Six Nations 2012: Ireland v Scotland - as it happened

A cursory glance at the form book, and this should be a shoo-in for the home side. Ireland may not be what they were a couple of years ago, yet in this Six Nations have been a poor refereeing decision from beating all-conquering Wales, and should really have put France away in Paris last weekend. Scotland, on the other hand, are joint bottom of the table, after three defeats from three. Yet you never know. Scotland have had an extra week to rest since their last game, have some fine fresh talent coming through in Stuart Hogg and David Denton, and are steadily (if slowly) improving, to the point that they've managed to cross the try line in their last two matches. Well done, everyone! Also, the last time these two teams met in Dublin, the Scots clocked up a rare away victory. Dan Parks put in a man-of-the-match performance, and if that can happen, etc., and so on... Karma dept. Scotland are due a bit of good fortune, having played better than their results suggest. But then Ireland are in credit with Lady Luck too after the Wales debacle. Ireland are favourites, so shouldn't need it, but we'll see. These two sides often serve up better-than-decent entertainment, so: better-than-decent entertainment, please! Ireland: R Kearney (Leinster); T Bowe (Ospreys), K Earls (Munster), G D'Arcy (Leinster), A Trimble (Ulster); J Sexton (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster); C Healy (Leinster), R Best (Ulster, capt), M Ross (Leinster), D O'Callaghan (Munster), D Ryan (Munster), S Ferris (Ulster), P O'Mahony (Munster), J Heaslip (Leinster). Replacements: S Cronin (Leinster), T Court (Ulster), M McCarthy (Connacht), S Jennings (Leinster), T O'Leary (Munster), R O'Gara (Munster), F McFadden (Leinster). Scotland: S Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); L Jones (Edinburgh), N De Luca (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets); G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (capt, Edinburgh), G Cross (Edinburgh), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Gloucester), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), D Denton (Edinburgh). Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), E Murray (Newcastle), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), R Vernon (Sale Sharks), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), M Evans (Castres). Referee: C Pollock (New Zealand) Kick off: 5pm. The teams are out! Ireland are in green, Scotland in blue. That's how they roll. Incidentally, the Irish have been taking advice from Michael O'Leary, the grasping Ryanair footpad, who gave the team a motivational chat during the week. It's a wonder they're not stranded about 60 miles from the Aviva Stadium. Perhaps they'll charge Scotland £10 for every tooth they manage to knock out, £50+VAT per cauliflower ear. The anthems. They're singing them. And we're off! Greig Laidlaw gets the ball spinning - the thing won't roll - and Heaslip gathers. Scotland soon get the ball back, though, and will get the put-in at a scrum just inside the Irish half. A good minute or so is wasted with some tedious fannying around at the engagement. There goes that atmosphere! Lansdowne Road is as good as silent already. 3 min: After two minutes of faffing around, Scotland are awarded a free kick. They move the ball out wide left towards Hogg, and nearly set the youngster off down the wing, but there's a forward pass. However, Bowe has drifted offside looking for an intercept, and that's a penalty to Scotland. 4 min: PENALTY. Ireland 0-3 SCOTLAND. Laidlaw hauds his baws for a few seconds, like a smutty Jonny Wilkinson, then strokes a kick between the posts. Scotland have the early lead. 7 min: Earls responds with a chip and chase down the left. Laidlaw is under it, and although clattered by Earls, keeps possession, allowing Scotland to move upfield. They're seeing most of the ball, and throwing it around quite nicely at the moment. 9 min: They've made 38 passes compared to Ireland's four. The final one of those flies behind Hogg as they look to release Scotland's youngest starter for 40 years down the right. 10 min: PENALTY. Ireland 0-6 SCOTLAND. D'Arcy joins a ruck from the side. Nope. Penalty to Scotland, 30 yards from the posts, just to the left of the sticks. Laidlaw makes no mistake. The Scottish passing game isn't quite clicking, but it's been good enough; they've had all the possession, and this is a fair enough scoreline. Ireland are yet to turn up. I blame Michael O'Leary. 12 min: Turnover ball for Ireland just outside the Scottish 22, down the right. Ireland shuttle it out to the left, where a penalty's awarded, Rennie joining the ruck from the side. Will they kick? Nope. Sexton clips the ball into touch right by the left-hand corner. They've got a five-metre lineout, and really need points from this. 14 min: TRY. IRELAND 5-6 Scotland. And they get them! The lineout's won, O'Callaghan moves the ball to the left touchline, and captain Best powers through Blair and over into the corner. 15 min: CONVERSION. IRELAND 7-6 Scotland. Sexton steps up to take the conversion. He checks, turns, and begins again. Meanwhile Sean Lamont assumes Sexton's started his run, races out, in the style of that Zaire player at the 1974 Fifa World Cup, and hoofs the static ball upfield! Some light comedy. Sexton isn't fussed: he resets, and sends a left-to-right slider between the posts. Ireland have the lead, their brave decision to turn down the penalty kick for goal paying dividends. 18 min: Scotland put a few phases together as they move upfield from the restart. Eventually Blair is tackled by the 22, and refuses to release. The pressure's off the home side, Reddan hoicking the penalty back up to the halfway line. After a shaky start, Ireland are slowly gaining the upper hand. 20 min: The latest pass completion stat: Scotland 60, Ireland 15. But take a look at the scoreline. 23 min: Scotland concede a penalty on halfway, allowing Ireland to find touch by their 22. Ireland win the lineout, and go through a few phases, making their way deeper into the Scottish 22. The Scots are looking shaky, Ireland getting closer and closer, but Healy refuses to release, and concedes a pressure-releasing penalty. Scotland clear their lines to touch - but then lose their first lineout of the tournament, Ford throwing in a cack-handed ball. Their stats were 33 from 33 up until that point. 25 min: A couple of scrums, and it's a penalty to Ireland, the Scots penalised for collapsing the thing. Jacobsen the guilty man, although he's not happy about it. Ireland will kick this one. 26 min: PENALTY. IRELAND 10-6 Scotland. Sexton, 35 yards out, to the left of goal, sends another kick to the left of the sticks, before curving back inside and whistling between them. 27 min: A lone piper plays a sad lament. Has he given up the ghost already? 30 min: The first real expansive move of the game, Ireland on halfway flinging a few quick long passes right to left, Kearney so nearly breaking through down the wing. But then Ryan spills the ball in the tackle, allowing Scotland to kick long down their left, and eventually winning some good field position. And after some shenanigans, it's a penalty to Scotland, O'Callaghan refusing to roll away. Laidlaw kicks for touch, and a five-metre lineout. A case of anything you can do...? 31 min: Not quite. Scotland attempt to send a rolling maul over the line, but it's collapsed. Another penalty. Kicked to touch again. Then Gray is hit in the air in the lineout. Another penalty. The Scots will kick this one for goal. It's tight on the left, though. 32 min: PENALTY. Ireland 10-9 SCOTLAND. But Laidlaw's kick is true. Scotland move to within a point of their hosts. They deserved a score from those phases of play. 33 min: TRY! IRELAND 15-9 Scotland. Ireland are right back up in Scotland's grille. They set themselves up in the Scottish 22, near the left-hand corner. Then some haplessness, followed microseconds later by brilliance, from Reddan, who slips as he looks to start a phase. It wrongfoots the Scottish defence, so he spins through 180 degrees, and scampers through a gap and over the line, tight in the left-hand corner. 35 min: CONVERSION. IRELAND 17-9 Scotland. A brilliant kick from Sexton, tight on the paint running down the left of the pitch. 36 min: To the piper's credit, he's gone jaunty with an upbeat skirl. A brave effort, all things considered. 37 min: TRY! Ireland 17-14 SCOTLAND. This is out of nothing. Gray bombs through a couple of tackles down the left. Bowe's in front of him, but Gray sells him a dummy to the left, drops a shoulder to slip to Bowe's right, and tears across the tryline. Wonderful solo play. 38 min: Laidlaw's kick, far out on the left, hits the left-hand post. No conversion. That always looked like just missing, though. Not a terrible kick, not a great one either. Scotland will be happy to be right back in this game. 40 min +1: TRY! IRELAND 22-14 Scotland. A lineout for Ireland down the right, just by the Scotland 22. One last score before the half is out? Earls nearly breaks through the Scottish defence, but the blue line holds firm. The ball's shuttled out wide right, and Kearney nearly breaks through. He's just short. The ball's recycled, and fed to Trimble, tight on the right touchline. And he powers over! That's brilliant from Ireland, and a real sickener for the Scots, who had just got back into the game. HALF TIME: Ireland 22-14 Scotland. Sexton misses a difficult kick. And that's that for a very entertaining half. Has Trimble's try jiggered Scotland's spirit? You'd think so, but this has been a far from predictable game so far. More, please! HALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT: As a counterbalance to the lone piper, who has been dominating proceedings so far. The teams are out again! Sexton gets things moving. Scotland nearly repeat their restart farce against England, but Lamont is no Dan Parks, and eventually gathers. Ireland soon have the ball back, mind you. Should Ireland score first, you would imagine this game is over. 43 min: Scotland do pass it around nicely sometimes. Just no end product. A nice sweeping move, right to left, but Jones hasn't got enough space to work with down the wing, and eventually he's stopped in his tracks. Eventually the ball's turned over, and Ireland are eventually gifted a penalty by a frustrated Scotland, their saucy hands in the ruck. 45 min: Kearney creams a wonderful penalty into touch by the Scottish 22. This is brilliant field position for Ireland, but the ball's thrown into the lineout half-cocked, Best at his worst, and the pressure's off the visitors. 47 min: Staunch work by Denton, who has been quiet so far, but powers Scotland out of their own 22 and away from bother. A change for Scotland: Murray comes on for Cross. 48 min: Earls bombs down the middle of the pitch, sashaying as much as a rugby man ever can. A wonderful, powerful, mazy run at speed. He offloads to Sexton, who switches the play out right. Ireland keep pressing forward. This is a brilliant, free-flowing move by the Irish, which all started when Kearney snaffled a Scottish grubber kick down the right and went on a mazy run of his own. This deserves points. 50 min: Ireland don't get them, but it's oh so close. Sexton sends a crossfield kick to the right. It's caught by Bowe on the tryline, but he's held up by Morrison. Or is he? Bowe is lying on top of Morrison, on his back, but spins round and pops the ball down. However the video referee says he'd already made a movement for the line, and was held up. Cusiter replaces a haggered Blair. 52 min: Court is on for Healy, a blood sub. Scotland are somehow hanging onto this game by their fingernails. 53 min: Scotland have a lineout just outside the Irish 22. Some expansive passing from the right wing to the left, but Ireland clatter the Scots with a couple of big hits. Eventually, Denton and Laidlaw confuse each other down the left and in the resulting brouhaha the ball's knocked forward by Jones. 54 min: However, Bowe's hit Hogg, who didn't have the ball, and a penalty to the Scots. Laidlaw sends the ball out just inside the Irish 22 down the left. Can they trouble the scoreboard and get back into this? Meanwhile O'Gara, O'Leary and Cronin come on for D'Arcy, Reddan and Best. 55 min: O'Mahony rips the ball from Laidlaw's breast. Scotland won't be adding to their 14 points, good field position spurned. 56 min: Jackson replaces Laidlaw. 58 min: A lot of Scottish passing in the midfield. Gray nearly bursts through down the right. He's not released once felled. Jackson's first big play is to fail to find touch with the penalty. Oh dear. Vernon replaces Rennie. 59 min: A stitched-up Healy is back on for Court. 60 min: O'Gara is told that his players are getting on the wrong side far too often. Any more of it, and he'll be sending a green-shirted player to the sinbin. Kellock comes on for Hamilton. 62 min: Jones and Trimble smash into each other. Their heads clash. Trimble is OK, but Jones looks to have been knocked clean out as he stood, before falling to the turf, his head bouncing horribly off it. It may take a while to gather poor Jones up. It's still 62 min, with the quacks being about their business: As we wait for Jones to be loaded onto a stretcher, Jennings replaces O'Mahoney. And there's time to consider that, while it was nearly a point a minute in the first half, and four tries were scored, we're over halfway through the second period, and nothing's been added to the scoreline yet. A game of two halves indeed. Or a game of one half and another quarter. 63 min: Scott is on for Jones, who we're told is awake again, so good news there. 66 min: Ireland move the ball up into Scottish territory. They look dangerous for a while, Cronin so nearly jinking clear down the left, but eventually they refuse to release the ball once tackled, and still there's no score in this half. Scotland are holding on here gamely, but they really need something to happen soon. Sadly, Ireland are the team looking the stronger. 69 min: Scottish hands knock on in an attempt to gather a garryowen. Ireland will have more healthy field position. But they twist their scrum round, and Scotland get the put-in. There have been no points in this half! It's like watching rugby in the early 1960s. Sort of. 71 min: But we might have second-half points now. Penalty to Ireland as the Scots deliberately wheel a scrum round. It's far on the left touchline, but close enough to be very kickable. The stand-in captain O'Gara doesn't usurp Sexton, who will kick for goal. 72 min: PENALTY. IRELAND 25-14 Scotland. Sexton strokes a gorgeous kick straight between the posts. Wonderful. That pretty much seals the win, though to be fair that already looked pretty much in the bag. 73 min: YELLOW CARD! From the restart, Ireland gather the ball, and zip down the right. Earls kicks on and chases the ball over the tryline. Evans tugs him back. He's got to be sinbinned. And he is. No penalty try, though, as there was Scottish cover likely to arrive at the ball first. McFadden replaces Kearney, whose burst started this whole business off. 75 min: Seventeen minutes of this match - and our lives - have been spent buggering around in the scrum. Thanks, rugby! 77 min: TRY! IRELAND 30-14 Scotland. A lot of scampering around in front of the Scottish posts. McFadden picks the ball up, dives forward, and gets the ball down. Just. This is ending in quite an ugly fashion for Scotland, who started well. This is a recurring pattern for the Scots. 78 min: CONVERSION. IRELAND 32-14 Scotland. No problem for Sexton. FULL TIME: Ireland 32-14 Scotland. An interesting toe-to-toe battle in the first half, but Ireland ended up easy winners, and by far the better side. Ireland will look forward to embarrassing England at Twickenham; Scotland will be left to battle with Italy to avoid the wooden spoon.