Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LEADING BY SEXAMPLE
RATINGS
JORDAN LARMOUR
153 metres made but stepping into touch could’ve been costly. ANDREW CONWAY Had to fight for involvement on first Six Nations start. GARRY RINGROSE A real mixed bag but suffered hand injury Replaced at half-time. BUNDEE AKI One searing first-half run aside, the usual abrasive display. JACOB STOCKDALE Few involvements but made count the ones he had. JOHNNY SEXTON Given heavy treatment but new skipper had the last laugh. CONOR MURRAY Solid if unspectacular. Big cheer for his replacement Cooney. CIAN HEALY Had to return for sub Dave Kilcoyne after his head clash. ROB HERRING Good lineout throwing. Decent first championship start. TADHG FURLONG Worked his heart out almost to the final whistle. IAIN HENDERSON Plenty of dog in his game and led the lineout well. JAMES RYAN Four lineout takes and made crucial 20th minute turnover. CJ STANDER Vital poaches before end and on half-time. Ireland’s top carrier.
JOSH VAN DER FLIER Needs to show more in attack but made two important turnovers. CAELAN DORIS
Brilliant early steal but fifth minute head clash ended dream debut. REPLACEMENTS: PETER O’MAHONY 7; ROBBIE HENSHAW 7; DAVE KILCOYNE 6; JOHN COONEY 6; ANDREW PORTER 6; DEVIN TONER 6; RONAN KELLEHER 6; ROSS BYRNE 6.
SCOTLAND:
Reps:
T: Sexton C: Sexton P: Sexton 4
ANDY FARRELL experienced the luck of the Irish as the Englishman’s debut in the coaching hotseat ended in victory.
A massive Stuart Hogg blunder with a try within his grasp and a careless tackle by Sam Johnson allowed Ireland to build a seven-point lead into the final minutes through Johnny Sexton, the new skipper who scored all of his side’s points on the night.
But Farrell, who forged his reputation as a defence coach before stepping into Joe Schmidt’s shoes after the World Cup, will be proud of how his team defended on their own line late on.
Scotland believed they were about to leave Dublin with a precious draw after rumbling to within inches of the line.
Had they scored then, the conversion would have been a simple tap over but man of the match CJ Stander had other ideas.
Shifted to No.6 to accommodate rookie Caelan Doris at No.8, Stander produced the match-winning moment with a superb turnover steal.
Moments later, the hosts conceded a free kick from their own lineout – in keeping with a loose and a times ragged display in general.
But Josh van der Flier executed another crucial turnover and it was game over. An opening victory is all that
P: Hastings 4 mattered for Farrell, who knows it will take time for his methods to bed in.
But it was too close for comfort, even allowing for the fact that the Scots came seeking revenge for the hammering they suffered at the hands of Ireland at the World Cup last October.
While there were sporadic hints of a more exciting attacking approach, the 44-year-old boss will understand that Ireland must find more gears for the visit of Wales to Dublin next Saturday.
His side’s cause wasn’t helped when Doris, after an important early poach, was forced to go off due to a heavy head knock in a collision with Adam Hastings.
Playing in place of Finn Russell, Hastings fired over the opening penalty before Sexton took charge.
The veteran No.10 sent Jordan Larmour away through a gap and, while Conor Murray couldn’t take advantage, a penalty ensued and Sexton kicked to the corner. Rob Herring’s first lineout throw to James Ryan was on the money, the Scots expected Cian Healy to charge for the line but he instead found Murray and Larmour’s decoy run left the visitors’ flat-footed as Sexton ran in for the try, which he converted.
Hastings replied with a three-pointer after Ireland’s decision to run the restart out of their own 22 backfired.
Sexton then made no mistake for a 10-6 lead after Ali Price strayed offside to tackle Murray.
Johnson’s intercept of Murray’s pass to Sexton left Ireland scrambling but Jacob Stockdale covered well before a Stander turnover ended the half.
Robbie Henshaw replaced Ringrose at the interval and Sexton increased the lead with a close-range penalty, only for Hastings to make it 13-9.
It should have been even better for the Scots. With a penalty advantage, they engineered space for Hogg in the corner but the full-back dropped the ball before grounding for a try.
Farrell’s side took advantage of their great escape. Caught high by Hastings, Sexton kicked to the corner before converting a penalty under the posts.
While the home crowd was lifted by the arrival of John Cooney for Murray, Stander conceded a 65th minute penalty and Hastings took full advantage.
Sexton had the last word, his fourth penalty giving his side breathing space.