Glasgow's Moray Low and Hefin O'Hare went over for Scotland A's tries in tonight's 32-13 win over the Irish Wolfhounds at Netherdale.
Scotland trailed 13-9 at the break after a first-half dominated by Ireland but the hosts took chharge in the second period and ran out deserved winners.
Several Scottish players were looking to catch the eye of watching international coach Andy Robinson and after an opening Irish blitz the hosts drew first blood.
A Scots counter-attack after Ian Humphreys had put them on the back foot saw the Irish offend and David Blair opened the scoring with a 40-metre penalty.
Ireland hit back with a vengeance and when wing Johne Murphy burst into the line, his offload to flanker Willie Faloon looked like a scoring pass until Hefin O'Hare put in a try-saving tackle.
However, the Irish recycled smartly and Faloon was back on his feet to take the pass and touch down, giving Humphreys a simple conversion.
Blair slotted a penalty to pull the Scots back to within a point - but the Irish upped their game and two Humphreys penalties on 16 and 28 minutes gave them a handy cushion.
However, lock Scott Macleod - who was putting in a big shift in the line-out and the loose - then forced the Irish to offend 40 metres out and Blair was successful with the kick, reducing the Irish lead to 13-9 at the turnaround.
Ireland had dominated the breakdown and possession in the first half but after the break the Scots took control.
Props Moray Low, on for Jon Welsh, and Geoff Cross gave the Irish pack a torrid time and their combined drive saw Ireland concede a simple penalty which Blair missed.
The Scots dominance continued though and was epitomised when they opted to put a kickable penalty into touch. It proved the right decision as Low crashed over from the drive and Blair's conversion from wide out put the Scots in the lead.
The Irish were in disarray, Blair and skipper Greig Laidlaw added further penalties and a great night for the Scots was rounded off when O'Hare scorched in off Fraser McKenzie's pass for a last-minute try which Blair converted.
Glasgow's Ryan Wilson and Jon Welsh were forced off with shoulder knocks but initial reports were that the injuries were not serious.
Peter Murchie made his Scotland A debut as a second-half replacement for Jim Thompson.

This article was posted on 28-Jan-2011, 22:03 by Hugh Barrow.