Peter Jackson: Peter O'Mahony's elbow did little for Tomas Francis’ looks but real damage to title hopes

Thirteen unanswered points suggested they could take a red card on the chin and still win, as they had done despite CJ Stander’s against the Springboks in Cape Town five years ago

Peter O'Mahony of Ireland leaves the pitch after being shown a red card against Wales. Picture: Chris Fairweather/Sportsfile

When the red alerts kept flashing all around him at Cardiff’s reopened Superdome, Tadhg Beirne responded by running the ball more often than the entire English threequarters managed 24 hours earlier.

The Red Rose quartet had been so completely corralled by the rampaging Scots that their collective runs amounted to a miserable 14. Leinster’s multi-dimensional lock made half as many again on his own, 21, in the mayhem against Wales and still lost to opponents written off by their own fans as well as everyone else’s.