Ireland beat Scotland to stay on course for Six Nations Grand Slam

Eire remained on monitor for a Six Nations Grand Slam after handing Scotland a bruising 32-18 defeat in a powerful exhibition of stealth and energy at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Tries from Calvin Nash, captain Caelan Doris, James Lowe and Jack Conan plus 12 factors off the boot of rookie flyhalf Sam Prendergast noticed Eire to victory and left them as the one unbeaten workforce after the opening two rounds of the match.

They dominated the conflict with relentless strain from each their forwards and backs and restricted the Scots to tries from Duhan van der Merwe, with an outrageous flying one-handed landing within the nook, and a late comfort from Ben White.

Little else went proper for the hosts, who misplaced influential flyhalf Finn Russell and flying winger Darcy Graham within the twenty second minute once they clashed heads and had been each compelled from the sphere, Graham on a stretcher and in a neck brace.

Eire stormed into an eighth-minute lead as Prendergast’s lengthy move discovered Nash in acres of area after Scotland’s defence had been sucked inside trying to halt early Irish initiative.

Nash might need had a second attempt 5 minutes later however was impeded by Van der Merwe as he chased down the ball. Van der Merwe was yellow carded for tackling the person with out the ball however no penalty attempt was awarded.

Eire, nevertheless, scored once more within the thirty first minute as Doris crashed over on the finish of a show of energy from the rampaging forwards for a 17-0 lead.

Van der Merwe’s record-extending thirty first attempt for Scotland got here on the stroke of halftime in a uncommon foray into Irish territory.

Eire had been penalised for a maul infringement, permitting Scotland to move the ball down the road, with Stafford McDowall’s again of the hand move discovering Van der Merwe.

He nonetheless had a lot to do to attain however hurled himself into the air and touched down in Gridiron style within the nook.

It handed Scotland resolve to take into the second half and so they additional decreased the deficit to 17-11 when Blair Kinghorn slotted over two penalties within the ten minutes after the break, providing some hope to the sell-out 67,000 crowd.

However Eire shortly quashed any potential comeback and had been again on target for an eleventh straight win over Scotland as Lowe scored within the 54th and substitute Conan 5 minutes later.

Eire, looking for to change into the primary workforce to win three successive Six Nations titles outright, additional stretched their lead within the seventieth minute as 21-year-old Prendergast put over his second penalty so as to add to 3 conversions.

“There’s a feeling of satisfaction after that one,” stated Doris. “We spoke about beginning quick as Scotland are a harmful workforce. We did that effectively.”

White’s sniping dart to the tryline within the seventy fifth minute served solely as a comfort for a effectively crushed Scottish facet.

“The boys hung in there however we’re clearly disenchanted with the consequence in the long run.

“The distinction was most likely their clinicalness within the end zone,” added Scottish skipper Rory Darge.

“We had just a few alternatives, exhibiting a bit bit, however not taking them or changing them into scores.”