In Dublin last year, Ireland got off to a shaky start. In the opening minutes they gave away a penalty, a free-kick, got charged down and turned over. Finn Russell made it 3-0. An encouraging beginning.
Then Scotland messed up. They had a lineout close to their own line and threw it to Dan Sheehan, who went over. That game was a proper physical battle, with a four-point gap at the end. Scotland gave Ireland a free seven to Sheehan.
‘Cheap points’ is a term used by successive Scotland captains against Ireland. Over the 10 defeats, this kind of wounding error is a theme.
In 2022, while trailing 14-5, Stuart Hogg got greedy when going for the corner while Sam Johnson was free inside. Hugo Keenan put him into touch. A certain try was gone.
The piece-de-resistance of calamities came in 2020, when Hogg dropped the ball going over the Ireland line in Dublin. That was in the 50th minute. A converted try would have brought the score level at 13-13. And Scotland would have had momentum.
Tony Ward, the former Ireland fly-half working for RTE, said the Scots were the better team that day.
In 2019 Scotland started quickly at Murrayfield only to concede via a cock-up between Tommy Seymour and Sean Maitland.
The year before that, Peter Horne gave away an easy seven points early in Dublin when his pass was intercepted. Scotland butchered multiple chances that day, every error proving grist to Ireland’s mill.
Every team makes mistakes but Scotland’s mistakes in this fixture tend to be absolute whoppers. That has to stop.
