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Ireland vs Scotland LIVE in the Six Nations
Ireland have been impressive so far in the Six Nations, and would have secured a far more comfortable set of results had they been more clinical.
A late, late Johnny Sexton drop-goal was required to win them the game in Paris when it looked as though Teddy Thomas’ brilliant try would hand France a win they did not deserve while against Wales, the same fly-half let 10 points go to waste from the kicking tee – although Jacob Stockdale’s double ensured a 37-27 victory to keep Joe Schmidt’s men in Grand Slam contention.
Scotland meanwhile ended a decade-long run without a win over England last week, Huw Jones scoring twice in the first half and creating a third for Sean Maitland to give the Scots a famous 25-13 win.
Express Sport brings you all the latest action from Dublin as Gregor Townsend attempts to show that Scotland can do it away from home as well as at Murrayfield.
Ireland 14 – Scotland 3, Six Nations LIVE
***HALF-TIME***
A tale of two passes: one from Pete Horne that found only Stockdale and one from Huw Jones that only found the floor. But when you add in that sucker-punch from the prolific Stockdale, it feels like Scotland have achieved very little and the margin is a whole lot bigger.
See you in 15.
TRY IRELAND! (Stockdale 40+2′; conversion Sexton)
My goodness, what a finish to the half! Another line-out is turned over and great hands from Ringrose sets Kearney free. Conor Murray comes within inches of the try line but Scotland scramble back to hold him up. The resulting scrum sets Ireland up and Jacob Stockdale has ANOTHER try, jinking past a defender to finish from six or seven metres.
35 MINUTES
Finn Russell is starting to find his rhythm now, with some lovely, delicate passes. But the Irish back row is still showing their muscle over the lighter, more mobile counterparts and they turn it over after some good phase play on the edge of their 22 from Scotland. Breathless first half hour is starting to take its toll now.
30 MINUTES
How have Scotland not scored. That is AWFUL from Huw Jones – and I won’t say that often. Huw Jones chips himself over the defensive line beautifully, beats Rob Kearney with ease and draws Sexton perfectly… only for the pass to Hogg to go astray. That was a certain seven points. Starting to see the other side of the coin that last week saw Russell float one over Jonathan Joseph. Cruel old game.
25 MINUTES
More bad news for Scotland as Ryan Wilson is ruled out of the rest of the game after failing his HIA – David Denton will play the rest of the game now.
Ringrose makes a brilliant break into the Scottish half but Hamish Watson wins another penalty great defence.
TRY IRELAND! (Stockdale 22′; conversion Sexton)
It’s been all Scotland really with the ball but Pete Horne has thrown away seven points there. Jacob Stockdale picks off the pass at halfway and now has 10 tries in nine Tests – five of them in the 2018 Six Nations. Remarkable.
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Jacob Stockdale continued his outrageous try-scoring record in the first half
20 MINUTES
Both teams struggling to win their own line out at the moment but Scotland in broken play are brilliant. A couple of stunning offloads from Kinghorn and Wilson get them deep into the 22 but some brilliant ruck work from Dan Leavy wins Ireland the penalty and the chance to clear.
15 MINUTES
What a kick that is from Stuart Hogg. Unbelievable kick from the full-back who clears from his own 22 and gains about 50 metres of territory and somehow beats Keith Earls into touch. The Irish winger then tries to make up for it with a big pass out wide but it goes straight out and Scotland have a line-out inside the Irish half. Scrappy start from the home side you feel.
PENALTY SCOTLAND (Laidlaw 13′)
Relatively simple slot for the scrum-half and Scotland have the lead, despite what appeared to be a knock-on by Huw Jones in the build-up.
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Greig Laidlaw gives Scotland an early lead
10 MINUTES
No shortage of high kicks from the boot of Sexton, unsurprisingly, and they’ve been doing an excellent job of troubling the likes of Wilson and Russell. But Scotland win a penalty in their own 22 and then trap Keith Earls on the ground and Sean Maitland jackals a penalty out of him.
5 MINUTES
We have a penalty at the breakdown – and it’s against Scotland. Ireland show some intent and kick it into the corner, but then lose the line-out! Bit shaky. Still no score.
1 MINUTE
Finn Russell kicks us off and Conor Murray clears with a box kick. Stuart Hogg juggles it but hands on and we have a the first line-out with a Scotland throw in on the halfway line. But Ireland choke the maul and have the scrum. Good start for Joe Schmidt’s pack, led in that case by Devin Toner.
2.10pm: From what the ambiant microphones have picked up, the Scotland squad are quite a tuneful lot. Nice.
Ireland meanwhile have the power of 50,000-odd fans behind them and belt out their two anthems with all the gusto you would expect. Here we go…
2pm: There’s a lot of talk about the referee already today with Wayne Barnes in charge. Scotland “played the ref” better against England with John Barclay all over the ball – but today’s man in charge is expected to be a bit tighter at the breakdown area so the early stages will be interesting in terms of seeing who can get away with what.
Teams will be out imminently and then it’s anthem o’clock.
1.45pm: Now for the men in green, who will not lack for confidence after three wins on the bounce. Just the two changes for Joe Schmidt who has Garry Ringrose back fit for his first Six Nations start and the experienced Tadhg Furlong into the line-up too.
Starting XV: Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Devin Toner, Peter O’Mahony, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.
Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson, Jordi Murphy, Kieran Marmion, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour.
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Joe Schmidt has Garry Ringrose back in his midfield to face Scotland
1.30pm: Let’s have a look at the teams then – starting with Scotland. Townsend has made just one change to the side blew away England, an enforced one, with Tommy Seymour suffering a back injury meaning Blair Kinghorn gets his first start for Scotland on the wing.
Finn Russell will of course play a crucial role in decent conditions at the Aviva Stadium – but the wind is picking up as we speak. Interesting aspect.
Starting XV: Stuart Hogg, Blair Kinghorn, Huw Jones, Pete Horne, Sean Maitland; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw; Gordon Reid, Stuart McInally, Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, Willem Nel, Tim Swinson, David Denton, Ali Price, Nick Grigg, Lee Jones.
1.15pm: Historically, Scotland do not have a terrible record in Ireland, having won 27 of their 65 games there.
However, the 21st century has only heralded one away victory for the Scots against Ireland – at Croke Park back in 2010.
On that day, Brian O’Driscoll and Tommy Bowe scored tries for Ireland but Dan Parks kicked 18 points including a last-minute penalty in a 23-20 win to help Scotland, avoid the Wooden Spoon.
It is a much-changed Scotland side from that day, both in terms of personnel and style of rugby. Gregor Townsend’s side and their core of Glasgow Warriors are the biggest propagators of running rugby in the championship now and, you would think, will stick to those principles today.
Just an hour to go until kick-off. Oh this could be a doozy.
