They did it the hard way but in the end Ireland secured successive Six Nations titles with a dogged victory over Scotland in a scrappy Super Saturday contest.

Dan Sheehan was gifted his fifth try of the tournament by Scotland’s malfunctioning lineout but Andy Farrell’s men only went in 7-6 up at half-time at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Read more: Ireland denied crucial Furlong try after controversial knock-on v Scotland

Jack Crowley booted them slightly further ahead before a Tadhg Furlong try was controversially chalked off. Eventually, Ireland’s pressure told as Scotland’s replacement hooker Ewan Ashman was sin-binned for offending in the red zone and Andrew Porter scored from the tap-penalty move five metres out to make it 17-6.

Ireland looked to be closing the game out without much fuss until Harry Byrne was yellow carded for head-on-head contact with Finn Russell. Then almost out of nowhere, Huw Jones’s scything run took him under the posts and made it a four-point game with two minutes to go.

Ireland win Six Nations

But Scotland ran out of time, Matt Fagerson’s knock-on conceding possession and James Lowe kicked the ball off to spark the celebratory scenes (and a great deal of relief) as Zombie rang around Lansdowne Road.

Ireland may not have convincingly swept aside a Scotland side who became the first team to lose in Rome for 11 years a week ago, but they got the job done a week after their Grand Slam hopes were ended by Marcus Smith’s drop-goal at Twickenham.

For Gregor Townsend’s men, the long wait for a win in the Irish capital now stretches to 14 years and defeat means they miss out on the chance to win silverware with the Triple Crown on the line.

Related: Impressive Jamison Gibson-Park tackle stops Finn Russell in tracks

There will be some soul-searching within the group, who have been widely lauded as arguably Scotland’s best-ever team and claimed a fourth straight Calcutta Cup against England earlier in the championship.

Soon Farrell’s attention will turn to the tour of South Africa, the World Cup champions and No 1 side, with plenty of motivation to try and dethrone the Springboks. Ireland did win in their last meeting in the 2023 RWC pool-stage before crashing out to New Zealand in the quarters in Paris.

After Ireland win the Six Nations, what did you make of the campaign? Let us know on social media or email rugbyworldletters@futurenet.com

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