Match Report - Ireland back on track in Murrayfield
Joey Carbery steered Ireland to a redemptive but patchy 22-13 Guinness Six Nations victory over Scotland, as Joe Schmidt’s men edged back to winning ways in Edinburgh.
Johnny Sexton suffered a nasty-looking facial injury as the British and Irish Lions talisman copped a string of big hits from the hosts, leaving Munster fly-half Carbery to pilot Ireland home.
Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls all crossed for Ireland, while Sam Johnson replied for Scotland with Greig Laidlaw posting eight points from the boot.
Sexton’s understudy Carbery so nearly fluffed his lines when throwing an intercept pass to Finn Russell, who raced on and popped off the ground for Johnson to score.
But the 23-year-old Carbery quickly found his place in the script, wriggling free and lofting out a fine pass for Earls to score the winning try.
Scotland lost Lions full-back Stuart Hogg to a shoulder injury, with Gregor Townsend’s men unable to add enough industry to their impressive finesse.
Ireland failed to convince for long stretches in their search for a riposte following last weekend’s punishing 32-20 home loss to England.
Scrum-half Murray again struggled with his kicking out of hand, and Sexton only lasted 24 minutes before being withdrawn, with Scotland constantly targeting him physically.
Schmidt’s men found the route to victory however, and having been so shaken and bullied by England last week, he will take this win any which way.
Ireland tiptoed to half-time with an unconvincing 12-10 lead, somehow fending off strong Scotland pressure.
Murray’s poor kicking and further inaccuracy gifted Scotland plenty of territory and possession, with Russell a constant threat on the ball.
Laidlaw slotted a penalty to put Scotland first on the board, only for Ireland to strike back through huge fortune.
Tommy Seymour should have comfortably dealt with Stockdale’s chip over the top, but instead flung a wild pass that eluded the helpless Sean Maitland.
Murray nipped onto the loose ball and scooted across the line, but curiously the half-back did not dot down under the posts.
Sexton duly missed the conversion, but Ireland eased those frustrations with another quick-fire score.
Peter O’Mahony’s midfield switch with Sexton opened the door for an inside ball to Stockdale, and the Ulster winger screamed home in style.
Murray slotted the conversion, as the big hits started to take their toll on Sexton, for Ireland to lead 12-3.
Just when Ireland looked to kick on though, further errors invited Scotland back into the contest.
Sexton was forced to admit defeat in his battle to stay in the game, trotting off with a bloodied nose and facial injury.
His replacement Carbery looked to have settled quickly, but then threw a wild interception pass that Russell gobbled up and hared towards the line.
Earls hunted down Russell in style, but the Racing 92 fly-half kept his cool and popped off the ground to the onrushing Johnson, who finished neatly.
Laidlaw’s conversion had Scotland trailing by just two points, and Ireland’s panic set in.
Another poor Murray box kick gifted the hosts the ball, Carbery fumbled rather than collected and Earls had to sweep and roll into touch just five metres out.
Ireland disrupted the line-out but Rory Best had to touch down over his own line under pressure from Stuart McInally.
Scotland twice fended off the visitors to open the second half, only to concede a poor score.
Carbery wriggled through heavy midfield traffic, arced wide and floated a fine pass out to Earls, who nipped home.
Munster pivot Carbery slotted the conversion for Ireland to lead 19-10 approaching the hour.
Laidlaw and Carbery exchanged penalties as Ireland maintained that nine-point advantage, and so it stayed, leaving Ireland mightily relieved to head home with the win.
Press Association Sport
Comments on RugbyPass
No surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to comments