Gavan Casey

Backs:

• Hugo Keenan — 8: Key to Ireland weathering Scotland’s purple patch. Identified the space and took to the skies to claim Gibson-Park’s chip before Conan’s try.  Might have made a slight defensive misread to bite in for Van der Merwe’s try but defensively excellent otherwise. 

• Calvin Nash — 7: Took his walk-in try and otherwise had limited involvement a la Hansen last week. Turned over on the ground a couple of times but his ball presentation seemed fine.

• Robbie Henshaw — 7: Made an excellent early first-half linebreak but gave one away as the shooter in Ireland’s defence on the other side of the break. While that was the only blot on his copybook, it almost proved significant. Still made 13 tackles, more than any other back, and took the lion’s share of ball in Ireland’s midfield.

• Bundee Aki — 5:  An uncharacteristically unproductive game. Committed an early spillage on pen advantage, conceded a pen himself under a poor Scottish kick on 25 minutes, and made just three carries for no real gain. Will likely never be quieter for Ireland again — just one of those days.

• James Lowe — 8: Another exhibition of power, dexterity and aerial prowess. Made three linebreaks off nine carries and created at least a couple more directly. Excellent finish for his try.

• Sam Prendergast — 8: Glorious left-handed pass assist for Nash set the tone for an exciting, street-smart performance. Kicked beautifully from hand, whether it be with power or delicacy. Almost flawless off the tee. At all times appeared to be thoroughly enjoying himself in his first ever away Test. His passing range adds a string to Ireland’s bow. ‘The Debate’ can ease off — at least for the next fortnight.

• Jamison Gibson-Park — 9: This writer’s man of the match. Was again as impressive defensively as he was with ball in hand. Try-saver after Kinghorn’s break from the Henshaw misread proved crucial. Chip over the top for Keenan was an absolute delight. Box-kicked superbly and had Ireland humming for all four tries. What a player.

Forwards:

• Andrew Porter — 9: An extraordinary loosehead. Played almost 70 minutes with ferocity, making 16 tackles, a chargedown, and hitting the breakdown like a kamikaze pilot. Capped it off with a brilliant scrummaging performance, winning a penalty on his side.

• Rónan Kelleher — 6: Don’t think he can be blamed for the couple of loose first-half lineouts but he was just incidentally quiet during his 40 minutes compared to last week. Didn’t make a carry of note, focusing instead on protecting Irish possession at the breakdown. Held up once over the line, although it was a tough one to finish as the maul disintegrated in front of him. Counter-rucked to significant effect at least once and put in seven tackles in one half which is nothing to be sniffed at.

• Finlay Bealham — 8: One of his best games in green. Did damage in the scrum, won a key jackal penalty just before the hour, and made 14 tackles in only an hour. A highly impressive outing by the Connacht tighthead.

• James Ryan — 8: Came up big throughout, making a rousing lineout steal deep in Irish territory five minutes before half-time. Picked up where he left off last week, particularly at the breakdown and in defence.

• Tadhg Beirne — 8: Destroyed the Scottish maul, twice almost singlehandedly. Also stole one lineout and, like Ryan, made 12 tackles. Conceded a couple of frustrating penalties but a talismanic performance otherwise.

• Peter O’Mahony — 7: Recovered well from an atypical bout of butterfingers early on to make a vintage POM poach on 27 minutes. The case will be made that he didn’t greatly augment Ireland’s lineout, which would also be unusual, but Scotland’s defence of that set-piece was always going to be streets ahead of England’s triple-openside effort last week — which is exactly why O’Mahony was selected.

• Josh van der Flier — 8: Led the team again with 19 tackles. A quintessential Van der Flier performance in which his work rate was off the charts. 

• Caelan Doris (C) — 8: Did well to finish his try, Ireland’s second, and was seriously destructive off his 10 carries, which led the team. Second in tackles with 17 and sharp to a couple of loose balls. Seemed to manage referee James Doleman very well without annoying him. Would have been a 9 but, to call a spade a spade, his game management around Ireland’s last scrum of the first half was poor and yielded five Scottish points. A learning moment for an exceptional player and leader.

Replacements:

• Dan Sheehan (Kelleher 40′) — 6:  A lower-profile second-half appearance than last week. Had one crooked throw beyond the 15 and had a pass intercepted on scrum advantage shortly afterwards. Didn’t make much of a dent in the carry, either, but put in some huge hits and and matched Kelleher’s earlier breakdown work.

• Cian Healy (Porter 69′) — n/a

• Thomas Clarkson (Bealham 60′) — 7: Once again made his presence known as he deputised for Bealham, keeping pressure on the Scottish scrum and producing at least two eye-catching tackles.

• Ryan Baird (Beirne 9′/Ryan 64′) — 6: Didn’t have a chance to get going during either cameo. Had one lineout miscue when he came on for Beirne in the first half. Made a couple of forceful carries during his second stint.

• Jack Conan (Baird 13′/O’Mahony 51′) — 8: Scored a try, won a jackal pen, played with both belligerence and smarts. Bound to start against Wales.

• Conor Murray (Gibson-Park 68′) — n/a

• Jack Crowley (Nash 64′) — 6: Came on at fullback and made one massive aerial grab when Scotland hoped to catch him cold off the bench. Limited in opportunities otherwise in a messy end-game. A pity we didn’t get to see him link up with Prendergast in an axis. Perhaps we will in Cardiff.

• Garry Ringrose (Aki 57′) — 6: Unlucky not to be rewarded for an attempted poach soon after his introduction. Actually spent much of his 23 minutes buried in rucks, but to decent effect.