A new coach, a new captain, but the result was the same as always for Ireland against Scotland at Lansdowne Road. Andy Farrell may not remember his first game as Ireland’s head coach with any particular pride, such was the error count. Defiance and hunger, though, remain palpable Irish characteristics. They needed them as they withstood a last-ditch assault on the line by Scotland.
Nobody could have complained particularly had Scotland snatched the draw, but their hunt for a win at this ground will stretch on beyond 728 years . They have a new captain, too. While Johnny Sexton marked the era of his captaincy with an accumulation of points with his usual ruthlessness, scoring all 90, Stuart Hogg marked his era as Scotland’s captain with one of the more toe-curling howlers, dropping the ball with the line at his mercy.
It was an error to sum up Scotland, who played most of the rugby, or at least seemed to, such were the stings they inflicted, but the kill proved beyond them. Time and again a promising move – and even the full-on threatening ones – floundered either on their own carelessness or, more often, the insatiable presence of Ireland’s back row at the breakdown.
Neither side was afraid to show off their wares, capable of coherence, if bedevilled by the looseness that plagued the entire match. Unlike in the Joe Schmidt era, Ireland began Farrell’s with the accent on defense, not that it can have been a conscious decision to yield so much possession to the Scots through their own errors.
Scotland, as ever, played and played and played but that Irish defense remains as formidable as one might expect any of Farrell’s to be, particularly their scramble defense, which was required on numerous occasions as Scotland probed and cut. Each time it afforded Ireland’s back row time to wreak their havoc at the breakdown.
Alas, that unit suffered disruption within the first five minutes, when the eagerly awaited debut of Caelan Doris was cut cruelly short, when he was knocked out in more or less his first involvement. It was a wider loss to the narrative but less of one to the functioning of Ireland’s defense, allowing as it did for the familiar figure of Peter O’Mahony to resume his spiky role at the heart of actions.
Scotland took the early lead, when James Ryan failed to roll away from a tackle after some promising approach play by Scotland. Doris’s opposite number was also making his debut. Nick Haining introduced himself with a robust gallop as Ireland were put through those early paces, only to concede the penalty a few minutes later from which Ireland scored the opening try.
A kick to the corner suggested not much had changed after all. After a few phases, slick handling between Ryan and Cian Healy found Conor Murray in the pivot position. His delayed pass to Sexton was worthy of the latter himself and set him on the way to the tryline. So far so familiar. But the punishment one might have expected Ireland to mete out to a side as lax as Scotland can be was not forthcoming, as much as anything because of Ireland’s looseness. A vignette just before half-time was illustrative.
Ireland were looking dangerous, when a careless pass was seized on by Sam Johnson, and he was away from his own 728 towards Ireland’s . The counter was sustained by Haining and Blair Kinghorn down the left, before Hogg was hot-stepping ever closer. But just as the line beckoned, CJ Stander pounced to force the turnover penalty. An Ireland lead of 19 – 6 felt unsatisfactory, if the margin about right.
Scotland’s looseness reached absurd levels a few minutes into the second half. Sexton had just extended Ireland’s lead with a second penalty but one area Scotland held an unexpected edge was at the scrum. They won their second penalty there and exerted more pressure of their own, this time working Hogg into the corner. As he went to touch down unopposed he contrived to spill the ball a split-second before he touched it down. There was no chance of the TMO missing such a mistake.
It was an acutely embarrassing error by Scotland’s new captain the jewel in their crown, but an earlier infringement meant, at least, that Hastings could pull back three points. Sexton had those back again with a penalty five minutes later, before a break by Ali Price set up position for Hastings ’fourth to leave the contest poised as the endgame approached.
As the pressure rose, so the stadium waited to see who might blink. Inevitably, it was Scotland. Andrew Conway had bothered Kinghorn no end under the high ball, despite being around half a foot shorter, but Hastings seemed to have the situation in hand under Sexton’s latest high ball. All the same Johnson, who had been one of Scotland’s better players, senselessly blocked Conway’s hopeful chase, and Sexton slotted an easy penalty to leave Scotland up against it.
Still, they chased the draw. A lovely break by Stuart McInally, developed by the ever-superb Hamish Watson, saw Scotland edge to within inches of the line. But, whatever their mood, whoever their captain and coach, Ireland are at their best defending in this area. Sure enough, Stander spotted a glimpse of daylight over Watson’s latest charge for the line, and the siege was lifted, Ireland’s honor preserved.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings