RBS 6 NATIONS 2009
| Match Report - Scotland |
| Saturday, 14 March 2009 - 17:00 | |
|---|---|
 |
 |
Scotland |
Ireland |
|
|
| Starting Lineup | |
|
15 Full Back : Chris Paterson 14 Wing : Simon Danielli 13 Centre : Max Evans 12 Centre : Graeme Morrison 11 Wing : Thom Evans 10 Stand Off : Phil Godman 9 Scrum Half : Mike Blair 1 Prop : Alasdair Dickinson 2 Hooker : Ross Ford 3 Prop : Euan Murray 4 Lock : Jason White 5 Lock : Jim Hamilton 6 Flanker : Alasdair Strokosch 7 Flanker : John Barclay 8 Number 8 : Simon Taylor 16 : Dougie Hall 17 : Moray Low 18 : Nathan Hines 19 : Scott Gray 20 : Chris Cusiter 21 : Nick De Luca 22 : Hugo Southwell |
Robert Kearney : 15 Full Back Tommy Bowe : 14 Wing Brian O'Driscoll : 13 Centre Gordon D'Arcy : 12 Centre Luke Fitzgerald : 11 Wing Ronan O'Gara : 10 Stand Off Peter Stringer : 9 Scrum Half Marcus Horan : 1 Prop Rory Best : 2 Hooker John Hayes : 3 Prop Donncha O'Callaghan : 4 Lock Paul O'Connell : 5 Lock Stephen Ferris : 6 Flanker David Wallace : 7 Flanker Denis Leamy : 8 Number 8 Jerry Flannery : 16 Tom Court : 17 Mick O’Driscoll : 18 Jamie Heaslip : 19 Tomas O'Leary : 20 Paddy Wallace : 21 Geordan Murphy : 22 |
| Summary |
| BASIC MISTAKES BLUNT BRIGHT OPENING Saturday, 14 March 2009 Scotland 15 Ireland 22 Scotland suffered a bitterly disappointing RBS 6 Nations defeat against tournament leaders Ireland at Murrayfield, despite enjoying a 12-9 half-time lead. Even though Chris Paterson contributed five penalties, Ireland scored a second half try through Jamie Heaslip and benefited from elementary mistakes by the hosts to snatch a 22-15 win. A dejected Scotland coach Frank Hadden said: “I can’t fault the attitude of the players, but you have to look at our high error count in the second-half especially and that was absolutely critical. “We should have been out of sight at half-time, but after that, it was a tale of elementary errors for us which allowed Ireland to get into the game.” With Ireland on course to win their first Grand Slam in over 60 years, the odds seemed stacked against Scotland at the very start. But Frank Hadden’s side began brightly on a windswept Murrayfield pitch with a series of thoughtful forays up field translating into early territorial advantage. Shackling the effervescent Brian O’Driscoll, the quick thinking of Mike Blair led to Simon Danielli hurtling towards the whitewash only for the burly wing to be bundled into touch a few metres short. Nevertheless Scotland had set the tempo and Ireland looked particularly uncomfortable dealing with the home side’s determined approach. A break from Graeme Morrison punctured the Ireland defence and set up a sturdy platform for the back division to build from. The early pressure resulted in a penalty on the five minute mark when Ronan O’Gara was penalised for hands in the ruck and Chris Paterson’s trusty right boot opened the scoring. But Ireland started to fight back with experienced scrum half Peter Stringer orchestrating for the men in green; a darting run troubling Scotland’s defence. Ireland then drew level on the 11-minute mark through an O’Gara penalty before David Wallace was penalised for not rolling away presenting Scotland with another chance to edge ahead. Taking the kick from just outside the 22-metre mark, Paterson had to first reset the ball and then get a team-mate to hold it before expertly executing his kick goalward. Scotland played with a real sense of urgency and decisiveness and that led to a third penalty from Paterson after referee Jonathan Kaplan had penalised the away side for a ruck offence. Ireland then enjoyed a period of ascendancy and, despite some rugged defending from Scotland, reduced the deficit through an O’Gara penalty on 27 minutes. Phil Godman’s ability to bring the back line to life enabled both Morrison and Max Evans to make some serious headway into Ireland territory. But a handling error from John Barclay from Paterson’s off-load under pressure denied Scotland a clear-cut try scoring chance. Nevertheless Paterson was handed another penalty opportunity and the immaculate goal kicker from Galashiels made no mistake with a sweeping effort. The duel between the penalty specialists continued when just seconds later O’Gara was up the other end of the pitch nailing his effort between the posts. Then just before half-time Thom Evans sparked Murrayfield into life with an exhilarating run upfield – catching his beautifully weighted chip-kick ahead and then finding space outside O’Gara before being scragged by a desperately covering final defender Tommy Bowe. It was the type of breathtaking run that warranted a try, but a last-ditch tackle prevented Scotland from extending their advantage before the interval. After the break, Ireland once again seemed to struggle with the windy conditions, but attacked Scotland with renewed vigour. But Scotland weathered the storm, stood firm and refused to buckle. Hadden reshuffled the pack on 50 minutes with Nathan Hines replacing Jason White in the second row. But almost immediately Ireland surged forward to score the first try of the match when Jamie Heaslip connected with Stringer’s probing run to dot down. Blair was then withdrawn with a back injury and Chris Cusiter was handed the scrum half berth while Paterson became captain with Scotland trailing by a solitary point. O’Gara then scored a drop-goal to extend Ireland’s lead to seven points with Dougie Hall replacing Ford in the front row. After a couple of disjointed moves, Scotland finally got a chance to claw their way back courtesy of another Paterson penalty. His right boot remaining an instrument of unerring precision and his kick handed Scotland a lifeline. O’Gara then missed a relatively straightforward penalty to keep the scoreboard intact, although Scotland were struggling to generate any momentum at that point in the game. Gifted with another penalty close to the posts, O’Gara made amends with his next attempt to put Ireland back into a comfy seven-point lead which remained the same until the final whistle. Overall, it was a morale-sapping blow for Scotland after wrestling their way into such an impressive half-time lead, but Ireland moved up through the gears in the second half and deserved to emerge victorious. Nevertheless Scotland can take some positives from the performance – Chris Paterson's penalties, the collective defence and attitude of the players the displays from Jim Hamilton, Thom Evans and Alasdair Dickinson. Scotland: Paterson; Danielli, M. Evans, Morrison, T. Evans, Godman, Blair; Dickinson, Ford, Murray, White, Hamilton, Strokosch, Barclay, Taylor. Replacements: De Luca for Morrison (70), Cusiter for Blair (51), Hall for Ford (57), Hines for White (50), Gray for Barclay (67). Not Used: Low, Southwell. Ireland: Kearney, Bowe, B. O'Driscoll, D'Arcy, Fitzgerald, O'Gara, Stringer, Horan, Best, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Ferris, D. Wallace, Leamy. Replacements: Murphy for Kearney (75), O'Leary for Stringer (65), Flannery for Best (61), Heaslip for Leamy (30). Not Used: Court, M. O'Driscoll, P. Wallace. Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa). |
