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Scotland defeats Ireland 23-20 to wreck Triple Crown dream

By
SEAN O'SHEA,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, March 20, 2010, 3:23 PM
Updated Saturday, March 20, 2010, 3:48 PM

 

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Scotland ended the Irish Triple Crown dream when they beat Declan Kidney's men 23-20, making Ireland's last appearance at Croke Park a losing one.

A subdued Irish performance allowed the Scots to gain a foothold in the game and they built the foundation for the win with utter domination in the lineout.

Scotland’s man of the match Dan Parks was lethal with the boot throughout and punished Ireland at the death with the match winning penalty.

Parks opened the scoring with a penalty but O'Driscoll scored a try in front of Hill 16 after good work from Sexton, who subsequently converted, to make it 7-3 to the home team.

The concession of a try bought the Scots out of their shell and they stormed down the field to score a try of their own, a great counterattack that was finished by Beattie, but went inconverted.

Sexton missed a few kicks and Parks tagged on a penalty and a drop goal to make it 14-7 at the break.

Ireland came out far stronger in the second period, but Sexton missed another kickable penalty just after the reset to further test Irish nerves.

Parks extended the Scottish lead with another penalty seven minutes into the second half, making the scores 17-7.

Sexton’s last contribution was to kick a penalty over as Ronan O’Gara came in at the 60-minute mark.

The Munster man's introduction provided a bit of impetus and Bowe scored a debatable 64th minute try to bring Ireland right back into the game.

Bowe did not seem to have control of the ball as he touched it down, but the score stood and O’Gara converted to level the game.

The rest of the game became a penalty kicking competition.  Parks gave Scotland the lead back before O’Gara hauled the Irish back to 20-20 to set up a grand stand finish.

However, when Rob Kearney did not release the ball on the sideline, the Scots won a penalty, and Parks converted it brilliantly from a tight angle to win the game, leaving 80.000 fans in shock and the Croke Park leaving party in tatters.

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