RUGBY: Wolfhounds rip Scotland apart
THE Ireland Wolfhounds registered a thoroughly deserved victory over a shadow Scottish side at Ravenhill.
A good crowd was entertained to a high octane affair which produced eight tries – five from the Irish which were all top drawer.
However, the Irish also lost concentration at times and were fortunate the Scots had left their full handling skills at the docks.
Ireland skipper, Chris Henry, had promised in the match build-up it would be a special night and when he picked up the man of the match accolade – with Gavin Duffy was also a major contender – it certainly made the occasion all the more memorable.
Ireland had threatened to walk all over their experienced opponents in the opening stages, but the Scots made a game of it and although the final result was probably never in doubt going into the last quarter, the visitors made a good game of it.
Just as a meteor flew over Ravenhill, Ireland opened the scoring in the fourth minute.
Prop Tony Buckley made amends for a dreadful spill at a previous Irish attack, when he released openside, Shane Jennings.
The Leinster man gave to Ulster centre, Darren Cave who did well to beat the cover and although he had Jonathan Murphy outside him, the midfield maestro fed Chris Henry who bounded in from 15 yards.
Ian Humpheys added the extras for a 7-0 lead and a penalty attempt on 12 minutes made it 10-0.
Although there was some good continuity play from Ireland, the greens were lucky that a slightly forward pass from John Houston to Ben Cairns occurred, with the latter going in under the posts.
A dreadful clearance kick from Humphreys gave Scotland possession again, but another forward pass ended a promising attack with Nick De Luca having gone through in the midfield after 24 minutes.
The score which Ireland did produce seven minutes from the break, was worth waiting for.
The pack set good ball up, lock Devin Toner did well and then centre Cave took off like a hare.
Duffy then took ball at speed, broke clear and released Fergus McFadden who scored near the posts, leaving Humphreys with a simple conversion to push the lead out to 17 points.
A frantic second half was only interrupted slightly for French referee, Pascal Gauzere to send Irish lock, Toner, to the sin-bin on the direction of his assistant – although why his Scottish counterpart, Jim Hamilton, was not given the same treatment from the altercation will remain a mystery.
Scotland, from the penalty, put pressure on the Irish but De Luca was unable to catch a pass from his centre partner, Ben Cairns, to open the visitors' account.
A penalty then gave the Scots the chance they wanted, and a quick-tap move saw blindside, James Eddie go in at the corner. Outhalf, Ruaridh Jackson saw his conversion hit the pole.
The Irish put the setback behind them, turned ball over at a ruck and lovely poke from Humphreys found touch near the Scots '22', leaving them to work their way out of trouble again.
A clearance from Jim Thompson was poor and the Irish attacked, the outstanding Duffy accelerating away through space and his pass to McFadden left him with some work to do but the centre weaved his way in. Humphreys added the extras to make it 24-5.
Just around the hour mark the changes were made, with the biggest cheer of the evening ringing out for Ulster hooker, Nigel Brady, finally after years of great service for his Province, earning his first Irish cap.
But it was the Scots who began to fire the ball around with replacement winger, Mark Robertson polishing off a classy move. Jackson converted the simple conversion to make it 24-12.
However, Ireland responded swiftly. The introduction of scrumhalf Isaac Boss for Peter Stringer added much needed pace on the ball, and the Ulster halfback, fired a great pass to Murphy.
The winger tore off down the right flank and returned the compliment to Boss who raced in for the try. Replacement outhalf, Ian Keatly missed the conversion, but the Irish had finally shut the door on the Scots 10 minutes from the end.
To their credit the Scots battled on and were rewarded with a penalty try two minutes from the end, converted by Thompson to make the difference 10 points at 29-19.
The Wolfhounds had the last bark however, Murphy going in for an unconverted try six minutes into injury time.
Wolfhounds: Gavin Duffy; Johnny Murphy, Darren Cave, Fergus McFadden, Ian Dowling; Ian Humphreys, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Sean Cronin, Tony Buckley, Ruan Caldwell, Devlin Toner, Dan Tuohy, Shane Jennings.
Replacements: Nigel Brady (Cronin 64), Mike Ross (Buckley 64), Ed O'Donoghue (Toner 76), Niall Ronan (Jennings 68), Issac Boss (Stringer 64), Ian Keatley (Humphreys 68), Keith Matthews (McFadden 59).
Scorers: Tries: McFadden (2), Henry, Boss, Murphy, Pens: Humphreys, Cons: Humphreys (2)
Sin-bin: Toner (46-56); Horan (82)
Scotland 'A': Jim Thompson; Nikki Walker, Ben Cairns, Nick De Luca, John Houston; Ruaridh Jackson, Mike Blair (capt); Jon Welsh, Dougie Hall, Euan Murray, Scott Macleod, Jim Hamilton, James Eddie, Roddy Grant, Scott Gray.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly (Hall 68), Kyle Traynor (Welsh 58), Craig Hamilton (McLeod 58), Fraser McKenzie (Jackson 72), Greig Laidlaw (Blair 59), Rob Dewey (De Luca 68), Mark Robertson (Walker 63).
Scorers:Tries: Eddie, Robertson, penalty , Cons: Jackson, Thompson
O2 man of the match: Henry
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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