Pack Points The Way As Ireland Sweep Scotland Aside

An early three-try blitz from James Ryan, captain Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong set Ireland on their way to an impressive 27-3 bonus point win over Scotland in their opening Rugby World Cup encounter.

Joe Schmidt’s men did most of the damage before the heavy rain set in for the closing 40 minutes at Yokohama’s International Stadium, on a day when 16 players made their World Cup debuts for Ireland.

Two of them contributed tries inside the first 24 minutes, with Best sandwiching in a maul effort between those scores from the excellent Ryan and Furlong. All three also played important roles in a 100% return from the Irish scrum and lineout.

Despite losing Bundee Aki and Peter O’Mahony permanently following failed HIAs, Ireland thundered into a 19-3 half-time lead with Iain Henderson and CJ Stander, the eventual Mastercard player-of-the-match, both prominent in a tigerish defence and an equally efficient attack.

Conor Murray’s expertly-weighted box-kicks of the slippery ball grew in importance, and one such delivery paved the way for Andrew Conway to claim the bonus point in the 55th minute. Replacement Jack Carty added a penalty to close out a dominant team performance.

Jordan Larmour had some early nerve-settling involvements from full-back, catching his first high ball and then countering smartly from a Stuart Hogg chip. With O’Mahony providing secure ball at the lineout, Best was able to link neatly with Murray who kicked through to pin Scotland back.

Gaps were beginning to appear in the Scottish defence, Henderson taking full advantage with a terrific 20-metre burst. His fellow forwards retained possession close to the posts, and after Larmour was stopped just short, Ryan rumbled over with some beefy support from Cian Healy.

Jonathan Sexton converted the fifth-minute try from the right, and the out-half then used a clever dummy to avoid the chasing Sean Maitland and kick clear after a promising Larmour break had petered out. The heavily-involved Hogg was chopped down by Garry Ringrose and turned over by Aki, giving Ireland a further burst.

Successive penalties sent Ireland down into the left corner and a well-worked lineout maul allowed Best to reach over and score despite the best efforts of Ryan Wilson. The grounding was confirmed before Sexton pulled the conversion away to the right, keeping the scoreline at 12-0.

Scotland created some space out wide from a 19th minute scrum, and despite Murray and Sexton managing to wrap up Tommy Seymour, Greig Laidlaw popped over a subsequent penalty to punish replacement Jack Conan for being slow to roll away.

Aki’s departure was offset by the impact of Chris Farrell who was involved in the midfield defensive pressure which broke another Scottish attack down. The loose ball was hacked downfield by Conway who, together with Ringrose, brought down Hogg to force a five-metre scrum.

The Irish pack showed their clinical edge with the set piece possession, Stander attacking hard off the base before O’Mahony carried and then Furlong, with Best on the latch, powered over to the right of the posts. With Sexton receiving treatment, the extras were added by Murray for a 19-3 scoreline.

Scotland’s attempts to respond were thwarted by some textbook defending. Josh van der Flier and Larmour floored the advancing Maitland, with the ever-ready full-back bouncing up to get in the jackal position and earn a clearing penalty.

Ireland failed to profit from a barnstorming break by Stander straight from a midfield ruck, while Scotland were foiled when they tried to go wide again in the 34th minute as a big rush-up tackle from Jacob Stockdale forced a forward pass from Hogg.

Stockdale showed his attacking threat from the resulting scrum, regathering his own chip and stepping inside Hogg before a counter-ruck saw the Scots steal the ball back. The Irish scrum provided the platform for a late break by Conway, with a penalty advantage leading to a curling place-kick from Murray which went narrowly wide.

Play resumed in the second half under heavy rain, as Scotland looked to regroup from the loss of key flanker Hamish Watson who had suffered a tournament-ending knee injury just before half-time.

Ireland picked up where they had left off, getting on the front foot thanks to van der Flier and Henderson combining to secure turnover ball. Farrell and Conway sped down the right wing but the latter was guilty of a push on Hogg as he chased his own kick past the Scottish line.

The pace of the game dropped as the wet and humid conditions worsened, and a John Barclay knock-on spoiled a promising set of Scottish phases. Both benches were a hive of activity, with Ireland’s lineout remaining unblemished thanks to a leap from prop Andrew Porter.

The bonus point score arrived near the hour mark, a pinpoint Murray box-kick and Conway’s pressure in the air leading to a loose ball which Larmour gobbled up. It was quickly moved wide to the right where Conway was able to step inside Finn Russell and finish in the corner past Grant Gilchrist.

After Murray missed the difficult conversion, more of Ireland’s replacements made their mark with Farrell breaking onto Jack Carty’s clever kick over the top. The big Munster centre threw a slick no-look pass to Luke McGrath whose subsequent delivery just evaded Stockdale’s grasp on the outside.

Scotland had the lion’s share of possession during the final quarter, eager replacement Ali Price and Hogg continuing to probe but the latter was well tackled by van der Flier on the counter as the gap remained at 21 points.

It was increased in the 67th minute when Carty knocked over a straightforward penalty, rewarding the efforts of Ringrose, Farrell and Stockdale who spearheaded a big gain of yardage down the left side of a scrum on halfway.

At the opposite end of the pitch, Ireland’s defence held strong despite losing replacement Tadhg Beirne to the sin-bin. Chris Harris’ break opened the way for Hogg to threaten. He was brought down in the 22 by Stockdale, before Beirne infringed in his attempts to win the turnover.

Scotland were lacking the accuracy shown by Ireland when in the sight of the whitewash. They exerted pressure from a lineout in the right corner, only for the ball to squirt out of a ruck and Conan tidied it up to earn important metres back towards the 22-metre line.

Gregor Townsend’s side has one last shot at breaking their try duck, with their forwards pressing from another close-in lineout. Ireland successfully defended the maul, albeit with the concession of a penalty, before Ryan stole the subsequent throw to consign the Scots to a 24-point defeat.