Club and under-21 internationals/Ireland - 30 Scotland - 13: The A international having vacated the traditional Friday night in Donnybrook, the AIB club international filled the void last night and Ireland weren't inclined to let the occasion pass with a defeat.
Confined to club amateurs, it was an interesting means of testing the respective back-up strength underpinning the provincial game in the two countries. There wouldn't appear to be a world of difference.
The Scottish backs looked taller and pacier, and for a stretch in the first quarter played with greater potency and tempo, but the force up front, especially at set-piece time, was very much with the Irish pack. Marc Warburton and Alan Maher were quickly making inroads into the Scottish lineout and when the visitors' first scrum crumbled under pressure it looked like being a long night for them. So it was.
Well drilled in the basics and in putting together their patterns, their collective composure and sureness in what they were doing after falling 10-0 down was impressive. All of the Irish boys clearly took immense pride in what they were a part of, not least captain Dave Quinlan.
Indeed, behind a mightily successful tight five, he formed an effective backrow unit with Peter Malone and Conor Hartigan. While the accurate throwing and ball carrying of Trinity's Matt Crocket earned him the official man-of-the-match award, a personal choice would have been the Buccaneers' openside Conor Hartigan. A crucial opportunistic try set his standards, followed up by a host of turnovers, big hits and big plays, although it's fair to say his counterpart, Angus Martuyn, caught the eye as well.
Significantly, too, the Irish bench made a much bigger impact; prop Robert Sweeney making his muscular presence felt while Fiach O'Loughlin and David Delaney added poise and direction at half-back.
Yet despite being unable to secure any of their first four set-pieces, an early rash of penalties from Pascal Gauzere helped the Scots to generate some quick-rucking momentum. Mike Adamson opened the scoring with a penalty and operating off the service of Chris Cusiter's older brother Calum, outhalf Murray Strang unveiled his running game to good effect, before a good line and fantastic offload off the deck by fullback Mike Adamson enabled winger Mark Robertson, son of the Scots 1984 Grand Slam winger Keith, to score under the posts.
It needed a big play by the excellent Hartigan to pull Ireland back into the game, gathering an overthrow 30 metres out, running through an inviting gap in the blue line and stepping inside Adamson for an opportunist try. Gareth Steenson converted and landed a penalty before a sustained bout of recycling and offloading culminated in a pushover, more a steamroller, try for the Irish pack with Dave Quinlan showing neat control at the base.
Steenson's conversion made it 17-10 at the break and when the Scots ill-advisedly went to the corner soon after the resumption, Warburton came up with a big steal. Steenson cancelled out an Adamson penalty with a well-struck 40-metre effort of his own and another one pushed Ireland out of sight.
Finishing the stronger, with the Scots gamely trying to run the ball from deep, Ireland applied the finishing touch. All night the wingers Derek Keane and Niall O'Brien had run strongly, and in injury time the latter emulated a wide receiver with an excellent take of Hurley's well-placed crosskick as well as strength in the tackle to touch down in the corner. Delaney even landed the touchline conversion from the right. "Still unbeaten", as one wag quipped.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 8 mins: Adamson pen 0-3; 13: Robertson try, Adamson con 0-10; 20: Hartigan try, Steenson con 7-10; 29: Steenson pen 10-10; 40 (+1 mins) Quinlan try, Steenson con 17-10; (half-time 17-10); 53: Adamson pen 17-13; 56: Steenson pen 20-13; 71: Steenson pen 23-13; 82: O'Brien try, Delaney con 30-13.
IRELAND: D Hurley (UCC); N O'Brien (Clontarf), S Grissing (UCD), B O'Donnell (Clontarf), D Keane (Clontarf); G Steenson (Dungannon), F O'Loughlin (Clontarf); N Conlon (Dublin University), M Crockett (Dublin University), S Shaw (Ballymena), M Warburton (Dublin University), A Maher (Lansdowne), P Malone Garryowen), C Hartigan (Buccaneers), D Quinlan (Buccaneers, capt). Replacements: G Hurley (Garryowen) for O'Loughlin, C O'Boyle (Garryowen) for Grissing (both 51 mins), K Corrigan (Lansdowne) for Crockett, R Sweeney (Clontarf) for Shaw (both 65 mins), K Croke (UCD) for Malone, D Delaney (Shannon) for Steenson (both 72 mins), R McGrath (Dolphin) for Maher (73 mins).
SCOTLAND: M Adamson; M Robertson, J Murray, S Smith, R Couper; M Strang, C Cusiter; B McNeil, W Mitchell, M Low, B MacFarlane, R Maxton, T McVie (capt), A Martyn, A Dunlop. Replacements: S Warnock for MacFarlane, S Duffy for Smith (both half-time), Jamie Murray for McVie (56 mins), A McFarlane for Cusiter (61 mins), R Borthwick for Melville (62 mins), D Cunningham for Mitchell, E McLaren for McNeil (both 72 mins).
Referee: P Gauzere (FFR).
