Kidney given plenty to ponder

IF IT’S Declan Kidney’s stated intention to build a panel during his tenure, then the Ireland head coach will be satisfied with the tier of talent below his senior selection after Ireland A produced a solid performance to overwhelm Scotland at the RDS last night.

A powerful performance from the Ireland scrum laid the foundations for this victory with three of Ireland’s second-half tries a result of the work of the pack that destroyed its Scottish counterparts.

Shane Jennings’ withdrawal before kick-off allowed Sean O’Brien to make the most of his opportunity, the Carlow man picking up the man-of-the-match award after an eye-catching performance that included powerful surges in open play, while his provincial colleague Cian Healy showed why he soon will be deputising for Marcus Horan.

The first quarter lacked continuity, its stop-start nature more a consequence of Scotland indiscipline. They conceded silly penalties, which Jonathan Sexton converted in the second and seventh minutes while, from early on, their scrum was also under huge pressure.

Ireland’s monopoly of possession saw the home side produce a rare 10-metre rolling maul, before notching the game’s first try in the 29th minute. It came from a Scottish mistake when they failed to control the ball after Ben Cairns went to ground near halfway. Ryan Caldwell reacted quickest when the ball spitted out and sent Sean O’Brien off on a gallop. The wing forward then found his Leinster colleague Sexton with a crisp pass who ran for the corner.

For the remainder of the half, the possession stakes were reversed, Scotland creating good go-forward ball and generating an off-loading game where Johnnie Beattie and Craig Hamilton were prominent. Yet breaking down a fine Ireland defence proved difficult for them.

Ireland were penalised for offside in the 38th minute but Ruaridh Jackson’s effort was deemed wide after a TMO decision. The 21-year-old Glasgow outhalf atoned four minutes into injury time with a straightforward but Ireland were in control at the break; 14-3.

The strength of the Irish scrum was perfectly illustrated during a four minute spell after half-time. The Scots crumbled under Irish pressure at a five-metre scrum and, with referee James Jones’ patience running thin, he finally awarded Michael Bradley’s side a penalty try, converted by Sexton.

The ills of the Scottish scrum was further punished when Young was binned in the 49th minute for his third scrum infringement, and from the reset John Muldoon picked off the back of another powerful Ireland scrummaging performance to run behind the posts. Sexton’s conversion pushed Ireland into an unassailable 28-3 lead.

Scotland never dropped their heads and Rob Dewey did come close to a Scotland reply, but failed to get his crucial offload to supporting player.

Then Reddan capped off a fine performance when firstly making a darting midfield incision that brought play into the red zone. A scrum ensued, Muldoon moved right to create the ruck and Reddan picked to steal over for a deserved try that Sexton converted. Scotland put in a mighty effort in the closing stages. They finally crossed the whitewash after a superb period of offloading outfield allowed James Thompson touch down.

Scorers: Ireland: Tries – Sexton, penalty try, Muldoon, Reddan. Pens – Sexton (3). Cons – Sexton (3).

Scotland: Try – J Thompson, Pen – Jackson, Con — RJackson

IRELAND A: G Duffy (Connacht); A Trimble (Ulster), D Cave (Ulster), K Matthews (Connacht), M McCrea (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), E Reddan (Wasps); C Healy (Leinster), S Cronin (Connacht), M Ross (Harlequins); B Casey (London Irish, captain), R Caldwell (Ulster); D Ryan (Munster), S O’Brien (Leinster), J Muldoon (Connacht).

Replacements: B Murphy (Munster) for Cave (half-time), I Humphreys (Ulster) for Murphy (inj, 66), J Andress (Exeter) for Healy and J Fogarty (Leinster) for Cronin (both 72), N Ronan (Munster) for Ryan (73), E O’Donoghue for Caldwell (40+7).

SCOTLAND A: S Jones (Newcastle); J Thompson (Edinburgh), B Cairns (Edinburgh), R Dewey (Ulster), S Lamont (Northampton); R Jackson (Glasgow), M McMillan (Glasgow); S Corsar (Rotherham), F Thompson (Glasgow), D Young (Gloucester); C Hamilton (Edinburgh), D Turner (Glasgow); S Newlands (Edinburgh), A McDonald (Edinburgh), J Beattie (Glasgow).

Jones (49), S Lawson for Thompson (50), S McLeod (Edinburgh) for Hamilton (62), A Turnbull (Edinburgh) for Lamont (62).