Ireland made a statement of intent courtesy of a 27-3 triumph against Scotland in their opening Rugby World Cup match in Yokohama on Sunday.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a one-sided affair as Ireland dominated most facets of play and the Scots seemed shell-shocked by the intensity and accuracy in execution of their opponents.
Ireland were clinical and efficient throughout and were rewarded with tries from James Ryan, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong and Andrew Conway which secured them a deserved bonus point, while Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray added a conversion apiece and Jack Carty succeeded with a penalty.
Scotland’s only points came via a first half penalty from Greig Laidlaw.
The match started at a frenetic pace with both sides giving the ball plenty of air and this tactic paid dividends for Ireland in the sixth minute when Ryan crashed over from close quarters after Iain Henderson laid the groundwork with a barnstorming run in the build-up.
Ireland continued to dominate as the half progressed and extended their lead in the 14th minute when Best dotted down from a lineout drive deep inside Scotland’s 22.
Midway through the half, Ireland’s forwards infringed at a ruck and Laidlaw opened his side’s account when he slotted the resulting penalty. But that was as good as it got for Scotland during the opening period as they struggled to exert themselves during the rest of the half.
In the 25th minute, Joe Schmidt’s troops went further ahead courtesy of Furlong’s try from close range, after a strong carry in the build-up from CJ Stander off the back of a scrum on Scotland’s five-metre line.
Sexton had injured a groin muscle earlier and although he stayed on the field, Murray converted and things went from bad to worse for Scotland when shortly before half-time, Hamish Watson was forced off the field with what looked like a serious knee injury.
On the stroke of half-time, Murray lined up a shot at goal, after Scotland’s forwards were blown up for illegal scrummaging, but his effort was off target which meant Ireland held a 19-3 lead at half-time.
FULL TIME SCORE: IRELAND 27-3 SCOTLAND #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IREvSCO pic.twitter.com/H40EJ3cfIn
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) September 22, 2019
The match restarted in atrocious weather conditions with heavy rain restricting play mostly to the forwards during the early stages of the new half.
That led to several unforced errors from both sides but Ireland adapted better to the conditions and extended their lead in the 56th minute when Conway found himself in space out wide before stepping past a couple of defenders on his way over the try-line.
That secured his team’s bonus point and Ireland sealed their win courtesy of Carty’s penalty in the 68th minute after Simon Berghan strayed offside on defence deep inside his half.
With the game in the bag, Ireland took their foot off the pedal although they finished with 14 men when Tadhg Beirne was yellow carded for a cynical defensive foul inside his half in the 70th minute.
It mattered little though as the damage had long since been done, with Ireland throwing down a marker in their Rugby World Cup opener.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Ryan, Best, Furlong, Conway
Cons: Sexton, Murray
Pen: Carty
Yellow Card: Beirne
For Scotland:
Pen: Laidlaw
Ireland: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rory Best (c), 1 Cian Healy
Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Chris Farrell
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Blade Thomson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Chris Harris, 23 Darcy Graham
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
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