Battling Ireland overcome defiant Scotland to retain Six Nations title
In the end a bit of an anticlimax. The scenes at the Aviva Stadium come the end were familiar. Another Ireland win, a 19th consecutive such result at home; another Six Nations title. But this was not secured with the imperious air we have come to expect of this team.
After withstanding a fearful battering in the second half for the concession of only 10 points, Scotland struck with two minutes to play with a typically incisive score, Huw Jones slicing through grasping Irish hands to narrow the deficit to four points again. The visitors were after a gong of their own – the Triple Crown. Ireland were down to 14 after Harry Byrne had been shown the latest yellow for an accidental clash of heads.
Irish fans might have been nervous at that point, but Ireland kicked long, and Scotland knocked on as they tried the almost inconceivable. Ireland secured the result they needed. Cue the familiar scenes, but this was at least as unconvincing a performance in its own right than that of last week.
A 7-6 lead at half-time was more than they were worth. Far from motivated to bounce back from that surprise defeat at Twickenham, they seemed disoriented by it.
Any regular visitor to Dublin during their winning streak at home is used to the green shirts erupting into the match – those fingertip passes, those hungry ball-carriers arriving at such a bewildering variety of angles. None of that here. Ireland looked totally out of joint.
Scotland are as familiar as anyone at suffering an Irish full-frontal. But they often come here following some euphoric victory over, say, England at Murrayfield and duly implode. This time, they arrived on the back of a sobering defeat of their own, in Rome. They hardly lit the Aviva from the word go, but they absolutely looked comfortable handling whatever it was Ireland threw at them.
Two Finn Russell penalties accounted for their tally at half-time, neither exactly the result of intolerable Scottish pressure. James Lowe had a little crawl along the floor to concede the first and later Joe McCarthy was caught offside as Scotland swung the ball this way and that across a comfortable Irish defence.
Ireland’s tally at the break, though, was gifted to them. They could not even get their reliable lineout-and-drive routine going, sending one penalty to the corner and tamely ending up in touch at the resultant attempt to drive over Scotland’s line.
It was at the subsequent lineout that Ireland scored – appropriately enough off Scottish ball. George Turner could not find Grant Gilchrist, and Dan Sheehan gathered the ball at the tail of the lineout. Scotland’s defence was in no position to stop a player like that rampaging to the line.
Other than that, Ireland never looked like crossing. Their kicking game was loose. Andy Christie was probably the next closest player to scoring in the first half when he charged down Lowe. Stafford McDowall, a sizeable presence in Scotland’s midfield, provided a moment of excitement when he broke out of the tackle of Bundee Aki, whom he was seemingly picked to counteract. It was a moment at least, but his run was ended by Jordan Larmour’s tackle around the 22. Nothing more came of it.
Irish flatness was not confined to the field. The faithful in the stadium were just as subdued in the first half, but crowds have a symbiotic relationship with their team. Ireland duly upped the pace at the start of the second half – and we had our inferno again.
Lowe and Aki combined down the left, Ireland surged with some of the old gusto, the Fields of Athenry rang out. Something more familiar on the field at least, but the scoreboard retained the general sluggishness. Jack Crowley, having missed a penalty in the first half, found the mark when Zander Fagerson was caught offside from that attack.
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Scotland’s tackle count, pretty high already, if comfortable, suddenly ballooned, as did the penalties against them. Still, Ireland could not quite make it tell. They might easily have stretched their lead to seven by kicking any of several penalties, as they set up camp in Scotland’s 22. A draw was more than they needed to secure the title, after all. But they tapped or went to the corner each time.
Scotland have had a terrible time at the hands of the TMO this championship, but they rode their luck this time. Tadhg Furlong thought he had scored, but Fagerson, his opposite number, managed to dislodge the ball.
Whether Furlong managed to touch it down regardless was difficult to determine, but it seemed Fagerson had knocked it forward out of his hand. Scotland were awarded the ball.
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Robbie Henshaw was next to claim a try, early in the final quarter. Garry Ringrose, on the wing for his return from injury, intercepted at a rare Scotland attack, and the passage ended with Henshaw going for the line. He was held up, but Scotland had conceded multiple penalty advantages in the buildup. Ewan Ashman conceded the third and received a yellow card for his pains.
That was the straw. Ireland tapped again in front of the posts, and Rónan Kelleher’s reverse flick sent Andrew Porter charging to the line. That opened an 11-point lead with 15 minutes remaining. Ireland would not quite need all of those points, but it felt that way. They had done enough. Champion teams always do.