Scotland came within inches of carrying off an outrageous comeback victory against Ireland in Sunday’s RBS Six Nations clash but the true gap between the teams was far more conclusive than the narrow 21-18 scoreline at Murrayfield.
Ireland scored three tries to Scotland’s none and it was only a lopsided penalty count of 13-4 in the Scots’ favour and a desperate rally in the final 15 minutes that kept the home side within reach.
The Irish, who maintained their record of not having lost in Edinburgh since 2001, could have scored at least two more tries while Scotland’s much-altered attack made as little impact as the previous selection did against Wales two weeks ago.
Head coach Andy Robinson’s bold and open experiment and multiple changes proved to be largely ineffective, with new man Ruaridh Jackson making little impact on attacking ball, while the recast centre combination was at fault defensively for Ireland’s first two tries.
Scotland oddly looked more dangerous when the dropped Dan Parks came on as a replacement and led the late comeback, and the clear irony was already there as Ireland had taken the opposite tactic to their hosts by restoring their control option at playmaker, Ronan O’Gara.
The veteran ended up a well-deserved man of the match, kicking superbly from hand and scoring the second-half try that gave his side just enough breathing space to hold on to the win.
Robinson said afterwards that “wins are a matter of making the inches stack up,” but was clearly furious the high penalty count against Ireland had not resulted in a yellow card, while the Scots had Allan Jacobsen sin-binned by referee Nigel Owens despite conceding only four penalties all game.
“We got inside their half and our ball was being slowed illegally, the referee was giving penalties, but not yellow cards,” he said.
“The scrums after half-time (when Jacobsen was sin-binned) was a huge turning point as we felt we had Ireland under pressure then.
“I will try to speak to Nigel about it, but I think it’s better that I don’t right now.”
The coach said he was proud of the way the team had come back, but accepted they had not performed for the entire game and that there had been more “lapses in concentration” defensively.
“We gave up three soft tries, we got ourselves in a game but we ended up losing,” he said.
“We’ve got to deal with everything that’s thrown at us, and there was enough in it for us to win the game.”Improved performanceIt was an improved performance to that against the Welsh, with Sean Lamont again prominent, Richie Gray having a fine game and Kelly Brown once again putting in a power of work, but once more the fragile nature of the Scots was exposed by a more experienced and established team.
It looked as if Johnnie Beattie’s return from injury came too early and what has happened to the Scottish scrummage since November must be a matter of great concern to Robinson and his coaching team.
Curing the malaise of conceding early tries was a big focus in the build-up, but nonetheless Ireland found it easy to find their way through for the opening score with barely seven minutes played.
Jackson’s first action in his first start had been to see a long penalty from near halfway dip under the bar but, as against Wales, a pressured first scrummage was an early source of trouble for the Scots.
O’Gara was in the groove immediately, catching Chris Paterson out of position conceding a lineout deep in his own territory.
Ireland drove the lineout ball and, while the Scots seemed to hold initially, a simple short pass from Rory Best caught both Scottish centres targeting the hooker and Jamie Heaslip was over untouched for the seventh try the Scots have conceded within the opening ten minutes in the last nine games.
O’Gara converted but, unlike two weeks ago, the Scots rallied, Paterson kicking two penalties the first for offside as they pressed in the Irish 22 and the second when direct running from Lamont and Blair saw Donncha O’Callaghan killing the ball.
However, having got a foothold back in the game, more defensive lapses allowed Ireland to stretch their lead with Reddan allowed to launch the charge despite appearing to knock-on in his own half and O’Gara again pinning the home side back with another perfect touchfinder.
Scotland’s resulting lineout was messily forced to the concession of a scrum-five and when Heaslip picked up Scots defenders again converged on one man, scrum-half Reddan easily nipping in to score near the posts and O’Gara adding the two extra points.
Scotland again came back with Paterson landing a long penalty after Richie Gray made a charge, but the home side were fortunate to be so close and even more so as half time approached.
First a furious series of 15 phases carried the Irish forward 60 metres with the Scots scrambling in desperation before John Barclay won a penalty when O’Gara did not release only a couple of metres from the line.
Just before the break the Irish fly-half missed a penalty from halfway while Lamont saved Scotland with a last-gasp tackle on Keith Earls as the wing broke into the clear down the left.
Scotland needed a big start to the second half but things only became more calamitous as two penalties went against them at the first two scrummages and Allan Jacobsen was yellow-carded having been warned by the ref.
Ireland’s initial attempt to seize the advantage was called back for a forward pass and twice more Sean O’Brien charged through tacklers only for desperate scrambling defence to hold.
But having done all the hard work, and with Jacobsen’s 10-minute suspension nearly up, Cian Healy took Ireland to point blank range. Although Ross Ford had O’Gara sized up, the fly-half went through the hooker’s paper-thin tackle and round behind the posts, adding the conversion to take his side clear and apparently safe at 21-9.
The Scots’ response was to throw on Scott Lawson, Parks and Richie Vernon and suddenly they were a team transformed, with purpose and direction.
Smart work by Max Evans and Lamont forced a penalty that Paterson kicked to reduce the margin to nine points and Ireland were warned for killing the ball when Parks booted another penalty from near halfway to take Scotland within reach.
With 10 minutes left Evans again made a break, Scotland pressed hard and with Owens signalling another penalty Parks dropped a goal to take Scotland to within three.
Having got so close and with the momentum in their favour, the Scots were too frenzied in the final 10 minutes as they sought the try that would allow them to steal the game.
Replacement prop Geoff Cross and Evans dropped the ball at crucial moments, Irish sub Denis Leamy wrenched the ball from Evans deep in his own 22, and the lineout so solid for the most part was pilfered by Paul O’Connell just as they seemed set to make pressure tell.
A final turnover in contact in midfield allowed the Irish to kick the ball dead and seal a deserved, if in the end nervy, victory.