6N 2017: Scotland v Ireland, 4 February

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SCOTLAND v IRELAND 
4 February 2017
KO: 14:25
BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Touch judges: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) and Nick Briant (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand

Live on BBC, RTE, DMAX, FR2, ITV (H)

A. Head to Head

132 Played 132
66 Won 61 
5 Drawn 5
61 Lost 66
1,380 Points 1,475

B. Recent Form

19 March 2016
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
35 – 25 to Ireland

15 August 2015
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
28 – 22 to Ireland

21 March 2015
BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
10 – 40 to Ireland

2 February 2014
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
28 – 6 to Ireland

24 February 2013
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
12 – 8 to Scotland

10 March 2012
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
32 – 14 to Ireland

6 August 2011
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10 – 6 to Scotland

27 February 2011
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
18 – 21 to Ireland

20 March 2010
Croke Park, Dublin
20 – 23 to Scotland

C. Teams

SCOTLAND 

15-Stuart Hogg; 14-Sean Maitland, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Alex Dunbar, 11-Tommy Seymour; 10-Finn Russell, 9-Greig Laidlaw (capt); 1-Allan Dell, 2-Fraser Brown, 3-Zander Fagerson, 4-Richie Gray, 5-Jonny Gray, 6-Ryan Wilson, 7-Hamish Watson, 8-Josh Strauss

Replacements: 16-Ross Ford, 17-Gordon Reid, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Tim Swinson, 20-John Barclay, 21-Ali Price, 22-Duncan Weir, 23-Mark Bennett

IRELAND

15-Rob Kearney; 14-Keith Earls, 13-Robbie Henshaw, 12-Garry Ringrose, 11-Simon Zebo; 10-Paddy Jackson, 9-Conor Murray; 1-Jack McGrath, 2-Rory Best (captain), 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Iain Henderson, 5-Devin Toner, 6-CJ Stander, 7-Sean O'Brien, 8-Jamie Heaslip

Replacements: 16-Niall Scannell, 17-Cian Healy, 18-John Ryan, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Josh van der Flier, 21-Kieran Marmion, 22-Ian Keatley, 23-Tommy Bowe.

Congratulations Scotland!….so, why is Cotter leaving again?

That was a great game for the neutral horrible one for a supporter of either team. Great start to the championship long may it continue.

Yeeeeeeeeeeessssss!!!!!!

Well done Scotland! A win for England and Italy and my weekend will be perfect.

TightHEAD wrote:Grand slam decider in Dublin then, lol

Well played Scotland really pleased for you, have a great night.

Feic me and I had the t-shirts printed already

I'M SO HAPPY!!!

Fair play to Ireland, they came back strong in that second half and almost pulled it back. Unlucky today lads.

Scotland - that's what we've been wanting to see for such a long time. Pure fire in that first half, you could see what the Scottish jersey now means to this group. Well played boys, to a man. What a day!

Gwlad wrote:Congratulations Scotland!….so, why is Cotter leaving again?

I make no secret of the fact that I felt Cotter would have been the better man for Ireland than Schmidt. He is quality.

I'm delighted. Absolutely delighted.

I hope we can continue like this.

Big respect to the Irish boys and their fans for a bloomin great game

I know Hogg got two tries but Man of the match? Really? Watson and the Grays were immense for Scotland

Did Keith Earls complete a tackle?

Excellent game. Well played Scotland. Looked to be turning but got the points when it mattered.

Great game. Well played Ireland. Thought you had us in the second half

Brilliant brilliant brilliant

A much better start to the second half by Ireland.   70% possession.

But Scotland deserved their victory.

Well played.  

There goes the Quaitch Cup, the Triple Crown and Grand Slam.

tigertattie wrote:I'm delighted. Absolutely delighted.

I hope we can continue like this.

Big respect to the Irish boys and their fans for a bloomin great game

Fair feics to yiz lads. Scotland showed so much more composure than I have seen from them in years. No capitulation, just sheer belief.

Well done to Scotland. Pretty much how I saw it going. Hogg and Russell for the Lions.

Also need to say a huge thank you to Vern. Seeing Scotland play with that kind of intensity in the first half is a real gift to us long suffering Scotland fans!

Sheesh. Cannot believe we left the bonus point out there.

marty2086 wrote:I know Hogg got two tries but Man of the match? Really? Watson and the Grays were immense for Scotland

Did Keith Earls complete a tackle?

Earls was defensively poor today but he did take his try well.

For me, Heaslip had a dire game.

Was great to see Kearney have a good game at 15, many doubts about him but he played well today.

I don't think any one player can claim that win. Also I can't single out anyone for really making any mistakes? Russell had a few wobbles but that's it.

I doff my hat to Sean Maitland who saved two tries today. Equally as important as Hogg's two scores. And Jonny Gray. 25 tackles I think. That's almost an Itojeian effort!

And Vern Cotter is smiling!

Over the moon

Heaslip is always the fall guy. Its typical really. There were worse performers:

Ringrose, Earls, Best, Murray, Toner and Henderson were all poor. Stander way below his best too.

Our lineout was not good enough as expected.

GunsGermsV2 wrote:Heaslip is always the fall guy. Our lineout was not good enough as expected.

I am not blaming Heaslip for the loss...

Do you think he had a good game?

tigertattie wrote:I don't think any one player can claim that win. Also I can't single out anyone for really making any mistakes? Russell had a few wobbles but that's it.

I doff my hat to Sean Maitland who saved two tries today. Equally as important as Hogg's two scores. And Jonny Gray. 25 tackles I think. That's almost an Itojeian effort!

And Vern Cotter is smiling!

Over the moon

I believe Dusautoiresque shall always be the official terminology... 

eirebilly wrote:

marty2086 wrote:I know Hogg got two tries but Man of the match? Really? Watson and the Grays were immense for Scotland

Did Keith Earls complete a tackle?

Earls was defensively poor today but he did take his try well.

For me, Heaslip had a dire game.

Was great to see Kearney have a good game at 15, many doubts about him but he played well today.

If you went on Social Media at half time Kearney was the one to blame for the scoreline

Thought Heaslip was a bit hard done by for the penalty to give Scotland the lead but he was timid in his ball carrying, his offload was just insane even if Maitland wasn't there

Think Ringrose was exposed a little too, a bit predictable in attack at times and didn't seem strong enough

eirebilly wrote:

GunsGermsV2 wrote:Heaslip is always the fall guy. Our lineout was not good enough as expected.

I am not blaming Heaslip for the loss...

Do you think he had a good game?

You singled him out. I can think of 6 or 7 players who were worse. Typical though.

These sort of games just do not happen often enough, often a game is decided by one or two moments out of character to the rest of the game. What we saw in Scotland to day was something different, to put it simply they did two things for eighty minutes.

They worked harder and they worked longer.

 I see comments of praise above for Vern Cotter, just remind folks don't overlook the Jason O'halloran flavour to that game.

 Scottish guys, go party.

Well done Scotland

GunsGermsV2 wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

GunsGermsV2 wrote:Heaslip is always the fall guy. Our lineout was not good enough as expected.

I am not blaming Heaslip for the loss...

Do you think he had a good game?

You singled him out. I can think of 6 or 7 players who were worse. Typical though.

Like who?

Heaslip carrying was like he was running into a brick wall constantly even when it was backs he was up against, he made a silly offload, gave away a penalty that ultimately lost the game and really contributed nothing to the game

marty2086 wrote:

If you went on Social Media at half time Kearney was the one to blame for the scoreline

Thought Heaslip was a bit hard done by for the penalty to give Scotland the lead but he was timid in his ball carrying, his offload was just insane even if Maitland wasn't there

Think Ringrose was exposed a little too, a bit predictable in attack at times and didn't seem strong enough

For the Hogg try, that was all Earls, very poor defending. Kearney had no chance to cover after that missed tackle. I honestly thought Kearney was very good.

Heaslip just did not show the composure of a man with his experience. I would certainly have CJ at 8 and POM at 6 (if fit). POM was missed terribly today I feel.

Ringrose did pretty well today I thought, his dummy lines to allow Henshaw to cross the gainline were very very good.

I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

GunsGermsV2 wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

GunsGermsV2 wrote:Heaslip is always the fall guy. Our lineout was not good enough as expected.

I am not blaming Heaslip for the loss...

Do you think he had a good game?

You singled him out. I can think of 6 or 7 players who were worse. Typical though.

Again I ask, do you think he had a good game?

I have mentioned several players, not just Heaslip... Typical for you not to understand that though

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

eirebilly wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

If you went on Social Media at half time Kearney was the one to blame for the scoreline

Thought Heaslip was a bit hard done by for the penalty to give Scotland the lead but he was timid in his ball carrying, his offload was just insane even if Maitland wasn't there

Think Ringrose was exposed a little too, a bit predictable in attack at times and didn't seem strong enough

For the Hogg try, that was all Earls, very poor defending. Kearney had no chance to cover after that missed tackle. I honestly thought Kearney was very good.

Heaslip just did not show the composure of a man with his experience. I would certainly have CJ at 8 and POM at 6 (if fit). POM was missed terribly today I feel.

Ringrose did pretty well today I thought, his dummy lines to allow Henshaw to cross the gainline were very very good.

I'd put vDF in ahead of SOB too who I thought was really poor first half at the breakdown, only after Watson went off did he seem to be able to compete a bit better

Well played Scotland and congrats

Far better in attack than us in the first half, and your defense was outstanding. No complaints about the loss.

tigertattie wrote:Right. Come on. Let's get back into these tackles Scotland.

 Gotta love this comment.

No one had a particularly good gane but out lineout was a glaringly obvious weakness. Murray, Earls, Henderson, Best, Ringrose and Toner were all particularly below their best.

Shock number one on the first week end.

Well played Scotland, did not expect that at all.

Number of Ireland players for the Lions? just went down.

Again Well played Scotland great win.

What. a. game.

marty2086 wrote:

I'd put vDF in ahead of SOB too who I thought was really poor first half at the breakdown, only after Watson went off did he seem to be able to compete a bit better

Thought v/d Flier played well when he came on, he would not be out of place for a start.

As well as PJ played in the second half, he and Murray were very poor in the first half. Definitely missed Sexton's leadership in the first half.

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

majesticimperialman wrote:Shock number one on the first week end.

Well played Scotland, did not expect that at all.

Number of Ireland players for the Lions? just went down.

Again Well played Scotland great win.

It could be a good thing for Ireland not to have less Lions.

aucklandlaurie wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Right. Come on. Let's get back into these tackles Scotland.

 Gotta love this comment.

Was it something I said?

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

Get over yourself. Plenty of people gave Scotland their dues.

GunsGermsV2 wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

Get over yourself. Plenty of people gave Scotland their dues.

Generally not Irish though, but to be fair it wasn't people on here saying it.

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

But when english commentators say the same thing about england, it is just telling it like it is?

TightHEAD wrote:

Munchkin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:I thought the Irish were arrogant going into this championship, people like BOD talking up a grand slam decider in Dublin vs England.  

Didn't believe it for a minute that would be the case.

No, we're not England.

Shame BOD and others said that though, little lack of respect shown towards the 6nations teams, long way to go but glad Scotland stuck one on Ireland.

BOD and others aren't Ireland. The fans thought this was going to be a tough, tight, game and so it proved. There is a bit of media hype, but then Ireland earned that hype during the AI's. Still, nothing compared to the hype that goes England's way. With that loss England will be huge favorites. Content yourself with that instead of bitching.

Scotland caught Ireland cold in the first half and left them too much to do thereafter. Caused them to tighten up a wee bit when in good positions and force the play more than they would have liked.
Scotland for once were ruthless in taking their chances and professional when running the clock down at the end. Pity Cotter is leaving cause he is turning them into a really awkward proposition.

eirebilly wrote:

Gwlad wrote:Congratulations Scotland!….so, why is Cotter leaving again?

I make no secret of the fact that I felt Cotter would have been the better man for Ireland than Schmidt. He is quality.

Besides today's well won game for Scotland I would take Joe's results for ireland ahead of Vern's for Scotland, but interesting you would prefer the opposite.

tigertattie wrote:

aucklandlaurie wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Right. Come on. Let's get back into these tackles Scotland.

 Gotta love this comment.

Was it something I said?

 Its about the attitude to tackling and defense. Love it.  in fact why not play for ninety minutes so we (Scottish forwards) can have ten more minutes of tackling.

Well done Scotland, I though it would be another year of showing promise in the Autumn internationals but not backing it up in the 6 nations, looks like this is the year it changes.

Italy and Wales at home are winnable, hopefully you beat England as well.

Well what about then, Scotland putting a game to bed at long last. What an effort in the final 10 mins, after they went behind, the players just looked themselves in the face and collectively said that they were not going to lose by one point, we have done that to many times before!

If we ever wondered what Sean Maitland brings to the Scotland team, you saw it again today, not flashy but does not make mistakes (and saves 2 tries!)

Herculean efforts from the whole pack. We expect it from the Gray's and Wilson but got to mention Zander, who played the whole 80 mins and was still going forward at the end.

After the calamity of a start, the scrum actually settled. It is definitely stronger with Ford on board and Gordy Reid shored it up as well.

Laidlaw showed his class as well, both with the boot and in his leadership. He may still be an outside bet for the Lions. You know what you are going to get from him. lets see if any of the other SH can show any form. the much hyped Connor Murray was certainly a bit flat today. It is not so easy when you don't get the ball on a plate!

wolfball wrote:

eirebilly wrote:

Gwlad wrote:Congratulations Scotland!….so, why is Cotter leaving again?

I make no secret of the fact that I felt Cotter would have been the better man for Ireland than Schmidt. He is quality.

Besides today's well won game for Scotland I would take Joe's results for ireland ahead of Vern's for Scotland, but interesting you would prefer the opposite.

I have simply always liked Cotter as a coach, that's no disrespect to Schmidt who has done a great job but I simply prefer Cotter's approach more (said this since he was at AS). I think he has done a great job with Scotland on far more limited pool than Ireland have so I think judging the performances against eachother is not equal.