Ireland's wing James Lowe skips away from Scotland's fullback Blair Kinghorn on his way to scoring a try during the Six Nations international at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, 9 Feb, 2025. Photo: AFP
Ireland remained on track for a Six Nations Grand Slam after handing Scotland a bruising 32-18 defeat in an impressive exhibition of stealth and power at Murrayfield.
Tries from Calvin Nash, captain Caelan Doris, James Lowe and Jack Conan plus 12 points off the boot of rookie flyhalf Sam Prendergast saw Ireland to victory and left them as the only unbeaten team after the opening two rounds of the tournament.
They dominated the clash with relentless pressure from both their forwards and backs and limited the Scots to tries from Duhan van der Merwe, with an outrageous flying one-handed touchdown in the corner, and a late consolation from Ben White.
Little else went right for the hosts, who lost influential flyhalf Finn Russell and flying winger Darcy Graham in the 22nd minute when they clashed heads and were both forced from the field, Graham on a stretcher and in a neck brace.
Ireland stormed into an eighth-minute lead as Prendergast's long pass found Nash in acres of space after the Scottish defence had been sucked inside looking to halt early Irish initiative.
Nash might have had a second try five minutes later but was impeded by Van der Merwe as he chased down the ball. Van der Merwe was yellow carded for tackling the man without the ball but no penalty try was awarded.
Ireland, however, scored again in the 31st minute as Doris crashed over at the end of a display of power from the rampaging forwards for a 17-0 lead.
Van der Merwe's record-extending 31st try for Scotland came on the stroke of halftime in a rare foray into Irish territory.
Ireland were penalised for a maul infringement, allowing Scotland to pass the ball down the line with Stafford McDowall's back of the hand pass finding Van der Merwe. He still had much to do to score, but hurled himself into the air and touched down in Gridiron fashion in the corner.
It handed Scotland resolve to take into the second half and they further reduced the deficit to 17-11 when Blair Kinghorn slotted over two penalties in the 10 minutes after the break, offering some hope to the sellout 67,000-strong crowd.
But Ireland quickly quashed any potential comeback and were back on course for an 11th successive win over Scotland as Lowe scored in the 54th minute and replacement Conan five minutes later.
Ireland, seeking to become the first team to win three successive Six Nations titles outright, further stretched their lead in the 70th minute as 21-year-old Prendergast put over his second penalty, to add to three conversions.
"There is a feeling of satisfaction after that one," said Doris. "We spoke about starting fast as Scotland are a dangerous team. We did that well."
White's sniping dart to the tryline in the 75th minute served only as a consolation for a well beaten Scottish side.
"The boys hung in there but we're obviously disappointed with the result in the end.
"The difference was probably their clinicalness in the finish zone," added Scottish skipper Rory Darge.
"We had a few opportunities, showing a little bit, but not taking them or converting them into scores."
- Reuters
