportunities and were ferocious at the breakdown again to stifle the Irish attack at crucial times, they simply could not find the clinical touch that had helped them to a stunning Calcutta Cup win over England two weekends ago.
Gregor Townsend’s men still have to learn how to win on the road, but Ireland are now one away victory from sealing a third Grand Slam in their history.
It remains to be seen if England can keep the championship alive with a bonus-point win in Paris but Ireland can put their feet up and watch on from a very strong position.
Ireland’s kicking game was prominent from the start, with Kearney forcing an early knock-on in the air from Finn Russell, but Schmidt will have been frustrated by a missed opportunity at a five-metre lineout on the left, Rory Best’s throw evading O’Mahony at the tail.
That Ireland had declined to kick at goal was an indication of their thirst for tries and with Cian Healy powerfully to the fore and their tip-on passes causing trouble, it was a promising opening spell until Stuart McInally’s turnover penalty awakened the Scots.
Ireland were penalised for sealing off a ruck – it did appear the Scots had knocked-on before Keith Earls was forced to scramble back – and Greig Laidlaw slotted the three points to open the scoring in the 13th minute.
Earls then passed directly into touch from an Ireland lineout attack and some clever interplay down the right from Blair Kinghorn, Ryan Wilson and Russell sent the Scots into the 22, only for Dan Leavy’s superb breakdown turnover to relieve the pressure.
A Sexton chip and gather out of his own half almost allowed the out-half to send halfback partner Murray clear, but he just stumbled after nearly beating Stuart Hogg’s desperate covering tackle.
Scotland were unsurprisingly targeting the wide channels but it backfired in the 22nd minute as Peter Horne’s left-to-right pass hung in the air for far too long and the intuitive Stockdale picked it off for another intercept score to follow his game-sealing effort against Wales two weekends ago.
With Sexton converting for a 7-3 lead, Ireland almost struck again soon after off a brilliant scrum attack that saw Ringrose brilliantly step his man and burst all the way into the Scotland 22 – only for the Scots to recover and force a turnover.
Huw Jones butchered the next great opportunity of the game, having done the hard work to chip and gather out of his half, then beat Ireland fullback Kearney. He only had to hit Stuart Hogg on his right but with Sexton applying pressure as the final defender, Jones’ pass flew out in front of Hogg to bring Irish hearts back out of mouths.
Ringrose was instrumental to Ireland’s superb finish to the half, first tipping-on a wonderful pass that allowed Kearney to break into the Scotland 22 and find Murray inside him, before Bundee Aki attempted to finish and was held up over the tryline.
With the clock ticking into the red, Ireland had one final scrum attack from five metres out. Ringrose carried on first phase under the posts and then popped up as first receiver moments later to run a loop off Aki and send an early pass to Stockdale waiting on the left wing.
The Ulsterman showed his incredible finishing prowess once again, stepping back inside Blair Kinghorn to dot down his 10th try in eight Tests. Sexton’s extras send Ireland in with 14-3 at the break and halfway towards their target of a bonus point.
Scotland started the second half the sharper, with Kinghorn breaking out of their 22 and up beyond halfway, but the hard-working O’Mahony was awarded the turnover penalty despite his hands being on the ground before attacking the ball.
Kearney then had a crucial aerial win over Maitland after a poor Sexton garryowen, leading to Horne going off his feet for a penaltly that Ireland kicked to touch within five metres of the Scottish tryline.
After a strong maul laid the foundation, Conor Murray showed his close-range power to dart off to the right of the set-piece inside the tackle of Russell and through Hamish Watson, with Bundee Aki lending a helping hand by latching on.
The grounding looked a little loose but there was no TMO check and Sexton converted for an impressive 21-3 lead with just 46 minutes gone.
Scotland weren’t dead and buried just yet, though they did their best to deny themselves a chance by butchering another try-scoring chance – this time when Hogg’s pass to the unmarked Kinghorn wide on the right flew over his head into touch.
They had been playing an advantage for Ringrose being offside, however, and off a midfield scrum Townsend’s men clinically executed a clever play, with two screen passes from left to right creating just enough space for Maitland to send Kinghorn into the corner.
Laidlaw struck the post with his conversion effort and then Scotland proceeded to criminally miss another try-scoring chance.
This time, Horne glided through the Irish defence off a sharp link play in the midfield but with centre Jones bursting onto his right shoulder to accept a short try-scoring pass, Horne instead opted to fire a long pass wide to Kinghorn.
His accuracy was poor and the Edinburgh wing knocked on into touch, another major let-off for Ireland.
Coming into the final quarter, Ireland looked to be in prime position to secure their bonus-point try, with Ringrose influential again through 17 phases in the Scottish 22 before Murray was tackled just short.
From the scrum reset after unplayable ball, Scotland mustered yet another breakdown turnover, with replacement hooker Fraser Brown clamping onto the ball after a Ringrose carry to lift the pressure.
When Ireland were awarded a penalty in the 65th minute for the Scots rolling into scrum-half Murray, Schmidt’s men oddly decided to take a difficult shot at goal from wide out on the right, with Sexton missing.
But when they got another penalty heading into the final 10 minutes, they opted for the corner and got potentially championship-winning reward.
The maul was powerful again and sub hooker Sean Cronin had the perfect impact as he wriggled over to score from a metre out, Barnes’ confirmation of the score lifting the rafters in the Aviva Stadium.
Now we wait for England’s response.
Ireland scorers:Tries: Jacob Stockdale [2], Conor Murray, Sean Cronin
Conversions: Johnny Sexton [4 from 4]
Penalties: Johnny Sexton [0 from 1]
Scotland scorers:
Tries: Blair Kinghorn
Conversions: Greig Laidlaw [0 from 1]
Penalties: Greig Laidlaw [1 from 1]
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (Jordan Larmour ’75); Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton (Joey Carbery ’73), Conor Murray (Kieran Marmion ’71); Cian Healy (Jack McGrath ’51), Rory Best (captain) (Sean Cronin ’66), Tadhg Furlong (Andrew Porter ’62), James Ryan, Devin Toner (Iain Henderson ’55); Peter O’Mahony (Jordi Murphy ’55), Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.
SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg; Blair Kinghorn (Lee Jones ’30 to ’37), Huw Jones, Peter Horne (Nick Grigg ’75), Sean Maitland; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (Ali Price ’67); Gordon Reid (Jamie Bhatti ’55), Stuart McInally (Fraser Brown ’60), Simon Berghan (WP Nel ’55); Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray (Tim Swinson ’71); John Barclay (captain), Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson (David Denton ’18).
Referee: Wayne Barnes [RFU].
