Six Nations
Brave Scotland end Irish hopes
2010-03-20 21:41
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Dublin - Ireland's faint hopes of retaining the Six Nations title evaporated with a 23-20 defeat to Scotland on Saturday.
Ireland needed to beat Scotland by a healthy margin at Croke Park to have any chance of overhauling France at the top of the standings but was unable to convert large amounts of possession and territory into points.
Ireland fought back from 17-10 down to twice level the scores but Dan Parks kicked his fifth penalty of the game with two minutes left to give Scotland its first win in this season's tournament.
Ireland outscored Scotland by two tries to one, but two missed kicks by flyhalf Jonathan Sexton cost the home side the chance of winning the Triple Crown to put pressure on France.
"We got a bit of luck at the end of the game but Dan landed a great kick," Scotland coach Andy Robinson said. "The guys are hurting, they are tired but they deserve the plaudits for this win."
The victory means that Scotland, which lost to Wales on the last move of the match and was unlucky to draw 15-15 with England last week, finishes above Italy in fifth place.
Parks was man of the match for a third time in five matches and Scotland showed enough to suggest it could be even stronger next year.
Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll got his first try of the tournament and Tommy Bowe touched down in the second half, but John Beattie's lone effort was sufficient for Scotland.
Ireland threw the ball around as though it was a sevens match but constantly spilled it with loose passing and was disrupted at the lineout and scrum.
Scotland's attentive tackling also meant the ball often popped into the air in contact, helping create the pressure that led to the home side giving away silly penalties for Parks to kick.
After three handling errors in the opening few minutes from the ambitious Ireland backs, Parks kicked Scotland into the lead from a penalty awarded against Paul O'Connell for not releasing the tackler.
Sexton's kicking later faltered like it had against Wales last week but he helped set up the best try of the match, for O'Driscoll in the 11th minute.
The flyhalf looped around center Gordon D'Arcy to take a return pass and surged through a poor tackle. Sexton drew in two more opponents before offloading to O'Driscoll on his inside shoulder to let his captain run in for the try.
That try looked set to provide the platform Ireland required for the dominant performance it needed to challenge for the title but Scotland hit back moments later, aided by some weak Irish defense.
A back-row combination set Beattie free and the No. 8 ducked under the tackle of covering fullback Geordan Murphy and reached forward to place the ball just over the line.
Parks failed to convert _ leaving the score at 8-7 _ but, after Sexton missed a penalty, struck another kick and an injury-time drop goal to complete the first-half scoring.
Another missed kick by Sexton and another success from Parks pushed Scotland 10 points clear and Sexton was given just enough time to trim it to 17-10 before being hauled off for Ronan O'Gara.
Bowe then beat the covering Hugo Southwell to stretch out and score his third try of the competition and O'Gara's conversion tied the scores but infringements at the scrum and breakdown wore on referee Jonathan Kaplan.
Parks kicked Scotland back into the lead with seven minutes remaining and, although O'Gara made it 20-20, then won it with an effort from way out on the left.