By Ethan BentsIreland beat Scotland in dominating fashion to continue their hunt for the Six Nations Championship hat-trick.
Calvin Nash, Caelan Doris, James Lowe and Jack Conan scored for the visitors, with Duhan van der Merwe and Ben White the try scorers for the Scots.
Irish flyhalf Sam Prendergast starred throughout,with his excellent goalkicking and game management.
This put Ireland top of the table after two games as the only side not to lose yet.
Heading into this huge clash, Ireland had won the last ten meetings between the sides.
Scotland hadn’t tasted victory over them since 2017, when Donald Trump was first in office.
After a bitterly disappointing last campaign where they finished fourth in the championship, the Scots would be desperate to make it two from two and keep that hope of a first Six Nations title alive.
But Ireland, who were chasing a historic third Championship in a row, certainly wouldn’t lay down easily.
Match Action
The visitors blitzed out of the blocks dominating the Scots in the first ten minutes.
This pressure would tell as Calvin Nash opened the scoring for the Irish running in an easy try. Ireland had won two penalties in Scotland’s twenty-two before this, both times opting to go for the lineout. But eventually after spreading the ball wide, Nash was able to gallop in for the first try of the game.
Not the start Scotland and Murrayfield wanted.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts after Duhan van der Merwe was penalised for foul play resulting in an early sin bin for the world class winger.
But in the resulting penalty, Scotland were heroic in defence holding up the Irish storm.
Just a few minutes later and the Irish pressure continued but the hosts fought them off once again to hold the ball up.
Halfway through the first half, Finn Russell and Darcy Graham clashed heads. This forced Scotland’s talisman flyhalf off for a head injury assessment, but Graham was permanently replaced by Jamie Dobie.
To cement their lead, Sam Prendergast converted a penalty to put the Irish ten nil up, but this also signalled the return of van der Merwe. A loss of only three points in his sin bin.
Scotland looked overwhelmed by the Irish suffocation, making countless errors unable to build any sort of momentum and phases.
In big games, your captain steps up and Caelan Doris did just that. The number eight powered through the Scottish resistance to add to Ireland’s convincing lead. Flyhalf Prendergast beautifully converted.
To make matters even worse, Finn Russell was confirmed to have failed his head injury assessment. Tom Jordan was to remain at 10 for the rest of the game, having moved from inside centre.
There was no better way to sum up the Scots first half then them failing to recycle the ball from their attacking lineout in Ireland’s twenty-two. Nothing was working offensively for the hosts, Ireland were snuffing out everything.
But with the clock in the red, van der Merwe flew over the line in an outrageous finish to score in the corner. A moment of sheer brilliance from the Scottish winger. Blair Kinghorn was unable to convert.
This ended an incredibly disappointing half for Scotland but gave them a moment to build on and a glimmer of hope. Ireland were still in firm control though.
Second Half
Scotland opened the second half strongly, with a penalty within three minutes to put them nine points off their opponents.
They added another three shortly after to further close the gap. The Scots were just a converted try away from being ahead.
But James Lowe damaged Scottish hope battling through three tackles to touch down and restore Ireland’s stronghold over the game. Prendergast effortlessly added the extras.
Ireland were relentless in their pursuit of the Scottish line, as Jack Conan was the next man to charge through and score. But the credit went to Jamison Gibson-Park whose gorgeous chip over the Scottish defence created the opportunity for the Irish to score.
Crucially this gave the visitors their fourth try and a subsequent bonus point.
Prendergast added another three with a delicious penalty. The game was edging further and further away from the Scots.
With just five minutes left, Scottish scrumhalf Ben White wriggled his way through several Irish bodies to score. Kinghorn converted but the hosts were still 14 points off Ireland.
This was ultimately too little too late for the Scots.
Irish saw out a dominant victory at Murrayfield.
The Six Nations hat-trick was still alive.
