Ireland's Rugby World Cup journey continues, and it never looked in any doubt.
Andy Farrell’s side completed a clean sweep of Pool B with an emphatic 36-14 win against Scotland at a roaring Stade de France, setting up a quarter-final rematch and a chance at revenge against the All Blacks next week.
From the moment James Lowe ran in to score Ireland's opening try with barely 60 seconds on the clock, a 17th win in a row for the Six Nations champions felt inevitable.
Ireland’s World Cup campaign won’t be defined by this win, but what it has done is further reinforce the fact that the gap between the game’s top four and the rest is more like a canyon.
If one image could sum up this night, it was the sight of Peter O’Mahony, Tadhg Beirne, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong all strolling off the pitch on 47 minutes with their evening’s work complete.
By that stage it was 31-0 and Johnny Sexton was on the bench waiting for them. The fact that Ireland could have their frontliners wrapped up in cotton wool with the second half just a few minutes old would was a true flex.
For a brief spell in the opening half Scotland did what they came to do and were disrupting Ireland.
With the score at 5-0 and Ireland conceding multiple penalties, Scotland went several times into the corner and came up with nothing. For almost 20 phases they went back and forth across the pitch as Ireland’s defence bullied them.
The roar that greeted the turnover Ireland won felt like a turning point even with just 14 minutes played, and once they started getting their hands on the ball they looked by far the better team.
Iain Henderson had been chosen over James Ryan in the second row, and he repaid his coach’s faith with a brilliant display, showing deft touches on the ball as well as a real physicality in contact, and he powered over for Ireland’s third try either side of a Hugo Keenan brace which brought up the bonus-point before half time.
Having been humiliated at times in the first half, Scotland completely lost their composure in the third quarter. Early in the second half Ollie Smith was yellow-carded for a trip on Sexton which sparked pushing and shoving match, while Ireland pushed on further and further with tries for Dan Sheehan and the outstanding Garry Ringrose, the latter of whom played 60 minutes on the wing after Mack Hansen departed with a head injury.
If there was a negative for Ireland this evening, it’s the injury count. Hansen is likely to be following the return to play protocols which could make him a doubt for the quarter-final, while Lowe was replaced at half time having needed treatment for a facial injury in the opening half.
It had been a while since Ireland made a hot start in a game like this, and Lowe’s try with barely 60 seconds played was a real statement from Andy Farrell’s side.
With Henderson in as first receiver in midfield, the lock swept the ball out to Sexton who passed left to Ringrose, and the Ireland centre split the gap between Fagerson and Gilchrist to break the line, with simple hands to Hansen and Lowe allowing the wing to run into the corner.
It was a perfect start, but after Sexton’s conversion went wide, Ireland were quickly defending deep in their 22 when Doris was penalised for a high tackle, but the number 8 quickly made amends by winning a jackal penalty back for his side.
Further penalties followed against Ireland, one at the scrum, before Lowe was pinged for going off his feet, and they invited pressure upon themselves.
Ireland’s discipline was a bit off, but their defence wasn’t. Two Scottish maul attempts went nowhere, and when Scotland tried to move the maul wide they found themselves going backwards. For close to 20 phases they held the ball, but could hardly make a yard, with O’Mahony, Sheehan and Porter putting in particularly ferocious hits before Ireland eventually forced a knock-on.
The Six Nations champions had hardly touched the ball since their try inside the opening minute, but almost got in for a second try when O’Mahony broke the line and offloaded to Hansen, but Finn Russell did just about enough to force a fumble as the line beckoned.
Hansen departed shortly afterwards for a HIA from which he wouldn’t return, as McCloskey came in for his World Cup debut, while Scotland had injury issues of their own, losing captain Jamie Ritchie to an apparent rib issue.
Having kept the early Scottish pressure at bay, Ireland killed the game off in the space of six minutes, ruthlessly opening Scotland up as Keenan and then Henderson went in for tries.
Keenan’s was a piece of first-phase brilliance off a lineout on 25 minutes. Having feigned a maul they quickly moved the ball through seven pairs of hands before Keenan dived over in the corner, with Sexton converting to make it 12-0.
Six minutes later they were over again, Henderson barging his way over from short range, a score as brutal as Keenan’s was beautiful.
With Sexton’s conversion sending them 19-0 in front, the Stade de France was officially in party mood, but Andy Farrell’s side weren't satisfied with just that as they looked to hammer home their dominance before the break.
They attempted a tap-and-go move from 10 metres out, but after referee Nic Berry got in the way and caused the play to end, a shout of "F****** hell" from an Irish player could be heard clearly on the RefMic. Berry, to his credit, was quite apologetic.
It didn’t matter though. Keenan scored his second try of the game just before half time, as he scrambled to the line following Sexton’s looping pass with Ireland playing with a penalty advantage. Sexton’s third conversion made it a thumping 26-0 as the half time whistle blew.
At the start if the second half Scotland needed inspiration from somewhere, but they got the opposite; Smith’s petulant trip on Sexton saw hi sent to the bin on 41 minutes, while loosehead prop Pierre Schoeman was fortunate not to follow him after pushing Sheehan over the advertising board.
They were made to pay for their mistake, as Sexton’s penalty put Ireland deep into the 22, and after some initial phases probed the Scottish defence Ireland moved the ball wide with Gibson-Park's long pass allowing Sheehan dive over in the corner.
The conversion pulled left of the posts and it was Sexton's final act of the night as the captain was withdrawn on 43 minutes, while a slew of his teammates followed shortly after, avoiding the risk of any further injuries.
Crowley came in at out-half to replace Sexton, and on 57 minutes the Munster man laid on his side’s sixth try with Ringrose deservedly getting on the scoresheet.
Having won a penalty for an off the ball tackle, Ireland went to the corner, and when an advantage followed moments later Crowley chipped a kick across to Ringrose on the left wing, as he ran in to extend the lead to 36-0.
The steam had long since gone from the game by the time Scotland landed a blow. There'll be a frustration from Ireland at how they gave up tries to both Ewan Ashman and Ali Price in quick succession, even with Gibson-Park and Ringrose as their emergency wingers.
When Price ran in under the posts for the second Scottish score, Russell's conversion made it 36-14, but with just 14 minutes to play it was never going to spark a great comeback.
Instead, it looked like Ireland were going to sign off the night with one final score. Having won a scrum penalty to get his side into position to attack, Finlay Bealham appeared to have powered over the line for a seventh try, but his effort was chalked off following a knock-on in the build-up.
It did little to dampen the mood, as Ireland stretched their winning record over the Scots to nine games.
And it all comes down to New Zealand next week.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Johnny Sexton (capt), Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Dave Kilcoyne, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Stuart McCloskey.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Jamie Ritchie (capt), Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, WP Nel, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie, George Horne, Ollie Smith.
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
