Sluggish Ireland give Scotland green light to the tryline

Scotland 27 Ireland 22: Maybe it was Edinburgh’s hilly terrain that left Ireland with a taste for giving themselves mountains to climb but whatever the reason, there is now a long, uphill trail for Joe Schmidt’s side to negotiate over the coming weeks of this RBS Six Nations Championship.

Ambitions of a first Grand Slam on this head coach’s watch were ripped apart at Murrayfield on Saturday as Ireland’s impressive momentum, which gathered speed during November in such style, was sabotaged by their own hand.

The late-arriving team bus which left the Irish squad with a narrow window to get through their pre-match preparations was an apt metaphor for what followed as the visitors got stuck in first gear for much of an awful first half that offered Scotland open road to the tryline.