Scotland: (18) 26

Tries: Walters (2), Williams, McNee Goals: Hogg (5)

Ireland: (0) 28

Tries: Coleman, Fellows, Boulter (2), Cabral Goals: Dean (4)

Scotland kicked to a receiving Ireland, starting with a strong defence to Ireland’s first set. With the game scoreless for the first 13 minutes, and the humidity and heat setting in, Scotland maintained a strong line consistently putting pressure on a retreating Ireland. 

With Scotland pushing to within the Irish 10m line, Walters saw a gap and stormed through to put the first points on the board, converted by Hogg for a 6-0 lead.

Scotland make quick work of increasing the lead, with Walters repeating a similar move 16 minutes in. Consistency is key and Hogg converted the second try of the game to extend Scotland to a comfortable lead of 12-0. 

With a minute to half-time, Williams scored and Hogg converted to finish the first half with a comfortable lead of 18-0 over Ireland. 

Half-time saw a drastic change in attitude of both sides. Ireland seemed to return to the field with lifted spirits and Scotland’s confidence and belief had retreated. 

Scotland received and within 2 minutes Ireland gained possession, completing their set with a try scored by Coleman – conversion missed by Dean. This was the start of a strong revival from Ireland. 

Scotland’s defence held on for a further 14 minutes until Ireland’s Fellows scored after a flat line pass. Dean converted to close the gap more to 18-10. 

25 minutes into the second half Scotland pushed hard on Ireland’s middle, leading to McNee to score with a last tackle play to the left side. Hogg missed the conversion and the score was left at 22-10. 

In a quick response, Ireland gained massive ground over Scotland with a well placed kick and Boulter scored a try early into the set. Dean converted again, leaving the score at 22-16. 3 minutes later, a clever kick from Ireland to right side Cabral saw another converted (Dean) try occur. Equal at 22-22 heading into the final minutes of the match. 

Ireland soon conceded a penalty and Scotland utilised the opportunity to squeeze a 2 point lead in with the kick scored by Hogg. He repeated this play with another conceded penalty soon after, settling for a 26-22 lead as we entered the final minute of the game. 

With almost no time to spare, Boulter snuck through the line to secure Ireland’s winning try, converted by Dean, for a final score of 28-26 to Ireland. 

Scotland:

1 Jake Seymour, 19 Euan Caldwell, 3 Douglas Chirnside, 5 Jonny Hutton, 2 Fraser McNee, 6 Alex Williams, 7 Matthew Hogg (C), 8 Connor Terrill, 9 Luke Walters, 10 Josh Honan, 11 Jack McMillan, 12 Charlie Emslie, 20 Josh Dalton

Interchange: 14 Dan May, 15 Niall Hall, 16 Chris Hollands, 17 Finn Davies-Clark 

Ireland:

1 Aedan Coleman, 2 Jorge Cabral, 3 Conor Creaby, 4 Jack O’Sullivan, 5 Sak Fellows, 6 Josh Dean, 7 Brad Sheridan, 10 Aaron Ryan, 9 Ryan Guilfoyle, 15 Euan tiernan, 13 Kevin Varga, 12 James Molvany, 11 Peter Ryan (C)

Interchange: 21 Rex Boulter, 14 Aaron Byrne, 16 Tommy Chipchase