Ireland sink Scotland and Wales

 

Jonny Sexton weighed in with 18 points from the boot, giving Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt a convincing victory over his former coaching partner Vern Cotter, who presided over a wooden spoon and a whitewash in his first season in charge of the win-less Scots.

 

"It is fantastic as we were under a lot of pressure," the 35-year-old O'Connell told the BBC.

 

"We knew we were in the right place even after the Wales defeat and I thought we played some fantastic rugby at times.

 

"We will have our post match meal and it will be a nervous afternoon."

 

Ireland needed a positive start to the match and they got it when captain Paul O'Connell forced his way over from close range for the opening try after just four minutes.

 

The visitors hit double figures soon afterwards with a penalty from Jonathan Sexton, and Scotland responded when their captain Greg Laidlaw got them on the scoreboard with a penalty of his own.

 

The hosts continued to apply pressure on the Irish defence, but it was the defending champions who were next to score as flank Sean O'Brien galloped over from a break at the back of a line-out. 

 

That saw the game open up as both teams looked to run the ball, and Scotland were next to strike as fyhalf Finn Russell snuck over in the corner after an impressive surge up the left from Stuart Hogg.

 

Ireland made it 20-10 soon afterwards with another Sexton penalty, and they took that advantage into the half-time break, leaving them 10 points adrift of Wales at the top of the standings with 40 minutes of their campaign left.

 

The Irish made a determined start to the second half with some strong work from their forward pack, and an early Sexton penalty was followed up by a try to Jared Payne.

 

The New Zealand-born outside centre ran hard and straight to break the defensive line and score under the poles to give Ireland the 20 point lead they had been looking for.

 

The Irish kept the pressure on, and although Sexton missed two consecutive kicks at goal things were made easier for them when Geoff Cross was shown a yellow card for going off his feet at the breakdown.

 

Another Sexton penalty crucially put Ireland ahead of Wales on points difference, and they made the equation even tougher for England when O'Brien stretched to score his second try with just eight minutes left.

 

Ian Madigan pulled a late kick at goal wide, leaving Ireland at the top of the standings and setting England the task of beating France by 26 points at Twickenham to take the title.

 

Man of the match: Stuart Hogg was impressive for the hosts, while Jonathan Sexton was once again influential for Ireland but our award goes to flank Sean O'Brien who did his usual hard work, but scored two tries and also showed a good turn of pace when he found himself in space.

 

Moment of the match: With their points difference ahead of Wales, Ireland needed a late try to make things tougher for England and O'Brien was on hand to do just that.

 

Villain of the match: There were none.

 

 

Try: Russell

Con: Laidlaw

Pen: Laidlaw

 

Tries: O'Connell, O'Brien 2, Payne

Cons: Sexton 4

Pens: Sexton 4

 

Yellow card: Geoff Cross (Scotland, 56 – Cynical infringement, off feet at breakdown)

 

 

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Robert Harley, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Tim Visser.

 

Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Johnny Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Sean O'Brien, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Paul O'Connell (captain), 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Felix Jones.

 

Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

TMO: Graham Hughes (England)