Match Report: Scotland 18-32 Ireland
9 Feb 2025Ireland put on a masterclass in efficiency to record another win in Edinburgh as Scotland came up short in a bid for back-to-back Guinness Men's Six Nations home wins.
Sam Prendergast, on his first cap away from Dublin, got proceedings started and got his hands on the ball at every turn in the opening five minutes, an offside call offering the visitors the chance to probe touch for an early line-out opportunity. It amounted to nothing but when Scotland collapsed the resulting maul, Ireland went once more to touch.
The pressure was simply too much and when a third penalty advantage came for offside, Prendergast’s looped long ball out to the right for Calvin Nash, in as a late replacement for winger Mack Hansen, saw the winger walk his way in with Prendergast converting (0-7, 8 mins).
Peter O’Mahony’s knock-on fumble drew cheers from the Scottish Gas Murrayfield masses, as it afforded the hosts their first true possession of the afternoon. From that scrum, the immediate lines were fluffed with a dropped ball which set the tone for much of the afternoon.
A dropped ball was the least of Scotland’s worries soon after as, when Nash was seeking to grubber his way to the line, Duhan van der Merwe appeared to barge his opposing winger out of the way of what looked like a stick-on try. Referee James Doleman went to his team and awarded a yellow card.
Ireland were being held at bay, sometimes through sheer bloody-mindedness. Prendergast’s clever kick caused chaos in the home defence and when they were given a penalty for an offside, the away team looked a stick-on for a second try. Again, Scotland held firm in holding it up before a Jamison Gibson-Park knock-on, when the line loomed, once more kept the team in green out.
An afternoon that appeared to be cursed got preposterously so when Finn Russell and Darcy Graham clashed heads as they were trying to thwart James Lowe’s attacking threat. Concerns abounded as Russell went off for a Head Injury Assessment, while Graham’s extended medical attention saw him replaced for good by Jamie Dobie.
Prendergast nipped the scoreboard along with a penalty after Scotland had not rolled away, meaning that the sin-bin period cost the hosts only three points (0-10, 24 mins).
Scotland were spooked though. Having lost Russell and Graham for the rest of the match, they somehow had to remain in the fight until the interval. Ireland, seeking to become the first side to win the Men’s Six Nations three times on the bounce, had other ideas and sensed the kill.
It came through skipper Caelan Doris, the No 8 forcing and willing himself over for Ireland’s second, converted again by Prendergast (0-17, 33 mins).
Scotland had a penalty about 30 metres out, bang in front, but the gap required more action than three points. It looked like a line-out maul might have presented them with such riches, only for more excellent Irish defence to hold them up.
But riches did come, and from a former transgressor. Rory Darge won an outrageous penalty on the deck, from which point Dave Cherry tapped and went. Stafford McDowall sent a clever out-the-back pass to van der Merwe who finished in typically balletic fashion, completing a set against Six Nations sides (5-17, 40 mins).
Half-time: Scotland 5-17 Ireland
Scotland simply had to score first in the second half and when referee Doleman whistled the visitors for an offside, Blair Kinghorn dispatched an easy penalty to redress arrears to nine points (8-17, 43 mins).
Faint hope turned to something a bit more optimistic when Huw Jones broke from deep after a lovely ball from Tom Jordan. Jones then fed Kinghorn who looked like he might go in himself, only to be brought down. Ireland knocked on in the next phase, not deliberately according to the officiating team, but Murrayfield’s interest was piqued.
Ireland were offside again as Scotland went close through Jamie Dobie, and the gap lessened further when Kinghorn clipped over the resulting penalty (11-17, 49 mins).
The defending champions were not for succumbing to such pressure, however, and added daylight when James Lowe muscled his way over, converted once more by Prendergast (11-24, 55 mins).
And the die was cast on the hour mark when, after another chaotic passage of play involving a penalty advantage for an early tackle on Lowe, Jack Conan helped himself to the bonus point try (11-29, 60 mins).
Prendergast got himself into double figures with a long-range penalty after a scrum collapsed 45 metres out (11-32, 70 mins).
Consolation came in the form of a late Ben White salvo, the scrum-half nipping over from close range, with Kinghorn’s conversion keeping a few bums on seats in the hope of a miracle (18-32, 77 mins).
No such intervention was forthcoming, however, and Ireland continued their march towards a third-straight Guinness Men’s Six Nations title.
Full-time: Scotland 18-32 Ireland
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby), Huw Jones, Tom Jordan (both Glasgow Warriors), Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby); Finn Russell (co-captain) (Bath Rugby), Ben White (Toulon); Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors), Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Jonny Gray (Bordeaux-Bègles), Grant Gilchrist, Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge (co-captain), Jack Dempsey (all Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Cherry, 48 mins), Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Sutherland, 48 mins), Will Hurd (Leicester Tigers) (for Z. Fagerson, 68 mins), Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors) (for Gray, 48 mins), Sam Skinner (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Gilchrist, 68 mins), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) (for Dempsey, 60 mins), Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) (for Graham, 22 mins), Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) for Russell, 22 mins HIA).
Ireland: Hugo Keenan, Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Finaly Bealham, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (captain).
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Thomas Clarkson, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Garry Ringrose.
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keefe (NZR) and Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Television Match Official: Richard Kelly (NZR)
Fair Play Review Officer: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
Guinness Player of the Match: Sam Prendergast (Ireland)
Attendance: 67,144
