Scotland upset the odds and realistically ended Ireland's hopes of landing the 2001 Lloyds TSB Six Nations Championship by running in four tries for a 32-10 win at Murrayfield.
Tipped as no-hopers by the bookies going into the game, Scotland punished a stagnant Ireland with tries from captain Budge Pountney, Tom Smith, John Leslie and replacement Andrew Henderson on his debut.
Had it not been for Ireland's only try of the day deep in injury-time from fullback Girvan Dempsey, the visitors would have suffered a record defeat against Scotland, with the 38-10 win back in 1997 still the most convincing by Ian McGeechan's side.
Delighted Lloyds TSB Man of the Match and Scotland captain Pountney said after the game: "We owed that to ourselves. We changed a few things, and well done to the coaching staff. James McLaren was hard to stop in the centres, and we stepped up our defence a lot."
"We had a poor start but we had changed a few things in training and it paid off. That was down to the coaches.
"I didn't think that they [the Irish] were particularly poor. We stepped up in our defence and it worked. It was difficult for them to recreate their momentum after the long break. It was very difficult to come back and get things going again."
"Our defence was outstanding," added injured Scotland wing Kenny Logan following the game. "It was disappointing to give that try away at the end but I think that the Man of the Match Budge Pountney did brilliantly.
"Both sides were very rusty at the start and found it hard to get into it.
"We've had lots of squad sessions before this game and Ian [coach McGeechan] will keep it going. It was a great game and we played brilliantly."
England are now all but mathematical certainties to retain their Six Nations title, with Warren Gatland's dejected Ireland still facing trips to the Millennium Stadium to face Wales before what would have been a potential Grand Slam decider against England on October 20 in Dublin.
That game now looks to be a watered down version of what could have been a champagne occasion, as Ireland are left reflecting on a day which saw kicker Ronan O'Gara miss his first three penalty attempts in a staid and largely sideways performance.
The scoreline perhaps suggests a perfect afternoon's rugby for Scotland, but they too failed at times to keep ball in hand in what was not a classic display of rugby excellence, but nevertheless a fulfilling one for most of the full house at Murrayfield.
With regular goal-kicker Kenny Logan sidelined with injury, Scottish kicking duties fell to Gregor Townsend, who in the first minute of the game appeared to have slotted a drop-goal over as Scotland's momentum showed going forward.
English referee Chris White had already blown his whistle though -- in favour of Scotland -- but the straightforward penalty in front of the posts from the 22 saw Townsend's kicking frailties exposed as he struck wide to the audible displeasure of the 67,500 sellout crowd.
Irish kicker Ronan O'Gara was having an equally sparse time of it on the kicking front as he blazed wide early efforts, Scotland looking the more adventurous in a scrappy half.
Townsend again bludgeoned a penalty wide from distance, but it was Metcalfe who probed the Irish defence on more than one occasion during the opening half, combining with Jon Steel on one occasion for a 40 metre gain in to Ireland territory, but the recycled ball was knocked on by prop Mattie Stewart as a try beckoned.
That try finally came on 22 minutes to break the deadlock, and it was a good running score when it came, captain Budge Pountney eventually touching down a move which started 50 metres away from the line.
It owed much to the creativity of the Scottish backline, centre John Leslie putting Paterson way down the left flank, the Glasgow flyer eventually cutting inside on a speedy diagonal line, stepping inside twice before floating a pass to Pountney at pace for the run in.
Townsend converted, but finally succumbed to the kicking pressure, left wing Chris Paterson taking over kicking duties for the Scots as half-time approached.
With Ireland's defence showing holes in the open play, and after a Paterson penalty for Scotland, the home side powered further into the lead on 37 minutes after a punishing spell of pressure inside the Irish half.
The move was ignited by a testing run from hooker Gordon Bulloch near the 22, and with the ball being worked through the hands left to right, it eventually created a ruck right under the posts.
The ball came to Townsend who drew the Irish defence before spinning to prop Tom Smith, the Northampton man battering a hole between Brian O'Driscoll and Kieran Dawson for the score, Paterson adding the extras for a 17-0 half-time lead.
Ireland started the second half in the same manner which had dogged their first 40 minutes, with O'Gara again failing to hit the target when presented with a kickable penalty.
The out-of-sorts Munsterman finally registered Ireland's first penalty nine minutes into the half after some good interplay involving Brian O'Driscoll.
Warren Gatland's side were again pinned back though as the Scots punished their defensive holes, John Leslie touching down near the posts for the third try of the afternoon.
It was Townsend who broke the Irish line after a lineout near the 22, the fly-half bursting through for a two-on-one with fullback Girvan Dempsey.
Dempsey held Townsend in the tackle, but the Castres No.10 offloaded to Leslie from short range, who under the attention of Shane Horgan still managed to put the ball down for the five points, Paterson having no trouble adding the conversion.
Searching for some attacking edge, Ireland shipped off half-backs Guy Easterby and Ronan O'Gara for Peter Stringer and David Humphreys. It didn't have the desired effect though as Paterson added a penalty to take Scotland further away at 27-3.
O'Driscoll had the chance to register the first Ireland try of the afternoon after a skilled chip-and-chase outside the Scottish 22, but the awkward bounce eluded the Lions star as he knocked agonisingly on.
Scotland got their fourth try when replacement centre Andrew Henderson grabbed a debut try only minutes after coming on for John Leslie.
A Townsend kick ahead saw Metcalfe hack the ball on from the right wing, the bounce seeing Henderson pick up for a simple five metre run in past O'Driscoll, Paterson's conversion attempt being charged down as Murrayfield roared with sound.
A record defeat was narrowly avoided when Ireland fullback Girvan Dempsey got their only try of the day deep into injury-time, the only bright spot on a thoroughly devastating afternoon for his side's Six Nations hopes, but one Scotland will relish as they got their derailed train back on the tracks.
Man of the match: Chris Paterson. Shifted to the wing to accommodate Glenn Metcalfe at fullback, the running Edinburgh star tested the Irish defence, and played a crucial part in the first try after a typically fleeting run. With Gregor Townsend struggling as goal-kicker, Peterson was game enough to stand up and steady the ship.
Moment of the match: Tom Smith's try. Not the most spectacular of the four Scottish tries, but one which owed everything to superb interplay throughout the team. Gordon Bulloch was instrumental early on from hooker before the three-quarters and the back-row stretched the Irish rearguard, before fly-half Townsend made the gap for prop Smith to dive through.
Villain of the match: Ronnie Browne. Who's Ronnie Browne? you might be asking, but he is the bow-tied Kenny Rogers lookalike who sang the Scottish national anthem "Flower of Scotland" before kick-off. As a consequence, the traditionally rousing rugby anthem that usually raises the hairs on the back of the neck was reduced it to a virtual slow march, and a thoroughly uninspiring spectacle.
The Teams:
Ireland: 1 Peter Clohessy, 2 Keith Wood (c), 3 John Hayes, 4 Jeremy Davidson, 5 Malcolm O'Kelly, 6 Kieron Dawson, 7 Simon Easterby, 8 Anthony Foley, 9 Guy Easterby, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 11 Denis Hickie, 12 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll, 14 Geordan Murphy, 15 Girvan Dempsey
Reserves: David Humphreys, Gary Longwell, David Wallace, Emmet Byrne, Kevin Maggs, Peter Stringer
Unused: Frankie Sheahan
Scotland: 1 Tom Smith, 2 Gordon Bulloch, 3 Mattie Stewart, 4 Scott Murray, 5 Jason White, 6 Budge Pountney (c), 7 Gordon Simpson, 8 Simon Taylor, 9 Bryan Redpath, 10 Gregor Townsend, 11 Jon Steel, 12 John Leslie, 13 James McLaren, 14 Chris Paterson, 15 Glenn Metcalfe
Reserves: Jon Petrie, George Graham, Stuart Grimes, Andrew Henderson, Duncan Hodge, Andy Nicol, Steve Scott
Referee: White c.
Points Scorers:
Ireland
Tries: Dempsey G.T. 1
Conv: Humphreys D.G. 1
Pen K.: O'Gara R.J.R. 1
Scotland
Tries: Pountney A.C. 1, Henderson A. 1, Leslie J.A. 1, Smith T.J. 1
Conv: Paterson C.D. 2, Townsend G.P.J. 1
Pen K.: Paterson C.D. 2
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