IRELAND EDGE SCOTS IN LANSDOWNE FAREWELL

Ireland 15, Scotland 9
Scotland came within seven points of a win this afternoon in Dublin as they took on Ireland in the last RBS 6 nation game to be played at Lansdowne Road before redevelopment on the site commences.
Ireland dominated throughout the 80 minutes but could not breach the impressive Scotland defence with another inspirational performance from Scotland captain Jason White and back-row forward Allister Hogg topping the tackle count with 16 hits.
Ireland’s Ronan O’Gara and Scotland’s Chris Paterson governed the scoreboard with O’Gara claiming five penalties to three from Paterson.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden and his Irish counterpart Eddie O'Sullivan both praised the Scots' ongoing heroism in defence.
Hadden said: "I thought today was yet another magnificent defensive effort from our players. The spirit, commitment, tenacity and passion - all those words were very much in evidence today."
O'Sullivan said: "Credit to Scotland. They fought and fought and fought for every yard. Some people would say that was an ugly win for us today. I would describe that as a good win."
Hadden acknowledged however that Scotland's execution when they had possession just wasn't up to the same standards as they set in defence. "I said to the players imagine what we could have done if we had actually played well today.
"If we are going to take another step up the ladder we have to win away from home. We came close today but we know that's a big target for us against Italy next week," he added.
Scotland’s lineout was again a source of concern, losing seven of their 30 throws.
The opening points of the afternoon went to the hosts through an O’Gara penalty to which the Irish almost added to only 6 minutes later.
Had O’Gara’s chip through not been collected by Scotland fullback Hugo Southwell and duly cleared into touch then alarm bells would have sounded.
O’Gara then added another penalty to the lead in the ninth minute before Chris Paterson laced up his kicking boots and replied with two penalties to pull the Scots back into the fray.
Southwell was then judged to be offside which,enabled O’Gara to slot his third penalty from four attempts.
In the 27th minute, Paterson levelled the score once again before O’Gara kept the visitors narrowly in front 11 minutes later after the Scots put in another gutsy defensive display within their own 22.
HALF-TIME SCORE: Ireland 12, Scotland 9
Ireland dominated from the break and winger Andrew Trimble came within inches of crossing the Scotland try-line in the 51st minute but was driven into touch by Southwell who shone at fullback throughout the entire contest.
Ireland’s persistent attack brought man of the match Paul O’Connell within metres of the try line but hiss attempt to offload out of the tackle was intercepted by Sean Lamont. Southwell cleared the danger to relieve the pressure.
O’Gara finally added to Ireland’s advantage after a prolonged defensive effort from Scotland.
On the death, Scotland conceded another penalty but O’Gara chose to go for the points and missed his second of the afternoon gifting Scotland another lifeline.
With time up Scotland launched a counter-attack but knocked the ball forward which cued referee Stuart Dickinson to blow the final whistle.
RBS Man of the Match: Paul O’Connell
Ireland: Geordan Murphy (Leicester); Shane Horgan (Leinster), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) CAPTAIN, Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster); Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Peter Stringer (Munster); Marcus Horan (Munster), Jerry Flannery (Munster), John Hayes (Munster), Malcolm O'Kelly (Leinster), Paul O'Connell (Munster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli Scarlets), David Wallace (Munster), Denis Leamy (Munster)
Replacements: Donncha O'Callaghan (Munster) for O’connell (30mins)
Unused: Rory Best (Ulster), Simon Best (Ulster), Mick O'Driscoll (Munster), Eoin Reddan (London Wasps), David Humphreys (Ulster), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster)
Scotland: Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh Gunners); Chris Paterson (Edinburgh Gunners), Marcus Di Rollo (Edinburgh Gunners), Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints); Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Blair (Edinburgh Gunners); Gavin Kerr (Leeds Tykes), Dougie Hall (Edinburgh Gunners), Bruce Douglas (Border Reivers), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Scott Murray (Edinburgh Gunners), Jason White (Sale Sharks) CAPTAIN, Simon Taylor (Edinburgh Gunners), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh Gunners)
Replacements: Craig Smith (Edinburgh Gunners) for Douglas (59mins) for Smith (66mins) for Douglas (75mins), Chris Cusiter (Border Reivers) for Blair and Gordon Ross (Leeds Tykes) for Parks (both 61mins), Scott Lawson (Glasgow Warriors) for Hall (66mins), Simon Webster (Edinburgh Gunners) for Paterson (74mins), Alastair Kellock (Edinburgh Gunners), Jon Petrie (Glasgow Warriors) for White (78mins)
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)


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This article was posted on 12-Mar-2006, 12:07 by Hugh Barrow.