Six Nations: Scotland 18 - 21 Ireland: Rousing Scots finish can't hide old failings

Published on Sunday 27 February 2011 14:43

SCOTLAND came very close to pulling off their first victory of the RBS Six Nations Championship, at least on the Murrayfield scoreboard, in a tremendously exciting finale to this Sunday game, but when the last whistle sounded there was an eerily familiar feel about their third straight loss.

SCOTLAND came very close to pulling off their first victory of the RBS Six Nations Championship, at least on the Murrayfield scoreboard, in a tremendously exciting finale to this Sunday game, but when the last whistle sounded there was an eerily familiar feel about their third straight loss.

With seven changes to the side that lost so pitifully to Wales a fortnight earlier, Scotland took the game to Ireland through new half-backs Mike Blair and Ruaridh Jackson, the 23-year-old stand-off making his first start in a Test match and asking more questions of the opposition in the first quarter than Dan Parks had managed in the two games to date.

The plan to release Sean Lamont from his new inside centre channel ensured a hard day's work for the Irish back row and midfield, too, as he regularly took the Scots over the gain-line. The lineout again caused Ireland problems with Al Kellock and Richie Gray secure on their ball and picking off three Irish balls, while Gray resembled a wild horse on the loose with his blond mane and high charging legs prominent as green-shirted tacklers flocked, often in vain, to bring him down.

But, what showed little difference to the opening defeats was the numbing ability to cough up possession through mistakes. It all added up to a failure to penetrate in the crucial last third of the field. It was like a surgeon opening up a body only to drop his instruments when he had to perform the clinical strokes.

Six Nations coverage in full

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• Wise after event as Ruaridh Jackson is given an Ronan O'Gara masterclass

• Alastair Kellock: Brought to earth again but the only way is up

• 'We're zero from three and there were a lot of high hopes'

• England 17 - 9 France: England shaping up like 'Class of 2003'

• Marc Lievremont is unhappy with referee George Clancy

• Italy 16 - 24 Wales: 'Doom and gloom' forgotten after two away wins, says Warburton

• Women's Six Nations: Scotland 5 - 22 Ireland

Ireland, for the most, were the opposite. They struggled to retain possession and were guilty of indiscipline - they suffered 12 penalties and a free-kick against to Scotland's four - and contributed an equal share to the total error count of 22, but when a decisive interjection was called for, they answered it to grab two tries in the first half-hour, and another while Scotland were down to 14 men seven minutes into the second, and that proved to be just enough.

Scotland had spoken for the past week about the importance of starting brightly and not conceding points, their analyst Gavin Scott having pinpointed how they had lost a try in the opening ten minutes in six of their last eight Tests.And yet, despite a bright opening when good decisions, tackles and ground were made, and the scrum showed improvement, and Jackson fell just short with an ambitious 51-metre penalty effort, they were 7-0 down after just six minutes, and it was largely self-inflicted.

Scotland gave up their attack when a poor lineout drop to Blair was lost forward, Ronan O'Gara chipped in behind and the chase forced full-back Chris Paterson to paw the ball into touch. But worse was to come. From a ruck about six metres from the Scots line, Irish hooker Rory Best broke and Lamont and Nick De Luca raced at him. He slipped a pass to Jamie Heaslip and the bullocking No 8 could not believe his luck to be in free space, where De Luca should have been, and duly ran over for a simple score.

De Luca was a touch fortunate not to be penalised, and earn a yellow card, when he tackled Luke Fitzgerald as the Irish full-back came down from gathering a high ball, but the Scots were playing the game on the front foot, Lamont, Nikki Walker, Paterson and Max Evans all coming into the game, and Ireland seemed relieved to concede just six points to Paterson's boot from ruck penalties.

But, with a point still separating the sides and O'Gara having missed a long-range penalty, Scotland shot themselves in the foot again, in the 28th minute. First they lost possession on the Irish 22 and Eoin Reddan broke downfield. They got back and covered, but O'Gara again delivered a precision kick into touch five metres from the home line.

Ross Ford's throw disappeared over the back of the lineout, where Johnnie Beattie was due to be. The No 8 was not in position and Lamont was first to react, but he lost the ball in contact and Blair was forced to touch down behind his own line. The Irish got the nudge in the scrum and the Scots front row popped up, but referee Nigel Owens played advantage, Heaslip broke and smuggled the ball to Reddan and the scrum-half sprinted through the space where Scotland's back row would have been had they not still had their heads in the scrum, for another easy score.

The second half did not start well for Scotland as again they took the game to Ireland, with Gray a terrific attacking presence, and Beattie starting to find the pace of the game in his first Test in eight months, but then Owens took exception to their scrum. He penalised one and then yellow-carded Allan Jacobsen, the Scottish loosehead, at the next after insisting he had penalised him "three or four times" for driving straight into the hooker and "not listening".

Ireland duly lifted the intensity of their attack, the pack driving Scotland back, but squandered two chances with poor passes before the referee penalised Irish loosehead Cian Healy for doing just what he'd yellow-carded Jacobsen for.

And then Sean O'Brien, the blindside flanker Andy Robinson this week termed a "wrecking ball", reared his head.Handed the initiative by a Jackson Garryowen, he broke the Scottish defensive line on rampaging runs, but Ireland failed to grasp the opportunities once into the Scotland 22, aided on one occasion by a terrific try-saving tackle by Blair five metres from the line.

However, eventually their pressure told when O'Gara dropped Ford shockingly easy in the tackle about ten metres out and even had the audacity to take on Paterson in the in-goal area and drop him too to run in behind the posts, and duly convert his own try.

Robinson responded by replacing Ford with Scott Lawson and Jackson with Parks, while Richie Vernon took over from Beattie, and Jacobsen returned from the sin-bin. Parks steered Scotland into the Irish half with a succession of trademark accurate kicks, and Evans began to enliven the Scottish attack and the game moved into a coruscating last quarter.

Paterson slotted a penalty and Parks created a try chance with a dummy and half-break, and found Moray Low on his shoulder, who in turn fed De Luca and then Scott Lawson bursting into the 22. But, again, the Scots were turned over in the finishing zone and the chance was lost.

The Irish lived on the edge with ruck penalties and Parks turned them into another penalty and drop-goal to cut the deficit to just three points. It was a surprise that Owens was not by now showing a yellow card as Ireland clung on, and continued to slow Scottish ball at rucks, but it was a bigger surprise that Scotland were still in this game. The stadium was reverberating to 'O Flower of Scotland', the tension was palpable as Scotland shrugged aside that fact and went for the win. Gray was the 'go-to-man', a beacon of hope, and great chants of 'Scotland, Scotland' rang out. Kelly Brown raced off a lineout, Parks took it up, Geoff Cross picked up the loose ball, Irish voices were screaming for defensive help, and Lamont came charging in, Simon Danielli took on, then Evans, but as the whole of Murrayfield seemed to call out for that clinical stroke the ball was stripped by Denis Leamy and Sean O'Driscoll thumped the ball into touch.

There was more of the same in the final two minutes and what will frustrate Robinson and his squad most this week is that while they were certainly better than the last outing, Ireland did not play well. In fact, in common with France and Wales, they may reflect on their Scotland meeting at the championship's conclusion and deem it their worst performance of the lot. But, as with the French and Welsh, they got away with it against a Scottish side that is currently working hard, but treading in treacle.

Scorers: Scotland: Pens: Paterson 4, Parks. Drop Goals: Parks. Ireland: Tries: Heaslip, Reddan, O'Gara. Cons: O'Gara 3.

Scotland: Paterson, Walker, De Luca, S. Lamont, Evans, Jackson, Blair, Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Gray, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie. Replacements: Danielli for Walker (75), Parks for Jackson (54), R. Lawson for Blair (61), S. Lawson for Ford (54), Cross for Low (67), Hines for Barclay (67), Vernon for Beattie (54). Sin Bin: Jacobsen (44).

Ireland: Fitzgerald, Bowe, B. O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Earls, O'Gara, Reddan, Healy, Best, Ross, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, O'Brien, D. Wallace, Heaslip. Replacements: Stringer for Reddan (61), Cronin for Best (61), Court for Ross (71), Cullen for O'Callaghan (67), Leamy for D. Wallace (61). Not used: Sexton, P. Wallace.

Referee: N Owens (WRFU)

Attendance: 63,082

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