Six of the best - Ireland clashes with Scotland in Dublin
1948: Ireland 6 Scotland 0 This was the one game during Ireland’s historic first ever Grand Slam played in Dublin at Lansdowne Road and is the match that generally gets overlooked. The Irish had started with two outstanding wins on the road, 13-6 at Stade Colombes against the French and then 11-10 against England at Twickenham.
Ireland didn’t need reminding that all that good work would go to waste if they failed to win their two home wins on the bounce and they were extremely nervous and error prone against a not particularly accomplished Scottish side. Predictably it was two of their thoroughbreds – Jack Kyle and skipper Karl Mullan – who kept their heads and chipped in with the two tries that did for the Scottish.
Two weeks later Ireland finished the job, beating Wales 6-3 at Ravenhill.
1984: Ireland 9 Scotland 32 The biggest ever Scotland win in Ireland, a five-try rout by a mighty team in their pomp. The Scots had enjoyed a month's break since their last game, against England, and coach Jim Telfer had kept his team hard at work during some wintry weather on the beach at Leith.
With ‘Fearless Fred’ Howard in charge, Telfer warned his team not to do anything silly and the result was a clinical, ruthless display which he considers the best by any Scotland team he coached. Roy Laidlaw scored twice and there was a try apiece for Peter Dods and Keith Robertson with the forwards also earning a penalty try.
A strong looking Ireland team on paper were totally outclassed. This win sealed the small matter of Scotland’s first Triple Crown in 44 years but there was better to come a fortnight later when they defeated France at Murrayfield to claim only their second Grand Slam.
1990: Ireland 10 Scotland 13 Scotland, the eventual Grand Slam champions, had a fallow week in the first round of the 1990 Championship so possibly arrived in Dublin slightly undercooked against an Ireland side who were still smarting
from a 23-0 defeat at Twickenham. It showed in the first half when Ireland enjoyed the best of proceedings but a scrappy try by John Fitzgerald and a penalty from Michael Kiernan was their only reward.
After the break the Scots were much more coherent and a smart break from Kilted Kiwi Sean Lineen, ably assisted by John Jeffrey, lead to their first try from No. 8 Derek White.
After the break, Craig Chalmers kicked a penalty for Scotland and that man White bagged a second try again after more good work from Lineen. At the time it seemed a decent enough win but only as the tournament progressed was their win in Dublin seen as the start of something special.
2000: Ireland 44 Scotland 22 In retrospect this was quite an historic day, the moment Ireland stopped being perennial underperformers and started punching their weight in professional rugby. Two young half-backs from Cork – Ronan O’Gara and Peter Stringer – had been going great guns for Munster in Europe but, sniffing the wind, Eddie Sullivan held them back from the opening day trip to Twickenham where David Humphreys and Tom Tiernan played in a 50-18 mauling.
Back at Lansdowne the young guns were let loose. John Hayes, Shane Horgan and Simon Easterby were also given debuts while Brian O’Driscoll was playing only his second Six Nations game.
The result was a fivetry demonstration of just how good Ireland could be when the ambition was there – Horgan, O’Driscoll, Malcolm O'Kelly, skipper Keith Wood and replacement Humphreys all scored tries.
This remains Ireland’s biggest home win over the Scots.
2002: Ireland 43 Scotland 22 Two years later and a similar scoreline courtesy of a Brian O’Driscoll hat-trick which, in the opinion of most, was superior to the three he bagged against France at the Stade de France in 2000. This was peak O’Driscoll, at his quickest and most sinuous.
His first was a gorgeous try hitting a beautifully weighted miss pass from David Humphreys at full gas and arching to the right to dismiss the Scotland defence.
The second was a long range – 85 yards interception – effort but you will never see a better pick up as he pounced to beat two Scots defenders when their attacking move broke down and the third was virtually a carbon copy of the first except, on this occasion, it was replacement Ronan O’Gara delivering the pass not Humphreys. Shane Horgan and Simon Easterby also crossed and Martin Leslie scored a solitary Scottish try – but the afternoon belonged to BOD
2010: Ireland 20 Scotland 23 Australian-born Dan Parks tended to divide Scotland fans but when he was good he was very good indeed and this was one of his best matches as he steered Scotland to a famous win against the previous year’s Grand Slam champions. Parks, sporting those trademark sideburns, landed five penalties as Ireland produced an ill-disciplined performance and also stroked home a fine dropped goal on the stroke of half-time.
The other Scottish highlight was young No. 8 Johnnie Beattie surging over for a fine first half-try. Alas much of the latter part of his career has been hampered by injury. Ireland did manage two tries, the first from Brian O’Driscoll from a suspiciously forward Johnny Sexton pass and a second from Tommy Bowe which tied up the scores at 20-20 with five minutes to go. Parks was not to be denied, though, and stepped forward to land a last minute kick from wide out after Rob Kearney had been penalised for failing to release after scrambling to field a Parks kick ahead. This is Scotland’s most recent win in Ireland.