Ireland 34-13 Scotland
Sat 23 February, 2008
Croke Park, Dublin

Ireland won comfortably by the end of this Six Nations clash in Dublin, despite early domination by Scotland, out to try and prove they still had the guts to play at this level.

Ireland defended well in the opening play, forcing a scrum from Wallace who found himself clear to run in and score the home side’s first Try of the game. O’Gara converted and it was 7-0 to Ireland.

Paterson replied with a penalty after the restart, but Ireland answered back with strength and determination, to score their second Try after 26 minutes through Rob Kearney.

Paterson kicked again to reduce Ireland’s lead to eight points, and were unlucky not to take a Try when they were held up only inches short of the Irish line. Nathan Hines’ petulance saw a penalty decision reversed by the referee though, and the pressure was off Ireland, who went in 14-6 ahead at half-time.

Ireland began the second half with an easy Try by Horan, who picked up from Scotland’s mistakes. O’Gara missed the conversion though, but made up for it with a penalty to make it 22-6 for Ireland.

Scotland gave their fans something to shout about after 53 minutes, when Simon Webster scored from an Andrew Henderson pass and some poor Irish defending. Paterson converted, and at 22-13, Scotland with a bit of luck might have done something.

Irish heads dropped momentarily as the Scots’ adrenalin soared from their score, but another Try for Ireland threatened to open the flood gates, Bowe scoring easily in the end.

Scotland suffered a major setback for the rest of their campaign, as replacement Jim Hamilton was carried off on a stretcher with a suspected broken leg. Bowe finished the match as a contest with his second Try and Ireland’s fifth.

Ireland now have Wales at home in a fortnight, a match that could see Wales take the Triple Crown, though it could also set Ireland up for the same trophy, should they win and then defeat England in the final week. Scotland on the other hand, are staring at the Wooden Spoon for yet another year.

Teams

Ireland
Murphy, Bowe, B O’Driscoll, Trimble, Kearney, O’Gara, Reddan, Horan, Jackman, Hayes, O’Callaghan, M O’Driscoll, Leamy, D Wallace, Heaslip.

Replacements: Best, Buckley, O’Connell, Easterby, Stringer, P Wallace, Horgan.

Scotland
Southwell, Lamont, Webster, Henderson, Walker, Paterson, Blair, Jacobsen, Ford, Murray, Hines, MacLeod, Strokosch, Hogg, Brown.

Replacements: Thomson, Kerr, Hamilton, Rennie, Cusiter, Parks, De Luca.

Statistics and Info

Ireland
Tries: 5
Cons: 3
Pens: 1

Scotland
Try: 1
Con: 1
Pens: 2

Man of the Match: Geordan Murphy (IRE)
Referee: Christophe Berdos (FRA)