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Ireland finished third in the Fall Nations Cup having finished in the same position in the Six Nations. They were third in the second half against Georgia last Sunday and again in the first half hour at Aviva Stadium against a team that combined power with style to counter the argument that professional rugby has gotten boring.
The game took a turn when Scottish center Duncan Taylor, who had annoyed Ireland’s defense with his strength in possession and his ability to keep the ball alive, was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate hit. His action thwarted Ireland’s first attack, a sweeping move across the right frame moving to give Ireland numbers on the left.
As Bundee Aki looked to take advantage of the overlap, her pass hit Taylor’s outstretched right hand and bounced forward. Referee Matt Carley saw a replay of the incident before seeking his yellow card, but Taylor did not lower his hand and his action could have been perceived as an attempt to tackle his opponent rather than cynically thwarting a potential attempt.
Carley was not concerned with the doubt and after Johnny Sexton kicked the resulting penalty to make it 9-6 for the visitors, the flame for Scotland went out.
Rugby at the top tier is going through a prolonged period where space is at a premium and acts like deliberate strikes are merciless. But players who intentionally breach the break to slow down or steal the ball have to commit any number of infractions before being threatened with the trash can and it is rare for someone to be penalized for not being behind the rearmost part of a teammate’s body. team. in a ruck.
Cian Healy was penalized in the first half, but only because he was in a position to shake hands with outside Scotland, Jaco van der Walt. The stealth invasion is plotted even though it gives the defending team the extra half-second it needs to hurry up, close the gap and induce the team in possession to kick. Why?
If Scotland could feel aggrieved by Taylor’s yellow card, their discipline again disappointed them. They conceded 14 penalties, their average in this tournament.
Two of Ireland’s three attempts came after Sexton opted to kick penalties to touch rather than rack up three points. The first was scored two minutes before halftime and as Carley was leading for another offense after Scotland repelled the driving maul, Sexton looked to the right as he shot left and Robbie Henshaw hit the ball over the line for Keith Earls will get over it. Ali Price on the rebound.
It gave Ireland an 11-9 lead in the interval and Taylor had just returned to the field in the opening minutes of the second half when Stuart Hogg, whose counterattack lunges in the first half defused Ireland’s kicking strategy, unleashed a Sexton’s rolling kick, for now running the game, on his 22nd.
Ireland used the resulting scrum to throw a series of drives and after Caelan Doris swept the win line, Healy broke through.
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Ireland nearly sealed the win after 49 minutes when Peter O’Mahony, who later had a try disallowed after his right boot grazed the touchline, gave Earls the space to score in the left corner with a pass Scotland complained that it was early.
Duhan van der Merwe’s opportunism from a ruck gave Scotland renewed hope on an afternoon in which all their points were scored by the South Africans, but they continued to give away penalties with Jamie Ritchie, whose methods in the break-up were questioned by Carley throughout. moment, he was later warned by yelling advice at the referee.
He was protesting a penalty awarded by Fraser Brown moments after the prostitute complained that her eye had been gouged out, a charge that a repeat maul could not substantiate. By then Scotland had drifted off course after having started so emphatically.
After the defeat to England and the lack of wit against Georgia, Ireland felt relief rather than redemption.
As Sexton pointed out, they are behind England and France, who will visit Dublin in the Six Nations, but ahead of the chasing group. “We stand behind our coaches,” he said. “It is different from the previous regime and takes a bit of getting used to, but unlike the media, we are happy with our progress.”
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