6N: Scotland v Ireland report: hosts brought back down to earth with a painful bump
02/09/2025 12:41 PM
Scotland 18
Ireland 32
COLIN RENTON @ Murrayfield Stadium
IRELAND departed Scottish Gas Murrayfield as the only nation now able to land a Grand Slam in this year's Guinness Six Nations and with the Centenary Quaich bulging in their baggage. There was no doubt that the men in green were worthy winners after Scotland were slow to start and wasteful once they did hit their stride. Admittedly, the Scottish cause was not helped by the loss of Finn Russell and Darcy Graham after 21 minutes, but the impression was that the game was already slipping away, even at that early stage.
The urgings of Sir Chris Hoy while delivering the match ball appeared to have fallen on deaf ears as the home side stuttered into action against opponents who raced from the blocks. Blair Kinghorn had an early chip and chase while Sam Prendergast also put boot to ball with an ambitious kick-pass that came to nothing, but the visitors were looking the more dangerous.
The first Irish assault of note yielded a penalty. Tadhg Beirne gathered at the ensuing line-out but a collapsed maul handed the visitors a second chance and this time Prendergast fired out a long pass to Calvin Nash who was lurking in space and strolled in at the corner. Prendergast banged over the conversion.
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In response, Scotland's attempt to gain a foothold were thwarted by a handling error that returned the initiative to Ireland. An Irish line-out overthrow gave the Scots a brief respite, but any chance of profiting from that were swiftly quelled. An Ireland counter-attack led to a footrace between Nash and Duhan van der Merwe. There was contact between the pair and the referee despatched the Scot to the sin bin. The hosts might have been fortunate not to concede a penalty try, but there was nothing lucky about the grit they showed when holding up the drive that followed, with Dave Cherry the man whose body prevented the score.
Jack Dempsey followed CheRry's example a couple of minutes later, holding up a green-clad attacker as Ireland continued to dominate territory. A knock-on by Jamison Gibson-Park after James Lowe passed inside, prevented the gap from growing. However, that escape came at a price, as the incident caused Finn Russell to suffer a blow to the head that required an HIA which eventually led to his permanent removal, and Darcy Graham sustaining an injury that ended his involvement in the match.
The resumption, with Tom Jordan moving to stand-off, yielded a penalty which Prendergast banged over to boost the Irish tally into double figures.
Scotland continued to struggle to make any impression. A Rory Sutherland charge followed by a similar effort from Zander Fagerson offered some respite from defensive chores, but a turnover gave Ireland control once more.
And, with half an hour on the clock, they capitalised on their renewed spell of pressure when the half-backs linked up to send Caelan Doris thundering through the combined efforts of Grant Gilchrist and Jack Dempsey. Prendergast again added the extras.
Five minutes from the interval, a penalty to touch allowed Scotland to pay a first visit to the opposition 22. But a line-out loss meant the foray proved fruitless, then a repeat of that effort two minutes later produced a drive that culminated with the maul collapsing and the referee awarding a scrum to Ireland.
However, the hosts were finally enjoying a spell in the ascendancy and it paid off when, with the clock in the red, they earned another penalty. Cherry tapped and took the ball into contract and when it was recycled and moved wide, Stafford McDowall delivered an exquisite flip to van der Merwe whose aerial finish took him through Prendergast's despairing tackle to dot down in the corner. Kinghorn was off target with the conversion attempt.
Scotland retained the impetus after the restart and a Beirne offence handed Kinghorn a straightforward penalty shot which he clipped over to claw back three more points.
The momentum had switched and the Scots were now relishing the challenge. Jordan threw an immaculately weighted pass to Huw Jones, who set Kinghorn racing. Robbie Henshaw knocked on in the tackle and when Ireland offended just after scrum, Kinghorn landed the penalty for a six-point deficit.
Jones snaffled an important turnover on the Scottish 22, but Ireland claimed the next points when James Lowe found a way past Kinghorn then squeezed between Jamie Dobie and McDowall to dot down. Prendergast's conversion stretched the lead to 13 points.
And it grew again as Ireland turned the screw. Gibson-Park kicked skywards and Kinghorn contested it with Hugo Keenan. The recycled ball was moved to Jack Conan who battered his way over for the bonus point score. This time Prendergast was awry off the tee, but he was back in the groove with 11 minutes to play when he thumped over a long-range penalty following a scrum offence.
That looked to be the killer blow, but proved to be the cue for one more Scottish onslaught. A penalty to touch, a powerful from the ensuing line0out and a sniping run from Ben White saw the scrum cross the whitewash. Kinghorn's conversion gave the scoreboard a more respectable appearance, but could not disguise another disappointing result in this fixture.
Teams –
Scotland: B Kinghorn, D Graham (J Dobie 21), H Jones, T Jordan, D Van der Merwe, F Russell (S McDowall 21), B White; R Sutherland, D Cherry (E Ashman 47), Z Fagerson (W Hurd 68), J Gray (G Brown 47), G Gilchrist (S Skinner 68), M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey (J Ritchie 60).
Ireland: H Keenan; C Nash (J Crowley 64), R Henshaw, B Aki (G Ringrose 58), J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park (C Murray 69); A Porter, R Kelleher (D Sheehan 40), F Bealham (T Clarkson 60); J Ryan (R Baird 65), T Beirne (R Baird 9 (J Conan 14-19); P O’Mahony (J Conan 52), J Van der Flier, C Doris.
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Scorers –
Scotland: Tries – van der Merwe, White; Con – Kinghorn; Pens – Kinghorn 2
Ireland: Tries: Nash, Doris, Lowe, Conan; Cons: Prendergast 3; Pens: Prendergast 2.
Scoring sequence (Scotland first): 0-5; 0-7; 0-10; 0-15; 0-17; 5-17 (h-t) 8-17; 11-17; 11-22; 11-24; 11-29; 11-32; 16-32; 18-32.
Yellow Cards –
Scotland: van der Merwe (12 mins)
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