Gray: Scots learned from heartache

Scotland used the pain of past heartbreaks to conjure up a winning display against Ireland, according to lock Jonny Gray.

The Scots kicked off an RBS 6 Nations campaign with a win for the first time in 11 years as they shot down Joe Schmidt’s men at Murrayfield.

But they had to show nerves of steel to clinch their 27-22 victory, as Ireland came from 21-8 down to lead befoe two late Greig Laidlaw penalties sealed the win.

Stuart Hogg’s first-half double was followed up by a third touchdown from Alex Dunbar.

Scotland surrendered winning positions three times late on in recent years, but they refused to buckle this time.

Gray said: “The experiences we’ve had before, there’s been a lot of pain in the Scotland shirt before. It’s how you learn from that. We’ve still got a lot to grow.

“Ultimately, it comes down to times like that at the end. It was hard, the boys were tired and sore. It was tough out there. There could have been a moment when we put our heads down but we knew we had to grind and luckily we get the win in the end and we’re absolutely delighted.

“To stick together, have the belief, have Greig kicking over the points and then the game management from Finn Russell and other guys stepping up to see out the win, it was a special day to get a win over a tough Ireland side.”