Ireland hang on for the win at Murrayfield but their victory was in doubt until the very end as Scotland gave a never-say-die performance.
Jamie Heaslip and Eoin Reddan went over in the first half, with O’Gara converting to give Ireland a 14-9 lead at half time, the Scotland points coming from the boot of Paterson.
The second period and Ronan O’Gara scored and converted a try to make it 21-9 to Ireland, but Scotland fought back. Chris Paterson kicked 6 points while a drop-goal from replacement Dan Parks took Scotland to within three points. But despite Scotland’s strong late rally, Ireland overcame their late jitters and showed discipline in the final minutes, something which had been lacking from their play for most of the match. Thus we had the final score of:
Scotland 18-21 Ireland
Scorers
Scotland
Pens: Paterson (4), Parks Drop-goal: Parks
Ireland
Tries: Heaslip, Reddan, O’Gara Cons: O’Gara (3)
Teams
Scotland: Paterson; Walker, De Luca, S Lamont, Evans; Jackson, Blair; Jacobsen, Ford, Low, Gray, Kellock, Brown, Barclay, Beattie.
Replacements: Danielli for Walker (75), Parks for Jackson (54), R Lawson for Blair (61), S Lawson for Ford (54), Cross for Low (67), Hines for Barclay (67), Vernon for Beattie (54).
Sin Bin: Jacobsen (44).
Ireland: Fitzgerald; Bowe, B O’Driscoll, D’Arcy, Earls; O’Gara, Reddan; Healy, Best, Ross, O’Callaghan, O’Connell, O’Brien, D Wallace, Heaslip.
Replacements: Stringer for Reddan (61), Cronin for Best (61), Court for Ross (71), Cullen for O’Callaghan (67), Leamy for D Wallace (61).
Referee: N Owens (WRFU).
Att: 63,082