Ireland Narrowly Overcome Scotland

Joe Schmidt was far from enthused, but a win is a win, and Ireland's triumphant streak continues. However, Scotland came mighty close to leaving Dublin with a victory. The visitors certainly gave a good account of themselves and held their own in the first half, a fact underlined by the interval score of one converted try apiece.

The away team then proceeded to take the lead in the second half, but ultimately they were conquered by four tries to three. The winning score for the hosts came courtesy of an immacualte crossfield kick from Madigan which his Leinster colleague Luke Fitzgerald plucked out of the air before touching down behind the line. Ireland's performance was punctuated with too many mistakes, and as the game ebbed and flowed, the green warriors failed to assert themselves for prolonged spells. Indeed, the consensus of opinion is that this was a more rusty effort than that against Wales the previous week. Maybe expectations were unreasonably high after the demolition job in Cardiff. Or maybe some of the players from the second match are simply not quite of the same standard as some of the players from the first match. Joe has plenty to ponder over before he wields his axe at the end of the month and chops a number of players from the World Cup squad.

One individual who did his selection chances no harm at all was Simon Zebo who was a surprisingly solid hit at full back, marking the occasion with a second half try too. The Oirish will have to raise their performance levels for their two remaining pre-tournament outings against Wales and then England. We are starting to reach the stage now where coaches will be demanding more sharpness and accuracy, and where it simply won't do to go through the motions. There may be no silverware up for grabs in the next two fixtures, but folk are auditioning either for a squad place, or even a starting role for their country in rugby union's biggest tournament. Therefore, motivation levels will be high. Hopefully from an Irish point of view, the rugby will be of a similar height of quality.

IRELAND 28 Scotland 22; at Dublin; Saturday the fifteenth of August 2015.

15 Zebo [TRY]

14 Bowe

13 Payne

12 D'Arcy

11 Fitzgerald [TRY]

10 Madigan [four conversions]

9 Boss

8 O'Brien (captain)

7 Henry [TRY]

6 Conan

5 Tuohy

4 Toner

3 Ross

2 Cronin [TRY]

1 Kilcoyne

Used replacements: White; O'Connell; D.Kearney; Strauss; Murphy; Reddan; Jackson.