Ireland 36
Scotland 14
THE SEA OF green in the stands brought goosebumps to the skin, while the wave of green on the pitch swept over Scotland. As The Fields of Athenry rang out again and again, the Scottish players were turned over and cut through time and time again.
It was relentless on and off the pitch as irresistible Ireland once again underlined their credentials as World Cup contenders with a superb performance to top Pool B, securing a quarter-final against New Zealand back here at Stade de France next Saturday night.
What looked and sounded like more than 60,000 Irish supporters among a crowd of nearly 79,000 in Paris ensured that this was a home game for Andy Farrell’s men once again. Whatever happens next, there’s no doubt that this was a special occasion. Ireland and their supporters were remarkable.
How the Irish players must have felt looking up into the mass of green as they sang Ireland’s Call. It was genuinely stirring to stand among it in Paris. Whatever emotions it provoked in the likes of Peter O’Mahony as he won his 100th Ireland cap, Farrell’s players steadied themselves and took Scotland apart with ruthless efficiency.
Picking the player of the match must have been difficult. Jamison Gibson-Park earned it for an all-action display.
The Irish lineout, an area of concern in recent weeks, was outstanding on Dan Sheehan’s throw as Iain Henderson called smartly and vindicated Farrell’s decision to pick him, while O’Mahony led the competition on the other side of the ball.
The Irish defence will have pleased them. Simon Easterby’s charges were ferocious, intelligent, hard-working and connected as they smothered the Scottish attack. Ireland will have been disappointed to concede twice in the final quarter but they had been brilliant defensively until that point.
The Irish breakdown work was lethal, whether with vicious clearouts in attack or turnover penalties from the likes of Caelan Doris and Andrew Porter in defence.
And the Irish attack was simply too good for the Scots. They shredded them, as well as physically overpowering them, yielding a brace of tries for fullback Hugo Keenan, as well as scores for Henderson, James Lowe, Sheehan, and Garry Ringrose.
Ireland had the bonus point notched before half time and after grabbing their fifth early in the second half, they enjoyed the luxury of taking captain Johnny Sexton off after just 45 minutes.
Sheehan, Porter, Tadhg Furlong, O’Mahony, and Tadhg Beirne followed him three minutes later, the ideal scenario a week before their World Cup quarter-final against the All Blacks. There was a lull after that raft of changes, but this was Ireland’s night.
The only blots on the night were injuries for wing pair Mack Hansen and Lowe. The former returned from a first-half HIA but was soon back off and appeared to be icing his calf, while Lowe was replaced at the break after taking a blow to the face.
That meant Ireland played the second half with scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park relocated to the left wing as centre Garry Ringrose filled in on the right. Typically enough for Ireland, they managed the challenge with composure. There was also concern for sub lock James Ryan who appeared to be in a great deal of pain in the closing stages.
But all in all, it was another fantastic World Cup night for Irish rugby and they will likely go into next weekend’s clash with New Zealand as favourites.
There are no guarantees and the Kiwis are clearly a dangerous team who Ireland won’t underestimate. But Farrell’s men are fizzing with belief and brilliance.
It will take something special to stop a team who believe they are destined to make history. Bring on another epic Saturday night in Paris.
Ireland started as they meant to go on, scoring after just 63 seconds in their first possession. It was Ringrose who made the key break, straightening up after a ball out the back in midfield. He found Mack Hansen, who shifted the ball on for Lowe to finish a sweeping score.
The Scots got lots of territory in the following minutes but Ireland’s defence was too good. First, Doris won a jackal turnover penalty after Hansen’s fine tackle, and the next time, Ireland put together 19 phases of superb defence before Doris’ counter-ruck forced a knock-on from Scotland scrum-half Ali Price.
Ireland soon went close down the other end as O’Mahony broke through off a cleverly delayed Sexton pass but Hansen couldn’t hold the centurion’s offload.
Scotland’s job got harder with the loss of captain Jamie Ritchie to injury, following fullback Blair Kinghorn off in the 20th minute, while Hansen had to go for a HIA at that stage.
Ireland used their kicking game in the next block to pressure Scottish wing Darcy Graham, while O’Mahony earned his second brilliant lineout steal of the night, then Farrell’s men struck for their second.
It was a stunning first-phase lineout try from inside the Scottish half, with Sexton looping around McCloskey as Doris ran a short line off the Ulster man. Sexton hit Aki at the front door, he offloaded to Ringrose, who in turn found Keenan through a cluster of Scotland bodies. The Irish fullback scorched home and Sexton converted for 12-0.
More brilliant Irish defence followed as Andrew Porter won a jackal penalty that allowed them back into the Scottish 22, where Ireland scored again. This time, it was Henderson who picked and powered over from close-range.
And the bonus point arrived before the break as a big period of pressure in Scotland territory concluded with Sexton lofting a pass to Keenan to the right of the posts. The Irish fullback leapt to gather overhead, steading himself upon landing and finished through a despairing Scottish tackle.
24-0 to the good at half-time, Ireland’s task only got more straightforward in the opening minutes of the second period as replacement Scotland fullback Ollie Smith blatantly and unnecessarily tripped Sexton after the whistle had gone.
Ireland scored off the resulting lineout, with Tadhg Beirne making the initial inroads off Josh van der Flier’s clever inside pass, then offloading to Aki. Ireland swept the ball wide right for Gibson-Park to make further progress, then he showed immense work-rate to swing wide left two phases later and deliver the scoring pass to hooker Sheehan.
Sexton nailed the conversion before making way for Crowley at 31-0.
The Munster out-half was the provided for Ireland’s sixth try heading into the final quarter, delivering a brilliant left-footed diagonal kick under pressure to allow Ringrose to catch and finish untouched in the left corner.
The Scots looked like they might be heading for a nilling but they finally burst into life and broke the Irish defence in the 64th minute as Henderson slipped off Sione Tuipulotu, who was able to put sub hooker Ewan Ashman away for a try that Russell converted.
Gregor Townsend’s men showed their threat again just a minute later as they broke out from deep in their own half and Price sprinted clear under the posts.
Suddenly, the Scots were back to 36-14 and in truth, Ireland had taken the foot off the pedal but that doesn’t diminish what they did to Scotland for the first 60 minutes.
It was a brutal dismantling of the Scots and now Ireland head into the quarter-finals with a genuine shot at making history.
Ireland scorers:
Tries: James Lowe, Hugo Keenan [2], Iain Henderson, Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose.
Conversions: Johnny Sexton [4 from 5], Jack Crowley [0 from 1]
Scotland scorers:
Tries: Ewan Ashman, Ali Price
Conversions: Finn Russell [2 from 2]
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen (HIA – Stuart McCloskey ’22 to ’33, permanent ’36), Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe (Conor Murray ‘HT); Johnny Sexton (captain) (Jack Crowley ’45), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter (Dave Kilcoyne ’49), Dan Sheehan (Rónan Kelleher ’49), Tadhg Furlong (Finlay Bealham ’49); Tadhg Beirne (James Ryan ’49), Iain Henderson; Peter O’Mahony (Jack Conan ’49), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
SCOTLAND: Blair Kinghorn (Ollie Smith ’8 (yellow card ’42)); Darcy Graham (George Horne ’50), Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman (Rory Sutherland ’53), George Turner (Ewan Ashman ’53), Zander Fagerson (WP Nel ’60); Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie (captain) (Matt Fagerson ’19), Rory Darge (Luke Crosbie ’65), Jack Dempsey.
Referee: Nic Berry [Australia].
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