IT WASN’T TO be for Ireland as Thomas Ramos’ show of composure grabbed the Six Nations title back for France right at the death in Paris, but Andy Farrell’s men have plenty of consolation in a Triple Crown and a hard-earned second-place finish overall.
That their championship ended with such an impressive six-try win over Scotland yesterday makes the disappointment of the near miss much more palatable.
From the moment that Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Beirne made cracking tackles after Jack Crowley’s kick-off, right through to the moment Stuart McCloskey scooped up a Scottish spill and offloaded to send Tommy O’Brien racing clear, it was a fairly complete Irish performance against Scotland.
It was a comprehensive end to a championship that started miserably in Paris with a performance that left Andy Farrell questioning something as basic as Ireland’s intent.
They haven’t lacked for that since, with their turnaround completed by yesterday’s compelling win over Scotland.
Yes, the Scots scored three tries but Ireland’s defensive effort was excellent in a game that had a huge ball-in-play time of over 43 minutes. Farrell’s men had to make a massive tally of 230 tackles, but they kept coming up with important turnovers, and from a variety of sources.
Stuart McCloskey’s turnover tackle on Finn Russell, Joe McCarthy’s maul steal, Tom O’Toole’s breakdown poach on the Irish line, Tadhg Beirne’s sheer relentlessness at the defensive breakdown, Jamison Gibson-Park’s strip on Russell, all the way through to Nick Timoney’s rousing pilfer in the closing minutes.
And despite all that defending, Ireland delivered one of their most clinical performances ever under Farrell. We said the same after Twickenham but this was even better.
A return of 4.7 points per 22 entry is Ireland’s third-most ruthless in the Farrell era.
Jamie Osborne’s third-minute try set the tone. Scotland must have prepared for blunt-force trauma from Ireland when Crowley kicked O’Toole’s scrum penalty into the right corner. That’s what Farrell’s men have done to them plenty of times before.
Instead, Ireland went off the top and wing Rob Baloucoune carried. Caelan Doris came around the corner and the Scots definitely expected an aggressive carry. They condensed on him but at the last second, Ireland’s number eight swept the ball out the back and Crowley sent Osborne over untouched.
Dan Sheehan’s maul try came on first phase, as did Baloucoune’s cracking first-half try. That was a lovely strike from Andrew Goodman’s playbook, with Ireland changing the picture for Scotland by using Garry Ringrose to throw the pullback pass to McCloskey, who is usually the one taking the ball to the line before sweeping it out the back.
McCloskey then had time to deliver a lovely long pass to Baloucoune for the speedster to do his thing and score from 25 metres out. Throw in the tee-up for O’Brien later in the game and McCloskey has delivered six try assists in this Six Nations. On top of all his ball-carrying and defensive might, that is serious stuff.
A sweeping passage of attack over 17 phases delivered Darragh Murray’s second-half score. It started with Doris powering forward off McCloskey’s tip-on pass before O’Brien made more ground from a familiar disguised inside pass by Jack Conan. The likes of Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, McCloskey, and Gibson-Park made more ground, then McCarthy slipped the ball to Six Nations debutant Murray for an assertive finish.
There was more excellent build-up to O’Brien’s first, with Ciarán Frawley launching it with a kick return. Ireland’s attack was connected and cohesive. Crowley picked a nice pass for Bundee Aki to thunder at the Scots. Then Crowley took the ball to the line and slipped Frawley into space. Frawley’s gorgeous offload freed O’Brien, rewarding the left wing for his work rate in getting over to the right-hand side.
O’Brien’s second was the icing on the cake. McCloskey reacted well to gather Sione Tuipulotu’s knock-on, then lift another basketball-style pass over Tom Jordan to free O’Brien. The Irish wing showed off his speed to go clear of Tuipulotu.
Crowley was excellent off the tee as he kicked six from seven, while the rest of Ireland’s game impressed too.
Lots of the lovely attack came from a solid set-piece platform.
It was a scrum penalty win from O’Toole – one of the revelations of this Six Nations at loosehead – that allowed Ireland into position for their opening try. The Baloucoune try came on first phase directly from a pleasingly robust Irish scrum.
The Irish scrum did have some very tough times in this Six Nations against Italy and England’s aggressive efforts, but they’ll be pleased with how they’ve closed things out in this department.
The Irish lineout delivered a 100% return on their own throw yesterday, topping off an excellent championship in that area. Paul O’Connell and his pack have done a fine job of providing clean ball and their efforts at the defensive maul have been strong too. Osborne, Sheehan, and Murray’s tries yesterday all came from Irish lineouts.
The Irish discipline was good against Scotland, with only seven penalties conceded. It might not be as headline-grabbing as the try-scoring and turnover-winning, but this stuff matters too.
Ireland kicked from hand 22 times and got a nice balance in their game, which had been a challenge at times in this Six Nations. Farrell will be pleased with how Gibson-Park, Crowley and the other decision-makers mixed the kicking with their ball-in-hand efforts.
Out-half Crowley has finished this Six Nations strongly after taking over from Sam Prendergast, who started the first two games at number 10.
Bundee Aki celebrates. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
The starting XV against Scotland provided strong performances to a man, while the Irish bench also contributed handsomely to the victory.
Farrell and his assistant coaches clearly had this team very well prepared for what might have been a highly pressurised game.
But Ireland made it look like an enjoyable outing, even in the times when Scotland drew level or got close on the scoreboard. It was simply a complete performance by this Irish team with a trophy on the line.
They retained their Triple Crown and just missed out on the championship, but this was a happy finale to the Six Nations for Andy Farrell’s Ireland.
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Ireland denied the title but Farrell's men finish with complete display
IT WASN’T TO be for Ireland as Thomas Ramos’ show of composure grabbed the Six Nations title back for France right at the death in Paris, but Andy Farrell’s men have plenty of consolation in a Triple Crown and a hard-earned second-place finish overall.
That their championship ended with such an impressive six-try win over Scotland yesterday makes the disappointment of the near miss much more palatable.
From the moment that Josh van der Flier and Tadhg Beirne made cracking tackles after Jack Crowley’s kick-off, right through to the moment Stuart McCloskey scooped up a Scottish spill and offloaded to send Tommy O’Brien racing clear, it was a fairly complete Irish performance against Scotland.
It was a comprehensive end to a championship that started miserably in Paris with a performance that left Andy Farrell questioning something as basic as Ireland’s intent.
They haven’t lacked for that since, with their turnaround completed by yesterday’s compelling win over Scotland.
Yes, the Scots scored three tries but Ireland’s defensive effort was excellent in a game that had a huge ball-in-play time of over 43 minutes. Farrell’s men had to make a massive tally of 230 tackles, but they kept coming up with important turnovers, and from a variety of sources.
Stuart McCloskey’s turnover tackle on Finn Russell, Joe McCarthy’s maul steal, Tom O’Toole’s breakdown poach on the Irish line, Tadhg Beirne’s sheer relentlessness at the defensive breakdown, Jamison Gibson-Park’s strip on Russell, all the way through to Nick Timoney’s rousing pilfer in the closing minutes.
And despite all that defending, Ireland delivered one of their most clinical performances ever under Farrell. We said the same after Twickenham but this was even better.
A return of 4.7 points per 22 entry is Ireland’s third-most ruthless in the Farrell era.
Jamie Osborne’s third-minute try set the tone. Scotland must have prepared for blunt-force trauma from Ireland when Crowley kicked O’Toole’s scrum penalty into the right corner. That’s what Farrell’s men have done to them plenty of times before.
Instead, Ireland went off the top and wing Rob Baloucoune carried. Caelan Doris came around the corner and the Scots definitely expected an aggressive carry. They condensed on him but at the last second, Ireland’s number eight swept the ball out the back and Crowley sent Osborne over untouched.
Dan Sheehan’s maul try came on first phase, as did Baloucoune’s cracking first-half try. That was a lovely strike from Andrew Goodman’s playbook, with Ireland changing the picture for Scotland by using Garry Ringrose to throw the pullback pass to McCloskey, who is usually the one taking the ball to the line before sweeping it out the back.
McCloskey then had time to deliver a lovely long pass to Baloucoune for the speedster to do his thing and score from 25 metres out. Throw in the tee-up for O’Brien later in the game and McCloskey has delivered six try assists in this Six Nations. On top of all his ball-carrying and defensive might, that is serious stuff.
A sweeping passage of attack over 17 phases delivered Darragh Murray’s second-half score. It started with Doris powering forward off McCloskey’s tip-on pass before O’Brien made more ground from a familiar disguised inside pass by Jack Conan. The likes of Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, McCloskey, and Gibson-Park made more ground, then McCarthy slipped the ball to Six Nations debutant Murray for an assertive finish.
There was more excellent build-up to O’Brien’s first, with Ciarán Frawley launching it with a kick return. Ireland’s attack was connected and cohesive. Crowley picked a nice pass for Bundee Aki to thunder at the Scots. Then Crowley took the ball to the line and slipped Frawley into space. Frawley’s gorgeous offload freed O’Brien, rewarding the left wing for his work rate in getting over to the right-hand side.
O’Brien’s second was the icing on the cake. McCloskey reacted well to gather Sione Tuipulotu’s knock-on, then lift another basketball-style pass over Tom Jordan to free O’Brien. The Irish wing showed off his speed to go clear of Tuipulotu.
Crowley was excellent off the tee as he kicked six from seven, while the rest of Ireland’s game impressed too.
Lots of the lovely attack came from a solid set-piece platform.
It was a scrum penalty win from O’Toole – one of the revelations of this Six Nations at loosehead – that allowed Ireland into position for their opening try. The Baloucoune try came on first phase directly from a pleasingly robust Irish scrum.
The Irish scrum did have some very tough times in this Six Nations against Italy and England’s aggressive efforts, but they’ll be pleased with how they’ve closed things out in this department.
The Irish lineout delivered a 100% return on their own throw yesterday, topping off an excellent championship in that area. Paul O’Connell and his pack have done a fine job of providing clean ball and their efforts at the defensive maul have been strong too. Osborne, Sheehan, and Murray’s tries yesterday all came from Irish lineouts.
The Irish discipline was good against Scotland, with only seven penalties conceded. It might not be as headline-grabbing as the try-scoring and turnover-winning, but this stuff matters too.
Ireland kicked from hand 22 times and got a nice balance in their game, which had been a challenge at times in this Six Nations. Farrell will be pleased with how Gibson-Park, Crowley and the other decision-makers mixed the kicking with their ball-in-hand efforts.
Out-half Crowley has finished this Six Nations strongly after taking over from Sam Prendergast, who started the first two games at number 10.
The starting XV against Scotland provided strong performances to a man, while the Irish bench also contributed handsomely to the victory.
Farrell and his assistant coaches clearly had this team very well prepared for what might have been a highly pressurised game.
But Ireland made it look like an enjoyable outing, even in the times when Scotland drew level or got close on the scoreboard. It was simply a complete performance by this Irish team with a trophy on the line.
They retained their Triple Crown and just missed out on the championship, but this was a happy finale to the Six Nations for Andy Farrell’s Ireland.
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Six Nations Complete comprehensive Ireland on a high Scotland Triple Crown