Ireland have retained the RBS 6 Nations title after a 40-10 win over Scotland at BT Murrayfield, the highlights of which included a vintage performance from two-try flanker Sean O’Brien.
Sean O’Brien, the RBS man-of-the-match, touched down in both halves and captain Paul O’Connell and Jared Payne also crossed the whitewash as Ireland notched four tries – matching their tally from the previous four rounds.
The result saw Ireland equal their biggest ever winning margin over Scotland – 36-6 in the 2003 tournament – and following England’s 55-35 defeat of France, Joe Schmidt’s men have been crowned RBS 6 Nations for the second year running.
On a thrilling final day, England’s 20-point success at Twickenham was not enough as Ireland won an extremely tight title race on points scoring difference – +63 compared to England’s +57 and Wales’ +53.
O’Connell reached over for the opening try in the fifth minute in Edinburgh with Jonathan Sexton converting and adding a penalty to give Schmidt’s side a confidence-boosting start, moving them 10 points clear in as many minutes.
Robbie Henshaw and the returning Luke Fitzgerald both threatened out wide as Ireland moved the ball at pace, gaining the early momentum which they had handed to Wales in Cardiff just a week ago.
Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw landed a penalty in response before a well-worked lineout move between Devin Toner and O’Brien sprung the latter through a gap and he had the power and pace to make the line and Sexton converted.
Within five minutes, though, the quick-witted Scottish backs, who came alive during the second quarter, freed up Finn Russell to run in from the left and close the gap to 17-10. Importantly, Sexton’s boot steadied the ship for Ireland with a penalty before the break and another shortly after the resumption.
The visitors really produced the goods in the third quarter, upping the tempo as they began to dominate both possession and territory with work-hungry flanker Peter O’Mahony coming to the fore. Ten minutes in, a neat feed from Sexton saw centre Payne pile through to score his first Test try under the posts and the former’s conversion widened the margin to 30-10.
That score meant Ireland were level on scoring difference with Wales (+53), who had demolished Italy 61-20 earlier in the day. The tension in Edinburgh increased as Scotland lost prop Geoff Cross to the sin-bin for repeated ruck infringements and Sexton missed two penalties, hitting the post with the first attempt.
The Ireland out-half was back on target with an important penalty entering the final quarter, and some astute kicking out of hand from Sexton and Conor Murray pinned the Scots back as the hunt for points continued.
The pressure told with eight minutes left, the Irish forwards battering up close to the line before O’Brien, shrugging off an initial tackle, found a way over just to the left of the posts.
Ian Madigan, sprung from the bench on the occasion of his 26th birthday, added the extras and it took a vital last-ditch tackle from the tireless Jamie Heaslip to deny Scottish full-back Stuart Hogg a try at the other end.
Madigan also misfired off the kicking tee in the dying seconds, but the 30-point winning margin was ultimately enough to get Ireland over the Championship finish line in dramatic circumstances.
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