PACK IT IN
Townsend demands Scots stop getting bullied as his flops slump to second home defeat
GREGOR TOWNSEND admits Scotland’s pack need to toughen up after watching his side get bullied.
Toony’s team showed plenty of heart to battle back from 14 points down midway through the second half and draw level with 10 minutes to go.
But they then coughed up a soft penalty which allowed Ireland skipper Johnny Sexton to snatch the win for his team.
That glorious win over England in round one of this Six Nations campaign was only five weeks ago but it seems like a lifetime.
After consecutive losses to Wales and then Ireland, Scots hopes of winning the championship for the first time since 1999 are dead and buried.
To make matters worse, they are likely to be without Finn Russell for next Saturday’s match against Italy after the playmaker picked up a concussion.
Townsend said: “The really frustrating thing is that we’ve not been able to build on that excellent performance against England and back it up with one or two victories.
“The errors were largely around set-piece and contact.
“There are two teams involved so the pressure Ireland put on our line-out gave them a lot of ball throughout the game and stopped us getting a platform to build on.
“I thought we improved in that area in the second half and we showed what we can do when we have ball.
“We scored three tries and we only had two line-outs to play off.
“It’s doubly frustrating because if you get nowhere with the ball you have you can say it’s not our day and we’re not playing well enough to win.
“But when we did get ball we got back into the game and scored tries and put pressure on Ireland.”
Ireland roared out of the blocks and raced into an 8-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes through a Johnny Sexton penalty and an unconverted Robbie Henshaw try.
A Russell penalty settled Scotland’s nerves, and the standoff had a chance to really take the game to Ireland when a long misspass from Stuart Hogg put him into space on the right, but he fumbled the ball.
Russell made amends when he ran on to Hogg’s kick ahead and chipped the ball past James Lowe to touch down under the posts, then added the conversion for good measure.
Ireland responded with two Sexton penalties to make it 14-10 to the visitors at the break.
It had been a fast and furious first half, and there was no let up as the second period got under way. Ireland stretched further ahead when blindside flanker Tadhg Beirne muscled his way over from close range, and when Sexton kicked his fourth penalty of the match it looked like Scotland were finished.
But Hamish Watson had other ideas with his try igniting a brave comeback, which was carried on by Huw Jones, who made a huge impact off the bench.
Stuart Hogg converted both those tries and with 10 minutes to go, it was anyone’s game.
However, Ali Price gave away a penalty straight from Ireland’s restart kick.
Sexton was cool as ice as he fired home the kick from the touchline to secure the win.
Townsend added: “We worked hard to get to 24-all but they deserved their win as they had led for most of the game.
“We were not consistent over 80 minutes against Wales in our last game or today.
“Every game is different – different opposition, different refereeing interpretations – and you have to adapt. There are a number of areas we have to improve upon for next week.
“We need to do a lot of work on contact and line-out, so that we can get our players on the ball and get them showing what they can do in attack.
“Our line-out had the best winning percentage before today so it’s not been a theme of our performances.
“It dropped a bit today and we’ll be working to make sure we get good ball to play off next week.
“Sport moves on fast – we have six days until we have another chance to get back on our game.”
MAN UTD .... WEST HAM .... DAVID McDONNELL AT OLD TRAFFORD
DAVID MOYES admits “greedy” Hammers were gutted as Harry Maguire’s rollicking paved the way for yet more Old Trafford woe.
The Scot who endured an ill-fated 11 months in charge of Manchester United, has failed to win in the opposition dugout at the Theatre of Dreams in 15 attempts.
Craig Dawson’s 54thminute own goal was enough to clinch victory for United and take them back up above Leicester into second spot, 14 points behind Man City with a game in hand. But it only came after skipper Maguire told his teammates in no uncertain terms that they needed to “tidy up” and stop giving the ball away in an X-rated rant inside an empty ground.
West Ham remain fifth, three points behind Chelsea in the final Champions League spot with a game in hand.
Moyes said: “It wasn’t our night. We’re getting greedy now because we’ve enjoyed that feeling of winning.
“We don’t feel good tonight. I don’t enjoy coming here and losing 1-0, which shows how far we’ve come.
“I’m disappointed with it but it shows we’re doing much better.”
On the OG shipped, he added: “I’ve just been told it was an own goal by Dawson, I thought Scott McTominay scored it. It’s one thing we’ve been good at this season – set-pieces, defending or attacking – but it wasn’t our night.”
Marcus Rashford should have at least directed his free header on target in the 25th minute after Mason Greenwood picked him out with a perfect ball.
However, the opening seemed to galvanise United, with Lukasz Fabianski forced to tip Greenwood’s rasper on to his right-hand post eight minutes before the break. United emerged after the break with the same intent, Vladimir Coufal getting a touch on a Greenwood cross as Rashford lurked. But United took the lead from the resulting corner, the delivery from Bruno Fernandes headed home by Dawson, who had been impressive.
When Fabianski was beaten again, in the 77th minute by Greenwood after a counter-attack at breakneck speed, the frame of the goal saved him, the ball thudding off his right-hand post.
Victory made it 13 games unbeaten in all competitions as gaffer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: “We could have been more comfortable towards the end as we had a few decent chances to finish it off.
“But we like to make it hard for ourselves.”
KEVIN NISBET insists he is now happy to remain at Hibs and believes he can still gatecrash Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for Euro 2020.
The striker came off the bench to claim the winner at Ross County and strengthen the Easter Road side’s grip on third place in the table.
It was the 24-year-old’s first goal since he slapped in a transfer request in January, after Birmingham had multiple bids turned down.
Asked about having to get over the disappointment of January, Nisbet said: “It wasn’t too hard, to be honest.
“It was obviously a massive opportunity for me to go but I love the club, I get on really well with the gaffer and I have a great relationship with everyone.
“As soon as the window closed it was in the past and my full focus and attitude was spot on.
“I was there for the boys, I worked hard in training and worked hard when I got on the pitch.
“For us now it’s about getting into Europe and scoring as many goals as I can for Hibs between now and the end of the season.
“One of my goals at the start of the season was to get in the Scotland squad. I am back playing and scoring. I have every chance.
“We’ll see what happens the next couple of days.”
Nisbet only moved to Hibs from Dunfermline in the summer but his rise has been spectacular, something reinforced by Birmingham tabling multi-million pound offers for him.
He said: “Of course it’s flattering when any team tries to buy you but I am happy at Hibs,.
“The club has done a lot for me, I have done a lot for the club, we have a great relationship.”
Nisbet assured boss Jack Ross he would remain committed to the Hibs’ cause after the Birmingham move was ruled out.
He said: “We had a chat and that was that, really. There was nothing more to it.
“It got portrayed as something bigger and I wasn’t too happy about that.
“The gaffer knew my attitude and my contribution to the club wouldn’t drop. Thankfully I am back scoring goals and now we are in a really good position for third.” Despite suggestions Hibs were ready to offer Nisbet a new contract, the striker insists he’s perfectly happy with the one he’s got. He said: “I’ve still got four years. I don’t think there’s any reason to extend it more, if I am honest. “Everybody on the outside of football only sees two per cent of what happens and bases their opinion on that, not the 98 per cent that actually is going on.” Nisbet hopes that now he is back among the goals after his strike in Dingwall he’ll regain his starting spot in the Hibs side. He said: “It was a massive win and with it being our game in hand it puts a bit of distance between ourselves and Aberdeen. “The boys were brilliant and thankfully I came on and contributed as well. “Financially Europe is massive for the club and as players it’s exposure, a chance to challenge ourselves. “It has been a long time since Hibs finished third so this is a massive opportunity.”