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'Real deal' - Four takeaways from Scotland versus Ireland
By Bryn Palmer at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Ireland’s hopes of retaining the Six Nations title and potentially claiming a Grand Slam took a shot in the arm after they swept aside Scotland 32-18 in Murrayfield. Bryn Palmer has four takeaways from the game.
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Ireland are in box-seat for a historic third successive title
Pre-match this felt like it could be a potential one-score game, either way, despite the recent history between the sides.
Scotland had reasons to believe they were getting closer to their long-time nemesis, even if Ireland still started favourites to maintain the hex they have had over the Scots since 2017.
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But such was the ruthless manner that Ireland attacked the opening quarter, a 7-0 lead barely reflected their dominance, with the hosts scrambling well in defence to avoid further damage even before they lost both Darcy Graham and Finn Russell to injury.
Ireland eventually got the reward their early endeavours deserved with a second try from Caelan Doris, and despite Scotland’s comeback either side of half-time, the clinical manner in which they put the game to bed in the third quarter underlined what a ruthless winning machine they have become.
With France’s defeat at Twickenham on Saturday, Ireland head to Cardiff in Round Three in a strong position to make history as the first side to win three successive Six Nations.
Six Nations
P
W
L
D
PF
PA
PD
BP T
BP-7
BP
Total
1
Ireland
2
2
0
0
10
2
France
2
1
1
0
6
3
England
2
1
1
0
6
4
Scotland
2
1
1
0
5
5
Italy
2
1
1
0
4
6
Wales
2
0
2
0
1
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It would be a brave person who would bet on a demoralised Wales ending their run of 14 straight defeats in a fortnight, with only the France’s visit to Dublin in the penultimate round offering any possible barrier to an Irish Grand Slam.
“I think we set out at the beginning of this championship to work hard, keep getting better, keep challenging each other in terms of the standards and I think we’re seeing some of that today,” said interim head coach Simon Easterby.
“There is an opportunity which has been well documented and we’ve got to make sure that we prepare in the right way for Wales and go to the Millennium (Principality) Stadium with the same sort of mindset that we came here with.”
Were Scotland right to ‘take the three’ when they were (briefly) in ascendancy?
Having given themselves a lifeline from 17-0 down with Duhan van der Merwe’s stunning finish just before the interval, Scotland were given further succour when Blair Kinghorn landed an early penalty on the resumption to bring the score to 8-17.
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Belatedly the hosts seemed to be making inroads and gaining momentum and in the 48th minute they launched their driving maul and forced Ireland into conceding another penalty.
Was that the moment to roll the dice and try to put Ireland under some serious pressure by sticking the ball in the corner and going for the seven points?
In the event Rory Darge, having lost fellow co-captain Finn Russell to a head knock, opted for another shot at goal, which Kinghorn dispatched for 11-17. But a few minutes later they were behind their own posts again after an error from the subsequent kick-off allowed Ireland back into their 22, eventually leading to James Lowe’s try.
“Yeah, it’s one of those things – you back yourself there to go for the three and then it’s a six-point game, a one-score game,” explained Darge. “We’ve just got to exit better.
“They turn the ball over and we turn it immediately over again. We were looking in a good place there and I’m not sure exactly what happened after that. I think they scored off a sort of box-kick and then it’s a bounce of the ball.”
Six minutes later the game was as good as done when Jack Conan ploughed over for Ireland’s fourth try, allowing them to see out the final quarter in some comfort before Ben White’s late try added a morsel of scoreboard solace to the Scots.
Prendergast is the real deal at 10 for Ireland
Some questioned whether Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby was right to start with Sam Prendergast again at fly-half after a slightly uneven display against England, with Jack Crowley waiting in the wings.
But the 21-year-old more than justified that faith in his first Test away from Dublin in an impressively mature display in which he orchestrated the visitors’ attack with a sublime range of passing and probing kicks, as well as landing five out of six shots at goal.
“He was good, wasn’t he?” said Easterby, completely vindicated in his selection. “Playing in a different game away from home, he delivered not only in terms of mixing his game, attacking the line, his kicking game, but also off the tee – he was excellent.
“It allowed us to keep staying ahead and keep pushing out the scoreline, which on some other days it’s tighter than it needs to be. But I thought Sam was excellent. He was good across his game, both in attack and defence.”
Easterby’s Scotland counterpart Gregor Townsend had already declared himself a fan before the game, and nothing about what unfolded at Murrayfield suggested Ireland have anything other than Jonny Sexton’s natural successor on their hands.
If he maintains this sort of form, it would be a surprise if he wasn’t included in Andy Farrell’s Lions squad for Australia too.
Assessing Ireland’s attacking shape as “tight running lines that put your defence under pressure”, Townsend added: “There’s a reason why they picked Sam. He’s someone that can play that game very effectively.”
Scotland still look no closer to solving Irish question
Gregor Townsend tried to find positives in the ruins of Scotland’s 11th successive defeat by Ireland, but it was a tough ask for the Scotland head coach.
He acknowledged Ireland’s quality, the fact his side had made too many errors, and to his credit refused to hide behind the misfortune of losing two of his key players, Finn Russell and Darcy Graham, barely a quarter of the way through the game.
In his eighth Six Nations campaign, Townsend maintains Scotland are still moving in the right direction, even if the scale of this defeat represented a major setback to hopes that this year might finally be the one his side launch a credible challenge.
“It’s a one-off game and you’ve got to have context,” he said. “We’re playing a tournament where you’ve got to play five games and if you start to over-analyse what went on in the one game, you lose sight of what you’ve been building towards.
“The defeats we’ve had against Ireland have shaped who we are as well. It’s changed a little bit how we play and that’s been transferred to other performances. It didn’t transfer well enough today, but you’ve got to take the learnings out of your game.
“No one’s more disappointed than me that we weren’t able to go two from two. Today was probably our most disappointing performance and defeat since the Ireland game (in the 2023 World Cup). It happens every now and again.
“If it was to happen in the next two or three games, I’d be much more concerned. Today, the better team won. We know we gave them opportunities to get their game into place but I thought given what was going on with us, being down to 14 and the changes, the players adapted really well and fought their way back into the game. But we didn’t do enough to win obviously.”
At least Scotland have no such hang-ups about their next opponents, England. They have won on their last two visits to Twickenham, amid a run of four successive Calcutta Cup victories.
“It’s a very tough place to play but we do have a very good record recently,” Townsend noted. “They’ve just come off the back of winning a great game against France and we know how difficult each game in the Six Nations is. We’ve got to play much better next time to have a chance of bouncing back with a victory.”
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If you really want to get a sense of the state of Scottish rugby you could do worse than look at the performances of the U20s over the last number of years. Until the SRU focus on that they are always going to be swimming against the tide
Ireland are clearly the form side atm, and will undoubtedly provide the backbone of the Lions squad.
With the remaining fixtures falling as they do in this yrs 6n, a grandslam is surely a good bet.