Marshall: Jackson not to blame for Scotland nightmare

Luke Marshall believes Paddy Jackson will go on to enjoy a long career in the Irish jersey.

Jackson’s failure to nail kicks on Sunday afternoon proved crucial as Scotland came from eight points down to steal the game with four Greig Laidlaw penalties. But Marshall was full of praise for the way Jackson ran the game: “He took the ball to the line brilliantly and it was very easy to play off him. He’s rock solid in defence and he had a great turnover in the first-half as well. He can be proud of himself. He’s 21 and will only get better. He is a good place-kicker, but playing in front of a big crowd with all that pressure might have got to him a little bit. It’s probably the biggest game he’s played in pressure-wise. He missed a couple of kicks but if I had passed (successfully) to Craig (Gilroy) we would have won anyway. You can’t go blaming him.”

Marshall figures Ireland left the result behind: “It’s a game we should have won, we created a lot of opportunities to win.”