Ireland 43 Scotland 22
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| Brian O'Driscoll tries to break through the Scottish defence. (© inpho) |
By Piaras Murphy
02/03/02: Ireland were somewhat flattered by a 21 point winning margin after a typically frenetic Celtic encounter at Lansdowne Road against Scotland this afternoon.
The Irish started brightly enough but, by the 25th minute, they were trailing 9-3 as Scotland took the initiative. However, two tries by man-of-the-match Brian O’Driscoll and a try from Shane Horgan had pulled Ireland clear by the end of the first period.
Scotland could only blame themselves as defensive errors allowed Ireland to score from deep.
Ireland, however, engineered their first with some aplomb. With a scrum close to the Scottish line Ireland moved the ball along the backs who ran flat and at pace. When the ball arrived to O’Driscoll the Scottish midfield had no hope of coping with his pace as he sprinted over for the first of three tries.
The ease of O’Driscoll’s try panicked the Scots and when Ireland spread the ball wide to Shane Horgan - via two long passes from Eric Miller and O’Driscoll - they found that the Scots had crowded the midfield and left the winger the space to run in from the Scottish 10-metere line. David Humphreys converted sweetly from near the touchline into the wind.
Humphreys, incidentally, broke the all-time points scoring record for Ireland by 11 which was held by Michael Kiernan. Humphreys has now scored 336 points for his country.
Frankie Sheahan was taken off shortly after Horgan’s try as the Irish lineout again misfired. His replacement, Shane Byrne, brought only the merest of improvement.
With 40 minutes on the clock Scotland tried to get back into the game before the break. One moment they were moving the ball along the line in the Irish 22, the next they were scampering back to chase O’Driscoll who’d picked up a dropped ball to sprint all the way home. Humphreys converted from the touchline.
An injury-time Brendan Laney penalty made it 10 points between the sides at the break.
Laney added to more penalties after the break only to see Humphreys kick three long range efforts with the help of the wind - one of which was dead on half-way.
Scotland now were under pressure to get a try and were not aided by Budge Pountney sin-binning for spoiling Irish ball. They didn’t help themselves either by desperately trying to run the ball out of defence. Another dropped ball - this time in their own 22 - saw Ireland capitalise and good work from Denis Hickie, who yet again was excellent in all departments, Horgan and Humphreys put Simon Easterby over.
The return of Pountney on 70 minutes gave the Scots some heart and they were rewarded with a try by Martin Leslie after some concerted pressure near the Irish line. In fact, Ireland were lucky not to have anyone sin-binned for constant illegal spoiling at the rucks.
O’Driscoll’s third was, like his first, chilling with the ease in which it was executed. Again a simple scrum ball created one-on-ones in the backs and a skip pass from O’Gara found the centre speeding into the line and not a hand was laid on the one they call God as he scored from 22 metres. O’Gara put a little too much gloss on the scoreline with a simple conversion.
Captain Mick Galwey agreed afterwards that it was the perfect hangover cure after the Twickenham nightmare a fortnight ago.
"We were a bit flattered by the 43-22 scoreline. Scotland were good today and put us under some pressure and we’re delighted to get the win," said Galwey.
Coach Eddie O’Sullivan was also happy that the England result had been put to bed but, was less than impressed with the lineout.
"It was very important to get back after the England game but, I would not be that happy with the lineout. I’m very happy with the win and we’re very happy to have bounced back," said O’Sullivan.
Tries:O'Driscoll (3), Horgan, S Easterby
Conversions:Humphreys (2)
Penalties:Humphreys (4), O'Gara (1)
Drop Goals:
Tries:Leslie
Conversions:Laney (1)
Penalties:Laney (5)
Drop Goals:
Ireland:Girvan Dempsey(Leinster), Shane Horgan (Leicester), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster), Kevin Maggs (Bath), Denis Hickie (Leinster), David Humphreys(Ulster), Peter Stringer (Munster); Anthony Foley (Munster), Eric Miller (Leinster), David Wallace (Munster), Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster), Mick Galwey (capt) (Munster), John Hayes (Munster), Frank Sheahan (Munster), Peter Clohessy (Munster).
Replacements:Shane Byrne (Leinster), Paul Wallace (Leinster), Gary Longwell (Ulster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli), Guy Easterby (Llanelli), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), John Kelly (Munster).
Scotland:Brendan Laney (Edinburgh); Glenn Metcalfe (Glasgow), James McLaren (Glasgow), Andrew Henderson (Glasgow), Chris Paterson (Edinburgh); Gregor Townsend (Castres), Bryan Redpath (Sale, capt); Simon Taylor (Edinburgh), Budge Pountney (Northampton), Jason White (Glasgow); Stuart Grimes (Newcastle), Scott Murray (Saracens); Mattie Stewart (Northampton), Gordon Bulloch (Glasgow), Tom Smith (Northampton)
Replacements:George Graham (Newcastle), Robbie Russell (Saracens), Martin Leslie (Edinburgh), Jon Petrie (Glasgow), Graeme Beveridge (Glasgow), Duncan Hodge (Edinburgh), Kenny Logan (Wasps)