DAVID SOLE

Scotland can travel to Paris with justified confidence

IT’S been a while since Scotland won their opening match of the 6 Nations and, for a time in the second half, it looked like Ireland might snatch a victory to deny them again, but it was not to be.

In a pulsating game of rugby, Greig Laidlaw slotted the ball between the uprights with the clock past 80 minutes and, with that, sealed a famous win.

The first half was a terrific 40 minutes of rugby. With the Scottish front row under the cosh from the Irish, the home side took every chance that was offered to them, be they turnovers, penalties or opportunities to score tries.

Coupled with a defence that seemed impregnable and an Irish attack that looked sterile and one-dimensional, the game was almost won.

But Ireland are made of sterner stuff – after all, they defeated the world champions only a matter of months ago – and they came out for the second half a different side altogether.

They were more aggressive and assertive defensively and their attack was far more varied. It wasn’t long before Scotland began to leak points and the large half-time margin began to be eroded.

The Scots did not help themselves in the second half, mind you. Gone was the quick movement of ball from the breakdown and gone was the precision passing and kicking.

Even tackles were being missed and the line speed in defence, which had put Ireland under so much pressure in the first half, was absent.

It was almost as if the Scots were trying to sit on their lead and close down the match with 40 minutes to go – never a wise idea, especially against a team like Ireland.

Yet the home team’s resolve stiffened and Ireland took the lead and the match moved into the final quarter.

From somewhere, the players found extra reserves of energy and they finished the match the stronger side – captain Greig Laidlaw slotting two penalties to seal the hard-fought victory – and how they deserved it.

Getting the campaign off to a winning start is key, given the back-to-back weekend matches.

Scotland will now travel to Paris with confidence sky high, knowing that they can win tight games and they should not be in awe of the French.

Sure, there are things to work on. The scrum looks to be Scotland’s Achilles heel at the moment without WP Nel and Alasdair Dickinson, so the French will target that area.

However, Scotland showed yesterday that, even if they are under pressure in one aspect of the game, they are still a very dangerous side.

It will be a fascinating encounter and only a fool would bet against Scotland securing back-to-back victories.