Sexton remains a doubt as attention turns to Rome visit
Ireland created Six Nations history yesterday, but not the kind they imagined.
This had been touted as the year Joe Schmidt would match Declan Kidney’s 2009 Grand Slam feat, but those aspirations evaporated in a cracking six-try contest at Murrayfield.
Instead, Ireland go into the annals as the first recipient of a bonus point – a losing one – in the tournament.
It said much of Scottish expectations that victory was a real turn up for the books. What was eye-opening was how they led 21-8 by halftime, with three tries of verve and genius.
Murrayfield was delirious. Then it was silenced, as Ireland inevitably roared back in front by a point only to miss chances to finish it off. The Scots may have been expected to buckle but they held their nerve and went on to claim only their fourth win over Ireland since the championship expanded in 2000.
The day hadn’t started too well for Joe Schmidt and his squad, who were held up in traffic en route to the ground and arrived 15 minutes later than planned.
The match’s ebb and flow was far too reminiscent of their World Cup quarter-final elimination against Argentina 16 months ago. Ireland fell too deep into arrears early on, their defence exposed out wide. They defiantly fought back, doing better than against the Pumas by turning a 5-21 deficit into a 22-21 lead.
Yet, as happened in Cardiff in that painful cup match, their comeback exhausted them and the Scots galloped down the finishing straight, dominating the closing 10 minutes and forcing the penalties that clinched a contest where Ireland had dominated most of the statistics except the most crucial one – the scoreboard.
‘It’s far from ideal,’ rued Joe Schmidt in the aftermath of Ireland’s fifth defeat in 16 Six Nations matches under his guidance.
‘The defeat is pretty tough to take but it was always potentially a reality coming here. We knew these guys have improved. Vern Cotter has done a great job and we fed their self-belief in the first half, which was dangerous.
‘They got more encouraged because they felt they could open up and play and they did it well… that’s the major frustration. You can try to prepare as best you can but it’s actually what you deliver that will determine a result.
‘We have to take it on the chin and the championship now looks like a very tough championship to win. We know we’re not out of it – we did pick up that bonus point. We have to go to Italy now and make sure we have got five or six points out of these two games and then try to really get some momentum into the back half of the championship.’ Schmidt had described Cotter’s Scots as ‘unlucky losers’ during his fellow Kiwi’s reign, but they got the rub of the green here to cast a cloud over Irish hopes of a third title triumph in four seasons. ‘You make your own luck. They made it when it counted for them… three crucial line breaks in the second half could have just given us a little more breathing space because once we got ahead 22-21 we knew the game was far from over and we had to increase the tempo and at least score once more because knew they would create an opportunity at some stage.’
Focus turns to next Saturday in Rome where Conor O’Shea, Italy’s new boss, lies in wait. Might the wounded Jonathan Sexton make the trip?
‘I’m not sure at this stage,’ said Schmidt. ‘We’re going to wait and see. Johnny could still come into the picture… it was tough for Paddy (Jackson) when you’re not winning collisions and your ball is very slow. It’s hard to get things moving.’