15. Stuart Hogg – 7
Monumental landmark in a stellar career, which he clearly would have preferred to have marked more authoritatively. No questioning his commitment or energy but the old magic that set him apart was missing, and he, perhaps, faces an uncomfortable week looking over his shoulder at Blair Kinghorn (that’s if his ankle injury doesn’t rule him out). [Hugo Keenan 8]
14. Kyle Steyn – 6
Good under the high ball and stuck in a couple of important covering tackles, but found James Lowe a handful – handed off badly once and sucked in too narrow when he grabbed his try. Limited opportunity ball-in-hand, but could maybe have worked harder to get himself into the game. [Mack Hansen 9]
13. Huw Jones – 8
Excellent first half but struggled with the Irish line speed after the break. Ran another great line for his try, capitalising on the telepathy that has developed between himself and Sione Tulpulotu. No problems in defence. [Garry Ringrose 8]
12. Sione Tuipulotu – 9
The full skill-set both sides of the ball – running, passing, kicking – compact in defence, pulling out the big hit when it was needed. A great ‘out ball’ for Finn Russell, allowing him to look for space hard on the gain-line. Judged the situation beautifully and timed his pass to perfection for Huw Jones’ try. An annoyingly sloppy kick which forfeited the initiative towards the end; but the game was gone by then. [Bundee Aki 8]
11. Duhan van der Merwe – 6
Strong in attack, weak in defence. Fought hard to get into the game and found some great inside lines. Powerful in tight situation. Sucked in narrow for both Mack Hansen and Jack Conan’s tries, and was left rooted to the ground as Hansen soared to collect a high ball in the lead up to James Lowe’s try. [James Lowe 8]
Scotland v Ireland report: hosts blown away in second half
Scotland v Ireland reaction: Gregor Townsend awaits injury updates on key men
Premiership Grand Final: 13-man Hawick snatch glory with late try versus Currie Chieftains
10. Finn Russell – 7
On top of his game in the first half but maybe did not mix it up enough in the second when the Irish forwards found an edge and their backs doubled down on their line speed. Always a threat, however, and stuck a huge hit in on Bundee Aki. Left the field limping badly with an ankle injury in the 79th minute, which must be a major concern.[Jonny Sexton 8]
9. Ben White – 7
Looking more comfortable with every game. Sharp, busy and threatening. Better use of the box. [Conor Murray 7]
1. Pierre Schoeman – 7
22 minutes until the first scrum and only another five before he was somewhat surprisingly substituted in the 53rd minutes. The scrum had creaked, but it had not cracked, and he had been putting himself about in the loose to good effect, making 15 carries to gain 65 metres. [Andrew Porter 8]
2. George Turner – 6
A bad start. A ‘breakdown in communications’ at the first line-out; only escaped conceding a shocking try at the second because he had thrown the wrong ball; and he missed his man at the third. In fairness, once he settled down his throwing was fine and whilst under occupied in the scrum he was ultra-active elsewhere. [Dan Sheehan 6]
3. Zander Fagerson – 7
Nothing much doing in the scrum, but was always looking for work, and made 11 tackles. Substituted – perhaps prematurely – in the 53rd minute just as Cian Healey came on to hook for Ireland. [Tadhg Furlong 8]
4. Richie Gray – N/A
Rib injury led to early departure after six minutes. [Iain Henderson 6]
5. Jonny Gray – 7
The line-out strategy was seriousy prejudiced by brother Richie’s seventh minute injury, and was not helped by sloppy darts from both George Turner and Fraser Brown, but as the senior pro he should have found a way to capitalise on Josh van der Flier having to take the Irish throws after the break. [James Ryan 8]
6. Matt Fagerson – 7
A tough afternoon and struggled to impose against the most combative pack in World Rugby, but he did not take a backward step. [Peter O’Mahony 8]
7. Jamie Ritchie – 7
Rugby is a hard game on the back foot. Fought tooth and nail to turn the tide; or at least slow down the Irish ball. At times he let his frustration strain his relationship with the referee. [Josh van der Flier 9]
8. Jack Dempsey – 8
Looked the part. Got stuck in, carried strongly, fought bravely. [Caelan Doris N/A]
Replacements
16. Fraser Brown – 5 (replaced Turner in 58th minute)
Missed his man with the first throw. Uncomfortable time in the scrum as his arrival coincided with Cian Healy coming on at hooker from Ireland. [Ronan Kelleher 5]
17. Jamie Bhatti – 6 (replaced Schoeman in 53rd minute)
Found it hard going against the three props in the Irish front row. [Cian Healy 8]
18. Simon Berghan – 5 (replaced Zander Fagerson in 53rd minute)
Struggled. [Tom O’Toole 7]
19. Scott Cummings – 7 (replaced Richie Gray in 7th minute)
Coming on for Richie Gray that early was a big ask with so little game time under his belt, but he stood up to be counted [Ryan Baird 7]
20. Hamish Watson – 6 (replaced Matt Fageron in 66th minute)
The game was gone by the time he came on but he showed his usual combatitive commitment. [Jack Conan 8]
21. Ali Price – 6 (replaced Ben White in 58th minute)
Produced what it says on the tin – sure and steady – but could not match the dramatic impact made by Jamison Gibson-Park. [Jamison Gibson-Park 8]
22. Blair Kinghorn – 6 (replaced Stuart Hogg in 64th minute)
Little chance to make any meaningful impression, but looked sharp. [Ross Byrne 6]
23. Chris Harris – N/A (replaced Finn Russell in 79th minutes)
A walk-on role. [Robbie Henshaw 6]
Scotland v Ireland reaction: Gregor Townsend awaits injury updates on key men
As thrilling as Duhan has been in attack this 6 Nations, it’s becoming increasingly worrying how poor his defence is.
He was culpable in all 3 Irish tries…sucked into midfield (again) for the first, poor under the high ball for the second,and weak in the tackle for the third.
This needs real improvement before the world Cup…his defence is becoming a liability, and the opposition know this.
Am I alone in thinking that Ritchie, fine player admittedly, is a poor choice as Captain. Too much yap at the referee, marched back 10 yards not once but twice. Did not have the nous to pressurise Van der Flier at the front of the line out until the game had gone.He needs to study the Sam Warburton/Kieran Reed style of captaincy. Gilchrist instead after his ban ends? Also I’ll be very happy never to see Berghan in a Scotland shirt ever again. The scrum was creaking but staying in the fight. A fresh Berghan comes on against Porter who played the full 80,and proceeds to get repeatedly skewered backwards into the next postcode. Where was WP. Fully agree with earlier post. TH is a glaring weakness for the future. In Jonny Gray’s case the art of second row play has moved on and left him behind. Just not dynamic enough. Also Tandy has some major work to do on VDM’s defence. Despite all the above the graph this season is definitely upwards. The only time we’ve been seriously outclassed was the second half on Sunday. We’ve been in every other game throughout. Coaches and players deserve credit for that. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ve improved enough to avoid that early flight home from the World Cup.
In general i think the teams performances have went up with him as captain, and its lot easier to notice the negatives of captaining compared to the positives. He keeps a fine line both in defence and with the referee and sometimes steps over. He is a relatively need captain, back him and see where he is with a few more years of experience.
In all honesty the ratings should be done for the first half and then the second half seperately. There was such a gulf in how we approached things between those two halves. Id argue many of our players in the first half in terms of energy, skilset, physicality were up in the 7/8 out of 10 category. I terms of the second half the average ratings for the guys would have fallen to 4/5 for most of them. The drop off was that stark.
We know they can play when they get it right, but surely they need to be looking at themselves in the mirror as a collective and asking the question- what on earth happened to us at half time? Ireland are a great side and they buried us effectively in that second half, but we never laid a glove on them. We made it all too easy if truth be told. Such a shame as I am almost certain the Irish were very worried at half time.
I thought we played well overall.
It looked to me like we expended alot of emotion in the 1st half. There was a lack of composure at times when we looked to be in for a score but made the wrong decision or gave a silly penalty away which suggested this.
It’s very difficult.
Scotland and the Scottish URC teams do not beat Ireland or Leinster very often. They know it and they wind us up about it. All that rubbish you see on Irish TV about us being overhyped etc.
After 24 hours the disappointment has not subsided. I agree with most of the comments above. My m ain disappointment is around:-
1. Van der Merve has never been able to defend. His positioning is all wrong and he doesn’t watch the position of his opposite number. In attack he must accept that good players will tackle him (unlike England) and he should be aware of the support. There was at least one try out there if he had looked.
2. I am not a Townsend critic but we should not have swapped out our front row so early. They were making good collisions.
3. We must go through the phases a la Ireland. We did this in the first half but not in the second.
4. Dempsey was excellent and I agree that we need an out and out 7 both in jackling but just as importantly in support of the attack.
5. At the end of the day that was a cracking test match and we have taken on the two best sides in the World and come out with a great deal of credit. France in particular were relieved to get a win against us.
6. It is a crying shame that the World Cup placings were decided so long ago since they certainly do not reflect the current status of the teams involved.
“3. We must go through the phases a la Ireland. We did this in the first half but not in the second.”
completely this. I thought we had a good period of 20 mins in the first instance, before and after our try, where the build-up work was exceptional and gaining good ground in the same way Ireland typically do to us. Why did we not continue with that approach? I don’t recall us making any headway in the 2nd half. Taking the props off was a stupid decision unless management know something about conditioning we don’t e.g. injury / niggles?
Part of the issue for the head-scratching 2nd half is psychology – that’s the real championship minutes and our players, time and time again, see the exact same scenario playing out against Leinster/Munster/Ireland where we stay in the game and then they just move up a gear knowing they can, while tiredness/fatigue/pressure clouds our minds. Happens all the time, our boys seemed to just be waiting for it to happen. Must be a monumental psychological hill to get over it – but we must.
A little too much fuss was made about Hogg’s 100 caps before the match and I wonder how fit he’s been in this championship. He’s been a shadow of the player we saw in the autumn. He shouldn’t be picked irrespective of form. 7 is generous.
Jonny Gray is not a pack leader. Our kick reception and lineout improved in his absence and he still offers little going forward. He could do with the same refresher his elder brother has benefited massively from at Glasgow this season.
I suspect we missed having a proper 7 on the pitch for most of the game, as one or two Irish turnovers were avoidable. Watson isn’t his old self and Darge isn’t match fit, so it is what it is. The starting back row was picked for good reason and I wouldn’t fault Townsend for it, but it didn’t quite woirk. I question our leadership on the pitch being solid enough too and would be inclined to mark Ritchie down for losing his head. Playing Ireland will be frustrating, he should rise above that.
Jones and Tuipulotu have been superb throughout.
Van der Merwe was unlucky with the kick near our line, as he couldn’t run onto the ball the way the Irish attacker could. There was little he could have done. It’s his lacklustre defence generally that’s a big issue and he has to work on that. I’ll let someone else tell him.
It was tough day at the office and losing Richie Gray hurt us more than it should have.
I’ve just listened to the Rugby Daily BBC podcast with Chris Jones/ Johnnie Beattie / C Ashton / U Monye – they must have spent about 20 mins just talking, incredulously, about how Scotland could possibly let Ireland away with those JvdF line-outs, not challenging at the front, not changing strategy to put the ball up the pitch and out of play so we could challenge it more. We just didn’t do it at all and they were all completely baffled by that. Seems really obvious and it’s been mentioned here and there, but genuinely whose fault is that glaring error that let the Irish off the hook? Whoever it is has failed on a really key in-game tactical advantage.
I think the scores are a tad harsh on the starting props who did a mountain of work. Not their score but the scores of the other forwards who aren’t named Dempsey.
Before anyone talks about physicality, intensity/fitness and skills, we need to look at our decision-making and game management.
For me, this is the major difference between the two teams and why, in the second half, we barely threatened Ireland’s line and why we were on the back foot for long spells.
Let’s look at the 15 minutes from just before half time. A few folk have talked about the decision not to let Hogg kick for 3 from that penalty. I think we were correct to kick for touch. But what followed was not clever at all. We went wide to wide which meant when we were bundled into touch, not only did we lose possession but we gave Ireland a free exit from their 22 because the clock had gone red. Surely in that position, you keep the ball between the 15 channels and make your opponent to turn it over? If they do, fair play, if not the worst we are coming away with is 3 points and a half time lead.
The very next play – 2nd half restart – we give away a ridiculous penalty to let Ireland exit again but with possession this time.
We work hard to get back into the Ireland 22, then we go for a pretty unlikely chargedown but only touch the clearance kick to give them exit and possession again.
Yet again, we work our way back to the Ireland 22, Russell makes a marginal forward pass (probably unlucky it was given but when do those marginal calls ever go our way?) but then Townsend swaps the front row before the scrum, resulting in a penalty to give Ireland yet another exit with possession.
That 15 minute period was a disaster and it was nothing to do with our intensity, fitness or skill levels. Just poor decisions from individual forwards, our game managers and our coaches, leading to squandering of possession and field position.
Ireland score their second try in the play following that last penalty and, as a result, we have to chase the game in the last quarter when we should be at the very least within a kick of the lead (and, arguably, more than a score in front).
Game management is a whole match, whole team endeavour. It is critical at this level but even more so against Ireland who are highly dependant on free entries into opposition territory because their attack style is too energy sapping (even for them) to move the ball from their own 22 into their opponent’s 22 consistently.
It’s not that we don’t have the physicality (look at the carnage we wreaked on the Irish pack for god’s sake), it’s not that we don’t have the fitness and it’s not that we don’t have the skills, it’s our inability to think clearly for 80 minutes that kills us against the top teams.
I don’t know if that is something that is easy to fix but it seems to me that we don’t even recognise this as our biggest problem and, until we do, we never will fix it.
Brilliant summing up – we definitely do have the physicality and skills as you mention Garry, thought our starting front row really punched some holes in the Irish defence, we just needed to work out what to do with the hard won territory and came up short. Duhan missing an overlap when taking on and losing out to Keenan was a classic example. I do think that Finn might not have 100% fit, which wouldn’t have helped but need others to make sound decisions based on what’s in front of them e.g. Gray Jnr needing to work out the best way to attack the Irish throw with Van der Flier throwing to the front. Imagine that rugby thinking starts at a young age and then we get into the whole rugby set up…a whole other discussion
Good points well made.
Totally agree with the decision making/game management comments. The dumb penalty at the start of the 2nd half for joining the maul from the wrong side was ridiculous. How do you teach players not to do this.
Even when we play well we always have a handful of bad decisions/choices up our sleeve and it only takes a few to completely change the flow of the game. This is down to the players on the day. Ireland are world No1 because they don’t do this.
The props changeouts was a management decision and was wrongly timed. Schoemann was having a superb game and he can play a full 80 if needed. Zander the same. I don’t know why Bergham was selected ahead of Nel. I know Nel is about 40 but he can still scrum for 20 minutes. Tight Head is a problem area for the future.
Completely agree Garry, great post and exactly what I was trying to articulate with the below but you take it much further, thanks
I’ve just listened to the Rugby Daily BBC podcast with Chris Jones/ Johnnie Beattie / C Ashton / U Monye – they must have spent about 20 mins just talking, incredulously, about how Scotland could possibly let Ireland away with those JvdF line-outs, not challenging at the front, not changing strategy to put the ball up the pitch and out of play so we could challenge it more. We just didn’t do it at all and they were all completely baffled by that. Seems really obvious and it’s been mentioned here and there, but genuinely whose fault is that glaring error that let the Irish off the hook? Whoever it is has failed on a really key in-game tactical advantage.
Definitely not falling apart ….and the only team to have held Ireland to a 4 point win….be positive about our players!
Dempsey was a 9 for me easily our best player. Jones the same and then for me rest of the marks too high. Most of the back five were ineffective and Duhan was a liability. Honestly no idea how Peice is being selected over Horne. Never mind that Glasgow now start Horne over Price, just look at the games when Horne has come on. It’s not even close between them.
Hogg a 7 ? Russell a 7? Gray 7? Cummings 7? Fagerson7?….sounds like lazy ratings.
None of those players better than 6. The match is 80 mins not 40.
A 5 for Berghan seems laughable…..terrible TH at this level. Brown just as woeful.
Watson did nothing when he came on…looks well past it…and shouldn’t have played ahead of Crosbie.
To me a 6/10 means a pretty unspectacular but ok performance, you’ve had a decent enough game. Duhan had a nightmare defensively, that’s a very generous 6!
Very generous scoring here. Far too many 8s and even surprisingly a 9. Scotland in the second half were
Worse than average and didn’t make Ireland work.
Worse than average is as harsh as your too many 8’s but I get your point.
why would you change the front row when they were well on top of the opposition
And why would you ever change them so early in a key game, when you know the subs are not of that quality?
George Turner’s throw for the try that wasn’t sums up Scotland v Ireland for me.
They’re solid and methodical. We’re “what the fcuk are you doing?”
A decent first half as a team but fell apart in the second. Scores are at least a point too high in most cases.
Definitely not falling apart ….and the only team to have held Ireland to a 4 point win….be positive about our players!