Ireland have their first win of the 2019 Six Nations as they beat Scotland 13-22 at Murrayfield.
Tries from Conor Murray, Jacob Stockdale and Keith Earls cancelled out Sam Johnson’s early try for Scotland as Ireland bounced back from their disappointing defeat to England last week.
The champions went behind early after a Greig Laidlaw penalty but Conor Murray capitalised on a mistake in Scotland’s own 22 to take the visitors into the lead.
Just 5 minutes later, winger Jacob Stockdale found a gap in the defence after a smart pass by Johnny Sexton to score under the posts.
Despite being behind, Scotland continued to enjoy large spells of possession, eventually resulting in a try for Sam Johnson after a clean break by Finn Russell allowed him to make a smart offload for Johnson.
Just short of the hour mark the defence was split again with Keith Earls crossing the whitewash. Scotland failed to get back into the game and Ireland saw it out, moving up to 4th in the table after failing to secure a bonus point.
Rob Kearney - 7
Calm, composed showing from the veteran. Back in the side and showed his experience in both attack and defence.
Keith Earls - 6
Unable to break a strong Scotland defence for most of the game. Finished off his try well after Carberry’s break.
Chris Farrell - 7
Another consistent performance for Farrell in the Irish shirt. Solid in defence and some solid carries.
Bundee Aki - 5
Made his presence known but too greedy. Needs to pass the ball more, especially with Scotland holding firm.
Jacob Stockdale - 8
Smart kick allowed Murray to score early and made a great break to cross for himself. Good defensive contributions also.
Johnny Sexton - 6
Targeted by the Scots with some late, hard tackles but performed well in his brief stay on the field. Forced off through injury.
Connor Murray - 7
Much better performance than last week. Showed good determination to score the first try of the game.
Cian Healy - 6
Got through a lot of work, plenty of tackles and it began to show late on.
Rory Best - 6
Lead well and consistent as ever from the line-out. Not much impact made in open play.
Tadgh Furlong - 7
Another good performance by the Leinster prop. Carried and tackled well throughout.
James Ryan - 7
Filled the shoes of Devin Toner very well. Solid defensively like the rest of the pack.
Quinn Roux - 6
Failed to make much of an impression on the game. Scrummaged well.
Peter O'Mahony - 8
Brilliant as ever. Even showed his footballing ability in the first half. Deservedly given Man of the Match.
Sean O'Brien - 7
First Six Nations game since 2017 but showed no sign of absence. Good performance from the recently announced London Irish man.
Jack Conan - 5
Fairly quiet. Good defensively but no impact going forward.
Replacements - 7
Carberry grew into the game well, setting up Earls’ try. Van der Flier and Kilcoyne did their job, Porter and Cronin saw out the game well.