Stuttering Irish fall over line

IT WAS not the performance Ireland would have wished for but Declan Kidney’s side just about got back to winning ways at Murrayfield yesterday.

For the third game in succession in this 2011 RBS 6 Nations championship, the Irish squandered the chance to record a decisive victory and for the second time in the campaign they allowed an inferior side to push them to the very limits.

Outscoring Scotland by three tries to none, Ireland should have cruised to a win here on a crisp, sunny afternoon in Edinburgh, Jamie Heaslip having cantered unopposed over the try line in the fifth minute, with Ronan O’Gara converting to indicate that the numerous mistakes and penalties conceded in the win over Italy and the defeat to France had been suitably dispatched.

Not a bit of it. The error count is gradually coming down, at least, but the fact it is still in double figures, 11 against Scotland, makes it still a cause for concern.

Conceding 12 penalties and a free kick to the Scots also tends to undermine any positivity and while head coach Kidney reserved judgement on Wales referee Nigel Owens, it is clear the feeling in the Irish camp is that once again they have been more sinned against than sinners.

The Ireland management had let it be known in the build-up to this game that International Rugby Board referees’ manager Paddy O’Brien had acknowledged penalties awarded against the Irish in the first two games had been mistakes and there will be further talks with him in the wake of this game, Kidney promised.

Nevertheless, gifting Scotland five penalty scores puts another asterisk next to what should have been a convincing victory.

“Three tries to zero, and that penalty count, you don’t have to be a genius to work that out,” captain Brian O’Driscoll admitted.

Scotland’s rookie fly-half Ruaridh Jackson had missed an early penalty from just inside the Irish half before full-back Colin Paterson took over the place kicking duties and promptly punished the visitors for two further indiscretions at the breakdown to allow Scotland back into the contest at 7-6 after 16 minutes.

The Scots, dreadful two weeks ago in defeat at home to Wales, were also showing no signs of having eradicated their handling problems and despite sending a side out showing seven changes and one positional switch from that outing, Andy Robinson saw some nervy players in blue.

That was lucky for Ireland, whose indiscipline in the tackle area continued to undo any progress made in terms of game management. A new half-back combination of scrum-half Eoin Reddan and fly-half Ronan O’Gara gave the Irish a more balanced approach, although no less creative, than had been the case against the French a fortnight ago.

Reddan, in for the injured Tomas O’Leary, showed purpose with a couple of incisive breaks and was positive at ruck time with quick ball out to his backs. He was also rewarded with his first international try after O’Gara, who had missed his first penalty attempt from around 12m into the Scottish half, earned great field position with a perfect kick into touch on the Scottish five-metre line. The ball stayed down there and when Heaslip broke for the line, Reddan was on hand to finish the job. O’Gara’s conversion made it 14-6 but again the Irish let the Scots get back within touching distance after Owens penalised them for not releasing. Paterson’s kick made it 14-9 and Ireland had another chance to stretch their lead five minutes before the interval having advanced to the five-metre line but again the referee spotted an infraction in the tackle area and this time Scotland were off the hook, going in at the break just six points behind.

Despite the high penalty count against Ireland, referee Owens’ ire seemed to be directed towards the Scots, particularly loosehead Allan Jacobsen, who was annoying the Welsh official with his scrummaging. Having been penalised at the first scrum of the second half, Jacobsen was deemed the sinner at the next and off he went, providing a huge turning point in the game. Ireland were in the ascendancy and flanker Sean O’Brien made the most of the emerging gaps in the Scottish defence, twice charging towards the tryline. Alas, nothing came of either effort.

It was O’Gara who brought some order to proceedings. Having put his team in the right place for most of the afternoon, he took it upon himself to convert position into points, this time with the third try of the afternoon. O’Gara broke the line and a tackle before darting over and then around another tackle to get behind the posts and give himself the simplest of conversion chances.

At 21-9 up with more than 25 minutes to play, that should have been the springboard for a rout but Ireland once again made life difficult for themselves amid a flurry of substitutions from both sides. The line-out went walkabout under pressure from Scotland’s giant locks Gray and Al Kellock, and the home pack took control. The fans, too, scented a comeback, and when Dan Parks, on for Jackson, kicked another penalty and then sent over a drop kick, a first victory of 2011 seemed very much on the cards.

Cue more handling errors from both sides but some mighty defensive work from the Irish, highlight by a lineout steal from Paul O’Connell and a turnover by substitute Denis Leamy.

As the defending became more desperate, so the roar of most of the 63,082 crowd increased and when bagpipes began playing ‘Flower of Scotland’ as the clock counted down, it seemed as if Ireland were surviving on sheer will alone.

They did and so completed the first leg of a potential Triple Crown. But before they get the chance to complete the second, against Wales in Cardiff on March 12, there will need to be more work on that training field and further discussions with the disciplinarians at the IRB before Ireland’s growing reputation as miscreants buries itself deeper into referees’ perceptions.

IRELAND: L Fitzgerald; T Bowe, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, K Earls; R O’Gara (J Sexton, 68), E Reddan (P Stringer, 60); C Healy, R Best (S Cronin, 60), M Ross (T Court, 71); D O’Callaghan (L Cullen, 67), P O’Connell; S O’Brien, D Wallace (D Leamy, 60), J Heaslip.

Replacement not used: P Wallace.

SCOTLAND: C Paterson; N Walker (S Danielli, 75), N De Luca, S Lamont, M Evans; R Jackson (D Parks, 53), M Blair (R Lawson, 61); A Jacobsen, R Ford (S Lawson, 53), M Low (G Cross, 66); R Gray, A Kellock (capt); K Brown, J Beattie (G Cross, 44-54; R Vernon 54), J Barclay (N Hines, 66).

Referee: N Owens (Wales).