O'GARA KEEPS IRELAND ON COURSE FOR SIX NATIONS GRAND SLAM
Ireland remain on course for their first ever RBS 6 Nations grand slam with a hard-fought 22-15 victory over a resilient Scotland side at a full-house Murrayfield on Saturday April 14. The visitors, who last won the tournament in 1985, were trailing for 50 minutes but as the Scottish defence tired, Ireland – and in particular Ronan O’Gara – began to show their class. The 32-year-old fly-half kicked 17 points and in the process became the leading scorer in the competition’s history.
“You don’t get to play at this level for 10 years and not have good mental strength,” said captain Brian O’Driscoll of the Munster No10. “He has huge confidence and a great work ethic – those were combined in today’s performance.”
The Scots began with real purpose and after only six minutes full-back Chris Paterson’s trusty right boot kicked its first three points of the evening. O’Gara hit back with a penalty of his own after 11 minutes but Paterson laced two more in the following 10 minutes to take the Scots to 9-3.
But when Scotland were offside yards from their own try line after 25 minutes O’Gara scored his second penalty – taking him to 481 RBS 6 Nations points, bettering Jonny Wilkinson’s championship record of 479.
Paterson restored Scotland’s six point lead 10 minutes before the interval with a penalty. However that gap was narrowed again just four minutes later as O’Gara countered with a kick of his own. And O’Driscoll’s try-saving tackle on Thom Evans kept the score at 12-9 at the break.
In the second-half the Scottish defensive wall started to weaken and mistakes were made as fatigue set in. And the Irish began to exploit gaps – none more so than man-of-the-match Peter Stringer. The Munster scrum-half darted for the try line off a line out after 51 minutes, and shipped on to replacement No8 Jamie Heaslip, who dived over for his second try of the tournament – and Ireland did not look back.
“I’m not sure how Springer found that space,” said disappointed Scottish coach Frank Hadden. "I thought we should have been out of sight at half-time and made too elementary mistakes in the second-half.”
After O’Gara converted Heaslip’s score he drop kicked another three points to take Ireland to 19-12 with just over 20 minutes remaining. Though Paterson scored his fifth penalty in a perfect kicking game, the Irish kept their noses in front thanks to O’Gara. With eight minutes left he had the final say, sealing victory with another penalty.
The win sets up a mouth-watering finale when Ireland head to Cardiff next Saturday to play reigning champions Wales, who will need to win by at least 13 points. “Playing Wales in Wales is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, especially with their track record,” said coach Declan Kidney. “We will celebrate this win and thing about next week later.”
Scotland: Chris Paterson; Simon Danielli, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Thom Evans; Phil Godman, Mike Blair (capt); Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton, Jason White, Alasdair Strokosch, John Barclay , Simon Taylor.
Replacements: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Nathan Hines, Scott Gray, Chris Cusiter, Nick De Luca, Hugo Southwell.
Penalties: Paterson 5 (5)
Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes; Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell; Stephen Ferris, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.
Replacements: Jerry Flannery, Tom Court, Mick O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Tomas O'Leary, Paddy Wallace, Geordan Murphy.
Ireland remain on course for their first ever RBS 6 Nations grand slam with a hard-fought 22-15 victory over a resilient Scotland side at a full-house Murrayfield on Saturday April 14. The visitors, who last won the tournament in 1985, were trailing for 50 minutes but as the Scottish defence tired, Ireland – and in particular Ronan O’Gara – began to show their class. The 32-year-old fly-half kicked 17 points and in the process became the leading scorer in the competition’s history.
“You don’t get to play at this level for 10 years and not have good mental strength,” said captain Brian O’Driscoll of the Munster No10. “He has huge confidence and a great work ethic – those were combined in today’s performance.”
The Scots began with real purpose and after only six minutes full-back Chris Paterson’s trusty right boot kicked its first three points of the evening. O’Gara hit back with a penalty of his own after 11 minutes but Paterson laced two more in the following 10 minutes to take the Scots to 9-3.
But when Scotland were offside yards from their own try line after 25 minutes O’Gara scored his second penalty – taking him to 481 RBS 6 Nations points, bettering Jonny Wilkinson’s championship record of 479.
Paterson restored Scotland’s six point lead 10 minutes before the interval with a penalty. However that gap was narrowed again just four minutes later as O’Gara countered with a kick of his own. And O’Driscoll’s try-saving tackle on Thom Evans kept the score at 12-9 at the break.
In the second-half the Scottish defensive wall started to weaken and mistakes were made as fatigue set in. And the Irish began to exploit gaps – none more so than man-of-the-match Peter Stringer. The Munster scrum-half darted for the try line off a line out after 51 minutes, and shipped on to replacement No8 Jamie Heaslip, who dived over for his second try of the tournament – and Ireland did not look back.
“I’m not sure how Springer found that space,” said disappointed Scottish coach Frank Hadden. "I thought we should have been out of sight at half-time and made too elementary mistakes in the second-half.”
After O’Gara converted Heaslip’s score he drop kicked another three points to take Ireland to 19-12 with just over 20 minutes remaining. Though Paterson scored his fifth penalty in a perfect kicking game, the Irish kept their noses in front thanks to O’Gara. With eight minutes left he had the final say, sealing victory with another penalty.
The win sets up a mouth-watering finale when Ireland head to Cardiff next Saturday to play reigning champions Wales, who will need to win by at least 13 points. “Playing Wales in Wales is an extraordinarily difficult thing to do, especially with their track record,” said coach Declan Kidney. “We will celebrate this win and thing about next week later.”
Scotland: Chris Paterson; Simon Danielli, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Thom Evans; Phil Godman, Mike Blair (capt); Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton, Jason White, Alasdair Strokosch, John Barclay , Simon Taylor.
Replacements: Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Nathan Hines, Scott Gray, Chris Cusiter, Nick De Luca, Hugo Southwell.
Penalties: Paterson 5 (5)
Ireland: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald; Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes; Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell; Stephen Ferris, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.
Replacements: Jerry Flannery, Tom Court, Mick O'Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Tomas O'Leary, Paddy Wallace, Geordan Murphy.
Labels: Ireland, RBS 6 Nations, Ronan O'Gara, Scotland
