Ireland blow away Scotland rally to keep Six Nations Grand Slam aims alive

Ireland are the only unbeaten team after two rounds of the Six Nations.

STANDOUT: Sam Prendergast was named man of the match for his performance against Scotland. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Six Nations: Scotland 18 Ireland 32 

Ireland continued their march to a possible third consecutive Guinness Six Nations title as they delivered an 11th successive victory over Scotland with a dominant performance at Murrayfield on Sunday.

It was Ireland’s second bonus-point win of the 2025 campaign following the previous weekend’s 27-22 success at home to England and Simon Easterby’s interim term as head coach will continue onto a third-round trip to winless Wales in 13 days with gathering momentum and a Triple Crown in sight.

First-half tries from Calvin Nash and captain Caelan Doris, converted by man of the match Sam Prendergast who also added a penalty had given Ireland a 17-0 lead before Duhan van der Merwe gave the Scots hope with a try just before half-time after they had lost fly-half Finn Russell and wing Darcy Graham in a clash of heads.

Two penalties from full-back Blair Kinghorn early in the second half hinted at a continued Scottish rally but tries from James Lowe and Jack Conan dispelled any thoughts of an end to Irish dominance in this fixture.

Ireland had dominated the opening 40 minutes, opening the scoring through right wing Calvin Nash, a late replacement for the injured Mack Hansen 24 hours before kick-off. Ireland had been applying concerted pressure on the Scottish tryline, forcing the home side to concede a string of penalties. It was with an advantage in the ninth minute that the champions struck, fly-half Sam Prendergast sending out a long pass to the right wing with Nash the grateful receiver for his third Test try in nine appearances after the Scottish defence was sucked towards their own posts.

There was further woe for Gregor Townsend’s side when Ireland counter-attacked off a dropped pass in the Scottish line by full-back Blair Kinghorn, Nash breaking down the right and kicking ahead, only to be bundled over off the ball by opposing wing Duhan van der Merwe as he chased the ball towards the tryline. Referee James Doleman consulted his TMO and while there were no grounds seen by the New Zealand team of officials, there was sufficient proof for a yellow card on 13 minutes.

Ireland only added three points during the sin-binning having failed to make the most of several returns to the Scottish 22, a lineout maul held up over the line, a defensive turnover on the line and then a knock-on in contact in a scramble for the ball in the left corner that cost Scotland two key backs as wing Darcy Graham clashed heads with his fly-half Finn Russell. 

Russell would not return from his Head Injury Assessment while Graham was removed on a stretcher cart after lengthy on-filed treatment, Scotland forced to deploy their only two backline replacements after 21 minutes from a bench featuring six forwards.

Prendergast eventually kicked a penalty as van der Merwe prepared to return but the 10-minute period of numerical supremacy had to go down as a wasted opportunity.

Regardless, Ireland went in at half-time with a healthy 17-5 lead, captain Caelan Doris scoring on 31 minutes after Jamison Gibson-Park sniped down the blindside off a scrum. Prendergast nailed the wide out conversion but Ireland finished the half defending their own line. There were crucial rearguard interventions, a James Ryan lineout steal seven metres out and then a maul turnover but the dam eventually burst in first-half added time when van der Merwe snuck in at the left corner.

Kinghorn had assumed goalkicking duties in Russell’s absence and though he missed the touchline conversion he added another three points soon after the interval with a penalty on 43 minutes. Scotland had started the second half strongly and Kinghorn added another penalty six minutes later as they closed the gap to 17-11.

That provoked a much-needed response from Ireland, Doris charging down the left wing and dabbing a grubber kick towards the line, Gibson-Park’s chase and tackle forcing Kinghorn back over the line and earning his side a five-metre scrum. From there Ireland went to their multi-phase game once more, stretching the Scottish defence until Hugo Keenan put James Lowe into a gap to the left of the posts. 

The conversion from Prendergast was missed but Ireland continued to pile on the misery as Jack Conan, a 51st-minute replacement for Peter O’Mahony, crashed over for the bonus-point try just before the hour mark, his fly-half this time converting to push Ireland into a 29-11 lead as the air was sucked out of Scottish lungs and the Murrayfield noise fell away to a murmur, the contest in the mind of the home supporters already over with the fourth quarter still to play.

Indeed, the dominance continued as Ireland emptied their bench, a scrum penalty close to halfway allowing Prendergast to kick a 69th-minute penalty to push his side into a 21-point lead that the Irish maintained without any further trouble. Cardiff comes next on February 22 after a weekend off and Ireland will face a down-and out Wales side as red-hot favourites to continue their bid for a historic Six Nations three-peat.

SCOTLAND: B Kinghorn; D Graham (J Dobie, 21), H Jones, T Jordan, D van der Merwe; F Russell - co-captain (S McDowall, 21 - HIA), B White; R Sutherland (P Schoeman, 47), D Cherry (E Ashman, 47), Z Fagerson (W Hurd, 67); J Gray (G Brown, 47), G Gilchrist (S Skinner, 67); M Fagerson, R Darge - co-captain, J Dempsey (J Ritchie, 60).

Yellow card: D van der Merwe 13-23 

IRELAND: H Keenan; C Nash (J Crowley, 65), R Henshaw, B Aki (G Ringrose, 58), J Lowe; S Prendergast, J Gibson-Park (C Murray, 69); A Porter (C Healy, 69), R Kelleher (D Sheehan, h-t), F Bealham (T Clarkson, 60); J Ryan (R Baird, 65), T Beirne (R Baird, 9-13 - HIA; Conan for Baird 13-19 - HIA); P O’Mahony (J Conan, 51), J van der Flier, C Doris – captain.

Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand).