THIS WIN HAS SCOT A SIDE EFFECT

Ireland deal a psychological blow to their hosts as the next time they clash will be their Group A opener

A WIN – badly needed and wellearned – but there was a greater significance to yesterday’s result. The Grand Slam dream is gone and the title is now a long shot. Now is the time to focus on the World Cup, and Ireland struck an early psychological blow over Scotland ahead of that Pool A opener in Yokohama on September 22.

That Ireland did it without Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose, CJ Stander, Devin Toner and Johnny Sexton – for the best part of an hour – will be most pleasing to Joe Schmidt. There were big shifts across the park. The backrow of Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien and Jack Conan were massive all afternoon. Rob Kearney was brought back for his defensive prowess, but it was his line breaks during a fractious third quarter that got Ireland a foothold in the contest. Jacob Stockdale remains a game-changer as does Carbery, in a positive and negative sense.

There are still plenty of worries for Ireland, however. Conor Murray was once again off his game, his box-kicking and passing once again lacking that familiar sharpness. Errors are creeping into Bundee Aki’s game and Ireland can still look a little ponderous, but this was a step in the right direction.

Ireland’s lack of a Plan B was mooted this week. Schmidt’s approach has often been described as conservative and prescribed when things go wrong. Jamie Heaslip railed against that theory by alluding to the ‘elegant simplicity’ of Schmidt’s game plan earlier this week. Whichever camp you occupy, it’s bloody effective when it comes together on the pitch. Last week’s display against England was a glitch in the system, we were told. Yesterday’s performance would either confirm that theory or point to a deeper issue in this Ireland squad. We arrived somewhere in between.

There was a lack of emotional output at Lansdowne Road last time out. The players were quiet and that usual pre-match buzz was sorely lacking. ‘Bullied’ and ‘manhandled’ by England, according to the gaffer last week, the expectation was that Ireland would come flying out of the blocks at Murrayfield.

‘What is key is hostility in a pack of forwards. Today is a day for aggression bordering on violence as Paul O’Connell used to say,’ Ronan O’Gara observed from the TV studio.

Scotland came into the game on the back for a seven-game unbeaten streak stretching back to that infamous 2017 victory over Ireland. The hosts certainly looked the more relaxed before kick-off, Stuart Hogg flashing a wry smile during the spine-tingling rendition of ‘Flower of Scotland’.

They drew first blood yesterday with an early Greig Laidlaw penalty. Jamie Ritchie had set his stall out with an early hit on O’Brien. No room for reputations here. Josh Strauss had ran over the top of Aki in the early exchanges as well. Then, Ireland were gifted a try for Conor Murray. They badly needed that to settle down. Townsend had recalled Sean Maitland ahead of last weekend’s hat-trick hero Blair Kinghorn to bring some extra defensive solidity to the back field. Maitland duly made a mess of Tommy Seymour’s wild pass to gift Murray the first try of the match.

Sexton was worryingly getting treatment in the backfield after that try. Ireland’s out-half likes to play the game close to the gain-line and he was copping some heavy hits from the likes of Ryan Wilson, who were following through with some big tackles.

Sexton would soon leave the action after copping another couple of humdingers from Jonny Gray and Allan Dell. Dell emptying Sexton as he gave the deft inside pass to send Jacob Stockdale away for Ireland’s second try. Straight out of the Schmidt play book, that one. On came Carbery to stamp his authority on the contest. Composure and control was needed as Ireland built a 12-3 lead before Carbery’s loose pass was seized by Finn Russell, and Scotland were back in the hunt.

The flow changed after that. Ireland growing more ragged as Scotland revelled in the chaos.

His game management at the top level remains a work in progress, but Carbery remains a gifted attacking threat. His midfield burst and perfectly-timed pass to Keith Earls was the highlight of the afternoon. All of a sudden the bonus point was in reach. It was that kind of game.

It never arrived and Carbery had the final say with a late penalty to seal it. He may need to do the same in Japan later this year.