Ireland back on track after Scotland win
EDINBURGH: Ireland got its Six Nations campaign back on track with a pulsating 2213 victory over Scotland yesterday, but the physical encounter meant both sides lost players to injury early on.
Scotland’s livewire fullback, Stuart Hogg, and Ireland’s first fiveeighth and world player of the year, Jonathan Sexton, limped off in a close first half, during which the visiting side outscored Scotland two tries to one through Conor Murray and Jacob Stockdale.
Ireland, beaten by England in the opening game last weekend, added a third try after the break at Murrayfield as replacement No 10 Joey Carbery sliced through a gap before flinging a wide pass for winger Keith Earls to score.
While Scotland hammered away at the Irish defence, the home side could not add to a single try from centre Sam Johnson.
Ireland captain Rory Best hailed a strong performance from Sexton’s replacement, Carbery, who recovered from throwing an intercepted pass for the only Scottish try to enjoy an influential second half.
‘‘Joey is a quality player. You don’t want to see anyone go off injured, but it’s great to see everyone coming off the bench and stepping up,’’ he said.
The home team will be disappointed not to have capitalised on a promising first half. It had only a Greig Laidlaw penalty to show for its efforts after the break as handling errors constantly undermined some typically exuberant attacking play.
Scotland captain Laidlaw expressed frustration with referee Romain Poite in a pitchside interview after the final whistle.
‘‘We’re disappointed.
Handling errors cost us, but the referee doesn’t seem to like us. We’re not going to blame him, though. Ireland took their opportunities,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Wales struggled to overpower Italy 2615 in the Six Nations yesterday, notching up a recordequalling 11th straight victory to become the first Welsh team to enjoy such a win streak in more than a century but failing to sparkle.
Wales, which beat France in its opening match, dominated possession but scored only two tries in a performance unlikely cause many concerns for its next opponent, England.
‘‘If we play like that against England, it could be embarrassing,’’ Wales head coach Warren Gatland told ITV Sport, barely savouring the fact he had just steered the team to equal a Welsh record that was set from 1907 to 1910. — Reuters