Live Action: Ireland 10-17 Scotland

Dan Parks struck a penalty and a drop-goal in the final moments of the first half to hand Scotland a seven-point lead at half-time and a 40 metre penalty in the opening minutes of the second half has put the away side in a strong position. Jonathan Sexton, who has missed a couple of pots at goal, scored a penalty to marginally reduce the deficit with his final contribution of the game before being replaced by the experienced Ronan O’Gara.Mike Blair has replaced captain Chris Cusiter and youngster Richie Gray has come on for Jim Hamilton for the final 30 minutes of action.?Donncha O’Callaghan was then penalised and Scotland turned possession into points with a penalty from Parks in the latter stages of the first half. Scotland have dominated up front and destroyed Ireland at the scrum – in fairness the away side should have more of a superior points advantage to an Ireland side who have been pegged back. Johnnie Beattie has scored a stunning try to put Scotland in front against Ireland in Dublin – the Glasgow back row forward shrugging off a challenge from Geordan Murphy to dot down over the try-line. Brian O’Driscoll finished off an enterprising move started by Jonathan Sexton and carving open Scotland’s defence on the 12 minute mark to put Ireland ahead. It was O’Driscoll’s first try of the tournament, but the Test centurion took his chance with ruthless efficiency and Sexton added the conversion.On five minutes, former Lions captain Paul O’Connell was penalised by referee Jonathan Kaplan for not rolling away and Dan Parks put Scotland ahead with a straightforward penalty.Ireland came out of the blocks with a genuine sense of urgency about their approach play – keeping the ball alive with a high tempo passing game.As a result, Scotland had to continually apply pressure and that paid off with Ireland guilty of some basic handling errors.After Ireland had run out of both steam and ideas, Scotland set to work and playing sensible rugby took the ball into key areas and ensured they put points on board.Ireland: Geordan Murphy, Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll (captain), Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Jonathan Sexton, Tomas O’Leary; Cian Healy, Rory Best, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip. Replacements: Sean Cronin, Tony Buckley, Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings, Eoin Reddan,Ronan O’Gara, Rob Kearney.Scotland: Hugo Southwell, Sean Lamont, Nick De Luca, Graeme Morrison, Max Evans, Dan Parks, Chris Cusiter (captain); Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton, Alastair Kellock, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie. Replacements: Scott Lawson, Alasdair Dickinson, Richie Gray, Alan MacDonald, Mike Blair, Phil Godman, Simon Danielli. Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa) Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa) and Jerome Garces (France)