Posted by Gerry O’Sullivan, Sunday, 12 March 2006

I was in Cork for the weekend, and didn’t have a chance while away to post my thoughts on the Ireland-Scotland match.

The final result of 15-9 didn’t really reflect the reality on the day. The weather played a major part of that, as it made passing difficult. It was disappointing that Ireland didn’t manage to turn a lot of the possession they had into tries, but a win is a win, and we have to be grateful for that. The fact that Scotland managed to spend large periods of time offside with impunity was another factor to contend with. (Incidentally, The Observer awarded Man of the Match to Jason White. Why??)

I felt that this was a more assured performance by Ireland all round. This was their best opening quarter so far in the championship, and crucially, this time they scored first. Some individual performances were much better as well. Geordan Murphy was much improved on previous outings and he ran some intelligent lines and mixed things up well. Malcolm O’Kelly had a good game too, nicking a number of Scottish lineout throws and giving their hooker the yips. The Irish back row was immense, in terms of tackling, turnovers and carrying. Paul O’Connell showed again just why he is probably the best second row in the world with an awesome display both at the set-piece and around the park. I thought Peter Stringer had a fine game as well.

So we look forward to the climax next weekend. Ireland are poised to take their second Triple Crown in three seasons, and the runners-up spot in the Championship. In the unlikely event of France losing to Wales, Ireland would have a chance of the Championship itself. If England are as God-awful as they were in Paris today, then Ireland should beat them next week in Twickenham. Even if they improve by 10%, then they should still be there for the taking. Ireland have improved a lot since the stuttering opening-day win against Italy, whereas England have gotten worse since the day they saw off Wales with ease.

It’s all to play for, lads. It’s all to play for.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 13th, 2006 at 12:22 am and is filed under Six Nations, International. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.