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Ireland 34-13 Scotland
Scotland's miserable Six Nations campaign continued as they slumped to a crushing 34-13 defeat against an improving Ireland side.
Despite scoring their first try for 453 minutes, since their World Cup quarter-final defeat, they were outscored by five tries to one and outplayed for most of the second half.
A Chris Paterson penalty eight minutes in should have opened the scoring for Scotland but the fly-half chose to take a quick kick and instead it was Ireland, ten minutes later, that broke the deadlock.
It was the first spell of pressure from the home side and they made it count. From a scrum ten yards out, David Wallace broke from the side, feigned a pass to his right and made a dart for the unprotected line.
Ronan O'Gara's conversion was followed by a brilliant, long-range penalty from Paterson but before long Ireland had stretched their lead.
Brian O'Driscoll had made the yards, breaking through the middle, before throwing a long, looping pass out to the left wing where Robert Kearney went over for a 26th minute try.
O'Gara scored the additional and, despite Paterson's second penalty of the half, Scotland were well down after a half they dominated in parts, gaining 60 per cent of the overall possession.
Ireland returned and stormed the Scots in the early stages of the second half, scoring after less than a minute had been played when O'Gara's chip was caught by an unmarked Marcus Horan who made the score 19-3.
The shock Scotland try, coming 13 minutes into a half which Ireland had dominated with 85 per cent of the early possession, came when the excellent Simon Webster broke the strong Irish line to score under the posts.
Ten minutes of competitive rugby followed before Tommy Bowe made a brilliant run down the right, initiated by O'Gara and Andrew Trimble, to score in the corner following consultation with the video ref.
Ireland could cruise after that, not scoring their fifth until the last minute when Paterson fumbled an awkward pass which Trimble grabbed and laid off for Bowe to score his second of the game.
Outplayed everywhere except in the line-out, Scotland must now fight Italy for the wooden spoon on March 15, while Ireland will tackle the unbeaten Welsh with confidence in two weeks' time.
Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
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Originally Posted by The Lone Hydrangea
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