Ireland get the job done against Scotland, but this was far too close
Scotland’s Nick Haining competes in the air with Ireland’s Jack Conan in yesterday’s Six Nations clash.
The reaction from Ireland at the final whistle was telling. A victory on the road in the Guinness Six Nations is not to be sniffed at, unless that road leads to Rome of course.
Yet when Robbie Henshaw kicked the ball to touch at Murrayfield to end this absorbing contest after Scotland had spilled the ball in contact, the customary roars of celebration were noticeably absent, despite the Johnny Sexton penalty four minutes from time that edged Ireland over the line, 27-24.
There were fist-pumps in the coaches box, but no outpourings of emotion from anyone in the Ireland camp despite having seen off a much-lauded Scottish team, and the reasons were apparent from a helter-skelter game full of ebbs and flows. Ireland had trailed only once, half an hour in when Finn Russell kicked the home side into a 10-8 lead to cancel out the early 8-0 lead for the visitors after a Henshaw try, and Sexton’s conversion to add to an early penalty.
Otherwise, it was a game Ireland had control of, led 14-10 by half time and then 24-10 10 minutes after the restart, thanks to a dominant set-piece and breakdown, and a Tadhg Beirne try, again augmented by a Sexton penalty and conversion.
Eight points inside the first 10 minutes of the first half, six more just before the break and 10 points in as many minutes into the second half. Textbook game management, except for what happened in between.
When Ireland lost their grip on a structured contest, Scotland thrived. In the first half, it was after a flurry of tit-for-tat turnovers, a charged-down Garry Ringrose kick and brilliant spontaneity from Stuart Hogg to guide a kick with the outside of his boot with a ball that had rebounded off his chin into the path of Russell.
In the second half, it was defensive errors from Ireland that led to Scottish scores, replacement centre Huw Jones scything between Hugo Keenan and the error-prone James Lowe on the outside edge on the hour and then a series of penalties and passive defence on the Irish line before succumbing to a forward-driven onslaught and allowing Hamish Watson to writhe through a number of green-shirted tacklers to ground the ball over the line.
Game back on at 24-24 when it really should not have been.
“If you have a 14-point lead in international rugby, the next moment is the most important one, and you can put a statement down,” said captain Sexton said. “Top teams, I think, take the kick-off and clear their lines and then they put pressure on again. We’re just short of that at the moment.”
Instead, it needed another effort merely to avoid a third defeat of this championship. Though it was an excellent endeavour, replacement lock Ryan Baird charging down an Ali Price clearing kick in the Scottish 22 and then pouncing on the scrambling scrum-half before Iain Henderson joined the ruck and earned the penalty from which Sexton dispatched the winning kick.
Head coach Andy Farrell agreed that he and Ireland would have been kicking themselves had they failed to leave Edinburgh with a win, but having dug themselves into a hole, he also saw the climb back out of it as a positive for his developing side.
“We definitely would [have kicked ourselves], because a 14-point lead is a big swing, but I suppose that’s what makes me proud as well, I mean, to claw seven points back could have an effect,” he said. “But to fight like we did on our own line and for them to get over the line and bring it back level, it tests our resolve, doesn’t it? It tests our will to get back on the horse and to be as focused as we were at the start of the game.
“You know, great kick-off, great pressure from Ryan, and great turnover there from Hendy and Johnny stepping up to the plate, I suppose in the end that’s what international rugby is about, and you’ve got to stay in it because things don’t always go your way obviously, and to come away with any kind of victory here, we’ll take it.”
So they should. For all the harum-scarum stuff and the surrender of a dominant position, Ireland deserved this win. Having lost their opening two games, in Wales in round one, and at home to France the following week, they had succumbed to their worst start in Six Nations history. Victory in round three over Italy in Rome had been expected given the woeful standards of the Azzurri’s performances, but the six-try 48-10 win was encouraging for the manner of the tries scored.
Scotland clearly posed a bigger challenge at Murrayfield, and had laid down their credentials by beating England at Twickenham in round one. Ireland needed to prove themselves yesterday, and while it was not quite the statement performance against stiffer opposition that Farrell would have liked, there was still plenty to encourage supporters ahead of this Saturday’s visit to Dublin from an England side with their own confidence renewed following their weekend win at home to France.
If Scotland was a step up in class, England will be another one again, with their one extra day of rest and recovery and also recent results on their side, having hammered Ireland at the Aviva in the 2019 Six Nations and three times since at Twickenham.
This win will do, that is certain. It changes the complexion of Ireland’s championship to date, lifts them to second place for now, and balances the ledger after an unfortunate start to the 2021 campaign.
The next job now is to improve accordingly and avoid history against England repeating itself this weekend.
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