Ireland douse Scottish fires

Irish give Lansdowne Road a decent send-off

Ireland kept their Six Nations hopes burning courtesy of a frantic 15-9 victory over Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday -- giving the ramshackle heap a happy competitive send-off before it undergoes redevelopment.

Munster fly-half Ronan O'Gara booted all of Ireland's points and Eddie O'Sullivan's men travel to Twickenham next weekend where they will hope to clinch their first tournament title since 1985.

All of Scotland's points came from the boot of Chris Paterson with defeat ending their own Six Nations title challenge.

Rain bucketed down on the pitch for the half-hour leading up to kick-off, and although it kindly abated for much of the first half, the second half was not so blessed.  It all took its inevitable toll on Irish and Scottish ambition, although the aggressive defence which has marked Scotland's Six Nations also played a full role in the game, saving them from a much heavier defeat.

Scotland's limitations were underlined as they rarely threatened in attack, and Ireland were never likely to concede the possession that England and France had done previously.

The men in green appeared to have deciphered the Scots' line-out calls pretty early on, and from then on, with the conditions rendering the match a kicking duel, Ireland always had enough possession to win.

Man of the match Paul O'Connell, back after missing the 31-5 victory over Wales with a shoulder injury, had an immense game in the line-out and in the loose, and was substituted to a standing ovation.  Peter Stringer also continued his revival from a form slump with another lively display.

O'Sullivan had lamented the subdued atmosphere at Lansdowne Road for the Italy and Wales matches but he could have few complaints early this afternoon as a huge roar greeted kick-off, and most of the afternoon's events.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll had demanded his team give Irish supporters reason to cheer and they did exactly that by racing out of the blocks with an early assault on the Scottish line.

A turnover in midfield allowed Ireland to attack down the right through Jerry Flannery and Shane Horgan but a poor pass to Gordon D'Arcy after the ball had been recycled ended the threat.

They won a penalty on five minutes, however, which O'Gara sent between the uprights and Ireland continued to enjoy their best start in this year's Six Nations when the Munster fly-half kicked another penalty five minutes later.  Indeed, Scotland had been restricted in the opening ten minutes to only tackling, clearing, and creeping up offside as Ireland swamped the Scottish half.

Scotland fought back, and responded with two penalties from Paterson as the game lost its shape with poor kicking from both sides taking its toll.

Ireland did open up their opponents' defence in the 24th minute but just failed to make use of their overlap with Denis Leamy getting caught in midfield.  That was pretty much it as far as genuine opportunities went.  Neither team was overly negative in approach, but both could do little else than clear their lines and wait for mistakes from the opposition.

Once again the Scots were caught offside, just before half-time and O'Gara's boot punished the infringement but just as Ireland appeared to be back in the driving seat, a turnover allowed Scotland to ease the pressure.

Paterson slotted a penalty to make it 9-9 before a loose pass from O'Gara allowed the visitors to attack with Sean Lamont nearly touching down Dan Parks's grubber.

There was no shortage of possession to fuel Ireland's attacks late in the first half but Scotland were performing heroics in defence once again.  The pressure told though, and when Scotland were penalised for offside a fifth time, O'Gara gave Ireland a deserved half-time lead.

With the wind behind them for the second half, Eddie O'Sullivan's men pinned the Scots back in their own half.  The Irish line-out, which had been in the ascendancy in the first half, took control completely and It was all Scotland could do to keep the ball out of their 22 for long periods.

There were brief flashes from both teams in that second half, Geordan Murphy was always threatening and Simon Webster added some much-needed zip to Scotland's attack when he came on, but neither side ever managed to string together more than five phases, and the game became a raucous kicking fest.

O'Driscoll ran onto an pass from O'Gara at pace as Ireland cranked up the pressure but O'Connell then tried to go it alone when he should have used the men outside him.

Scotland were forced to repel waves of attacks with a fifth O'Gara penalty stretching the lead but their ongoing efforts to score a try remained frustrated.

Scotland had one final chance to run the ball as O'Gara's last-minute penalty drifted wide, but within two phases the ball had been knocked forward.  Ireland's players raised their arms in victory as the heavens opened over a match at Lansdowne Road for one last time.

Man of the match:  Geordan Murphy might have ruled the roost on a dry day, such was his willingness to attack from deep, and Brian O'Driscoll consistently broke the game line.  Jerry Flannery also played like a flanker for much of the game, and would also have benefited from a dry day.  For Scotland, the back-row trio once again stood out for special mention, and Hugo Southwell coped with the aerial assault well.  But on a mudbath of a pitch, it is only fitting that the award should go to one of the ground staff up front, and Paul O'Connell single-handedly ruled the line-out all game, which, on a day of kicking, made all the difference.

Moment of the match:  Not much in the game-play, but perhaps the sounds of the anthems ringing around the ground for one last time brought enough of a lump to the throat.

Villian of the match:  Perhaps the Rain Gods who reduced the match to the slippery kicking duel it became with their gifts.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Pens:  O'Gara 5

For Scotland:
Pens:  Paterson 3

The teams:

Ireland:  15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Denis Leamy, 7 David Wallace, 6 Simon Easterby, 5 Paul O'Connell (Donnacha O'Callaghan, 69), 4 Malcolm O'Kelly, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan.
Unused replacements:  16 Rory Best, 17 Simon Best, 19 Johnny O'Connor, 20 Eion Reddan, 20 David Humphreys, 21 Girvan Dempsey.

Scotland:  15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Chris Paterson (Simon Webster, 73), 13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Andy Henderson, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Dan Parks (Gordon Ross, 60), 9 Mike Blair (Chris Cusiter, 60), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Ally Hogg, 6 Jason White (Jon Petrie, 77), 5 Scott Murray, 4 Nathan Hines, 3 Bruce Douglas (Craig Smith, 58-65, 74), 2 Dougie Hall (Scott Lawson, 65), 1 Gavin Kerr.
Unused replacements:  18 Alastair Kellock.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  Tony Spreadbury (England), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)
Television match official:  Huw Watkins (Wales)