A decent end to a difficult campaign.
It hasn’t been the best Six Nations, but there’s plenty of rugby to go in 2016 for Ireland – and if our final two performance are anything to go by, there are certainly positives to take from this Irish side.
Tries today from CJ Stander, Keith Earls, Conor Murray and Devin Toner – punctuated by some very good kicking by Johnny Sexton – saw Ireland through a comfortable win that only looked in danger after a storming first-half try by Scotland’s Stuart Hogg that put the Scots 9-10 up.
All in all, Ireland always looked the stronger outfit – and were certainly aided by two Scottish yellow cards, racking up 19 points while playing against 14 men.
The man advantage worked against Ireland late in the game then, as Dunbar pulled a try back for Scotland to finish the game at 35-25 to Ireland, seconds after Johnny Sexton had been sinbinned.
Here’s what Twitter had to say about the final game of Ireland’s 2016 Six Nations:
Soft spot for Conor Murray because he looks like every boy who preferred my more attractive friend at Wesley
— Ana Kinsella (@anakinsella) March 19, 2016
Yes!!! another great TRY! Well done Conor Murray!! C'mon Ireland ?? ? #IREvSCO
— Emilia Duggan (@EmiliaDuggan) March 19, 2016
Conor Murray showing again he's been Ireland best player in #RBS6Nations this year..
— Aaron Doherty (@finsceal) March 19, 2016
A tale of two ?s – both Richie Gray and Devin Toner capped strong performances with tries.#LionsNZ2017 #IREvSCO pic.twitter.com/zNk1FeOPha
— British&Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) March 19, 2016
First international try for @DevinToner4, good stuff form the big fella! #IREvSCO #SixNations
— Keith Ó Gealbháin (@KeithGalvin) March 19, 2016
Standing ovation for Sexton after that yellow card!
— Patrick McCarry (@patmccarry) March 19, 2016
Johnny Sexton with a nosebleed.
George Hook possibly interpreting that as Sexton's brains falling out of his face.
— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) March 19, 2016
Rare that an Irish player gets binned since Schmidt took over. Can't think of another except Best last year
— Sinéad Kissane (@sineadkissane) March 19, 2016
A v good end to a half decent #RBS6Nations campaign for a team in transition. Fair play Schmidt for making most of what he has #IREvSCO
— Mick O'Keeffe (@okmick) March 19, 2016