In Pics: Ireland 15 Scotland 9 (3)

Pictured above: Scottish captain Jason White gets to grips with Ireland prop Marcus Horan at Lansdowne Road. Sale flanker White was forced off late in the game for stitches on a gash on his forehead. Looking ahead to Ireland’s Twickenham date next Saturday, he said afterwards: “I’m sure Ireland can beat England. I think they key for that game is that England are at home and the big advantage in the 6 Nations this year is home advantage. I’d expect England to be favourites, but in syaing that, Ireland can at least go there and be competitive and challenge for the win.”

Irish centre Gordon D’Arcy feels the brunt of a double tackle from Scotland’s Andrew Henderson and Sean Lamont.

Shane Horgan tackles Scottish full-back Hugo Southwell. The latter praised the kicking of Ireland out-half Ronan O’Gara afterwards, saying: “O’Gara’s kicking, especially in the second half was spot on. I was obviously doing a lot of the chasing at the back and he was hitting inches off the lines every time. It was very, very frustrating.”

Ireland number eight Denis Leamy is confronted by Bruce Douglas and Nathan Hines of Scotland.

Ronan O’Gara tries to make a break past Scottish number eight Simon Taylor. The Corkman felt Ireland did well to control the game despite the wet conditions at Lansdowne Road. He said: “The conditions were pretty horrible and it was a typical Lansdowne day. The conditions meant it was never going to be an entertaining game – especially with Scotland’s defence proving so strong. We just had to grind out the win.

“The ball was like a bar of soap – weat and greasy – and there was a little bit of wind as well so the ball moved in the air. It was difficult to handle and we had to address that in the second half when we kicked a lot more ball. We played to win and were happy to get the victory.”

Ireland’s centres Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy congratulate each other on a job well done – the men in green’s sixth successive win over Scotland.

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**All photos by Dan Sheridan, Billy Stickland and Morgan Treacy of Inpho Photography**