With six minutes to go in this recurring Scottish nightmare, Ireland led by 15 points, a fair reflection of the brutality they visited upon the visitors, a reward for their relentless physical pressure on both sides of the ball.
The visitors banged a penalty into touch. Their hopes of chasing Irish demons from their door had gone, but with a five-metre lineout to come there was a chance of a crumb. A shot at a four-try bonus point still existed. A consolation on a savagely hard game, but something.
They horsed through the phases, giving everything but getting nothing. Half a dozen players and more had a blast. Repelled at every turn. You felt them – and you suspected this bout of pressure was going to end in a way that so many have ended over the years.
Tadhg Beirne went for the kill. A split-second opportunity and he turned it over. Him again. The Aviva saluted him as Scotland would have cursed him.
Scotland got off the floor and they were burst. Utterly spent. In reaching into the ruck it was like Beirne had also reached into their soul, and in that act came a moment of clarity.
How can Scotland beat Ireland when Ireland have such a stubborn insistence on being so damned good in this game?
Beirne’s retirement would help. All of Scotland would chip in for a present. He’s been a total colossus in this fixture in the past and he was again on Saturday. He’s 34, but the bad news for Scotland is he shows no sign of slowing down.
Beirne wasn’t player of the match – that was Caelan Doris – but it could have been him or Stu McCloskey or any number of others – but he was massively influential, a symbol of what Ireland have in abundance and what Scotland don’t have enough off – power, aggression, ruthlessness at every turn.
Grant Gilchrist and Max Williamson put in big shifts but you did wonder what might have happened had Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown been out there.
Maybe nothing. Maybe something. Who knows? They’d have had extra dog, for sure. But enough dog to silence the Irish rottweilers? Doubtful.
There were too many weaknesses in Scotland’s game, too many chances wasted, too many balls put on the deck, too much vulnerability in critical times in defence, too much passiveness in attack early on.
Was it too much to hope that they could go again after the greatness of their victory over France? Perhaps.
