At last! Scotland defeat Ireland in Murrayfield thriller
After endless false dawns, Scotland have finally arrived. As French referee Romain Poite blew the final whistle to confirm their first opening-day win since 2006, skipper Greig Laidlaw sprang up, punching the air. The joy on and off the field was as palpable as the sense of relief and amazement that Scotland had come from behind to win a game in the last 10 minutes after totally dominating the first half but hanging on by their fingertips for the whole of the second.
“This would have to rank as the best win of my time in charge of Scotland,” said head coach Vern Cotter afterwards. “Our commitment was total, we stopped them scoring tries a metre from the line, scrambled well throughout the second half and got a grip of the game in the last 10 minutes.
“When you start the Six Nations with a win it certainly changes the dynamic, you can feel it. But it’s only one game and I know our feet will be on the ground on Monday as we try to back this up.” If this performance is any guide, Scotland will not lack for ambition when they head to Paris for Saturday’s match. If there were any questions about Scotland’s mettle before yesterday, they were comprehensively dispelled during 80 exhilarating minutes at Murrayfield. This was a triumph of spirit and guts, and after a similarly close finale against Argentina, this is the second time this season that they have won late against a side above them in the world rankings.
Ferociously competitive at the breakdown and brutally confrontational around the fringes, Scotland and Ireland matched up well in midfield but particularly in the first half Scotland showed a vicious cutting edge out wide that yielded two tries for the man of the match, Stuart Hogg. It was that which was to see them home as they turned around 21-8 ahead and then scored two late penalties to seal what looked like an unlikely win for much of the second half.
Many people’s favourites for the Six Nations title, Ireland will rue this loss because it was eminently avoidable. They may have trailed by 21-8 at half-time but they absolutely dominated after the break, and should have made far more of their total control of the scrum, where three of the first four scrums ended up in Ireland penalties.
Stats rarely tell the full story, but even the most cursory examination reveals a match that was there for Ireland’s taking. They put in just 115 tackles to Scotland’s remarkable 213, missed 7 tackles to Scotland’s 32, recycled the ball 485 times to Scotland’s 291, had 59% of possession and 63% of territory. It says much for Scotland’s cussedness in defence and ruthlessness in attack that they overcame such numbers.
After the match Ireland coach Joe Schmidt mused on his side’s early lethargy. Their coach had got caught in traffic, he said, so they arrived 15 minutes later to the ground than they had planned. Worse still, they turned up to the game 40 minutes late.
Scotland took advantage of Ireland’s early sluggishness and could have been ahead in the fifth minute but Huw Jones knocked-on with an overlap beckoning. Scotland deservedly took the lead after eight minutes. The forwards rumbled into Ireland’s 22, Hamish Watson and Jonny Gray both driving to within inches of the line, before Greig Laidlaw span it right, Ireland’s Garry Ringrose almost intercepted Finn Russell’s long miss-pass, but his failure left Hogg to run it in.
Every time Scotland went wide they looked like scoring, and when Hogg cruised into the line outside Jones to make the extra man after 20 minutes, he feinted the pass to Sean Maitland before putting on the afterburners and speeding between Rob Kearney and Keith Earls for his second try. Laidlaw’s touchline conversion made it 14-0.
With neither side getting a clear advantage at the ferociously competitive breakdown, and both sides hammering each other around the fringes, clear breaks were at a premium. Sean O’Brien was particularly good at breaking the blue line, and when Ireland got into Scotland’s 22 shortly after Hogg’s try they at last got on the scoresheet. Their forwards pummelled away before the ball went left, Simon Zebo throwing a risky long pass to Earls, who flopped over for the visitors’ first score.
Scotland though, were playing with confidence and conjured up the most sublime of trick tries when they got a line-out in Ireland’s 22. Somehow Ireland appeared not to have noticed the presence of 6ft 3in centre Alex Dunbar in the middle of the line-out and instead jumped against the Gray brothers, only for hooker Fraser Brown to float the ball to Dunbar, who trundled over virtually untouched.
A Jackson penalty and a wonderful try-saving tackle on Hogg by Kearney made it 21-8 at the break, but as soon as the two sides restarted it was clear Scotland were facing a very different Ireland. Their linespeed was markedly quicker as the Irish stopped the supply line to Scotland’s wide backs and pressured Russell. Cracks appeared and after seven minutes of incessant pressure it was no surprise when Ireland lock Iain Henderson muscled over.
Another try from Paddy Jackson on the hour put Ireland in front for the first time and concluded a miserable third quarter for Scotland. Yet with eight minutes left they fought back, working their way into the Irish 22 for virtually the first time in the half. They were rewarded when Jamie Heaslip was penalised for not rolling away and Laidlaw kicked Scotland back in front.
Scotland, roared on by the Murrayfield crowd, camped in Ireland’s 22 and when the visitors were penalised in the 79th minute, Laidlaw stroked over a penalty from the touchline that gave Scotland a victory that sparked scenes of jubilation.