Simon Easterby delighted to keep Scotland ‘at arm’s length’ in Ireland victory

By Anthony Brown, PA

Simon Easterby hailed ruthless Ireland as they kept Scotland “at arm’s length” to steal a significant march in their quest to land a third consecutive Guinness Six Nations title with a bonus-point 32-18 triumph at Murrayfield.

The Irish are the only side to have won their opening two matches this season after they followed up their opening-weekend win at home to England with an 11th consecutive victory over the Scots.

Calvin Nash and captain Caelan Doris both scored as the Irish built a 17-0 advantage by the 32nd minute, with the Scots’ predicament not helped by having record try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe shown a 13th minute yellow card before losing two more influential backs to head injuries after Finn Russell and Darcy Graham collided with each other in the 21st minute.

Scotland rallied, with a Van der Merwe try just before half-time and two Blair Kinghorn penalties early in the second half reducing their deficit to just six points.

But Ireland reasserted their authority with scores from James Lowe and substitute Jack Conan taking the game beyond the Scots, who added a late consolation through Ben White.

“We always knew we’d have to shut them down and stop them getting time and space and momentum,” said interim head coach Easterby. “I thought we did that really well without the ball, and I felt we delivered a lot of what we’d worked on around trying to attack Scotland in the right way.

“Although we conceded a late try in the first half, I thought the scoreline was a reflection of our dominance, and maybe we could have been one or two more scores up.

“You’re always going to come up against a purple patch. We knew they were going to try and stretch us defensively. At times we dealt with it really well and at times they stretched us.

“We managed to turn around a few situations where they got a little bit of ascendancy and we kept them at arm’s length and then we had the opportunity to go to the other end and be clinical with the ball.”

England’s victory at home to France on Saturday paved the way for the winner of Sunday’s Murrayfield showdown to go clear at the top of the table, and Ireland duly capitalised ahead of their trip to struggling Wales on Saturday week.

“We set out at the beginning of this championship to keep getting better, keep challenging each other in terms of the standards, and I think we’ve seen some of that today,” said Easterby.

“There is an opportunity (of a Grand Slam), which has been well documented. We’ve got to make sure that we prepare in the right way for Wales and go there with the same mindset that we came here with.”

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend was awaiting an update on the injury to Graham, who lay prone on the buggy before being taken to hospital.

“We are still waiting for scans,” said Townsend. “I believe there are no issues around his neck, but it’s more just seeing where the concussion has come from. I’m just hoping there are no broken bones around the face or skull area. He’s failed his HIA.”

There was better news on Russell, who walked off the pitch unaided and Townsend is hopeful that the talismanic co-captain will be available for the clash with England a week on Saturday.

“He passed his HIA,” said Townsend. “It was more communication that (coach) Pete Horne and a couple of other guys on the sideline were having with him.

“There were a couple of things he wasn’t remembering about plays. So we made the call not to put him back on.

“He’s obviously frustrated. It’s a freak injury when you collide with your own player. I don’t know the protocols of passing HIA and then being pulled out. He will now be classed as a failure, delayed symptoms. I don’t know whether that will be just seven days. It’s based on his record and passing HIA too.

“There’s no game for Finn next week anyway. We’re hoping he’ll make a full recovery in time for it (England).”

Reflecting on the game, Townsend said: “When you’re 17-0 down, when things haven’t gone well for you and you’ve had to make changes, you do fear that the opposition could build on that, but I was really proud of the way we came back at the end of the first half.

“I felt we were getting back into the game, and then you look at the error off the kick-off, that just gives the momentum back. Once they score another try, it’s very tough to get ahead again.”