Ireland’s defence creaked during the final 25 minutes with four unanswered tries conceded as Scotland claimed back-to-back TikTok Women’s Six Nations wins for the first time in 17 years.
TIKTOK WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 5:
Saturday, April 29 –
SCOTLAND WOMEN 36 IRELAND WOMEN 10, DAM Health Stadium
Scorers: Scotland: Tries: Meryl Smith, Lana Skeldon, Leah Bartlett, Francesca McGhie, Rachel Malcolm, Chloe Rollie; Cons: Helen Nelson 3
Ireland: Try: Nichola Fryday; Con: Dannah O’Brien; Pen: Dannah O’Brien
HT: Scotland 5 Ireland 3
Match Photo Gallery: Scotland 36 Ireland 10
Captain Nichola Fryday’s second try of the tournament brought Ireland level at 10-all in Edinburgh, but they were unable to avoid a first Wooden Spoon since 2004 as their campaign finished on a disappointing note.
Scotland scored on the stroke of half-time, centre Meryl Smith showing good strength to reach over the line and give her side a 5-3 lead. Dannah O’Brien had slotted over a fifth minute penalty for the visitors.
Fryday exchanged tries with Lana Skeldon before Scotland, honing in on a fourth place finish, motored clear for an eventual 36-10 bonus point victory.
Francesca McGhie’s excellent individual try was the best of the lot, with Leah Bartlett, skipper Rachel Malcolm and Chloe Rollie also touching down to thrill the record Scottish crowd of 4,862.
For Greg McWilliams’ Ireland squad, it was a chastening night as they suffered their fifth defeat of the Championship which means they will be playing in the third tier of the new WXV global competition later this year.
With Wales’ 36-10 triumph over Italy giving Ireland a shot at moving off the bottom of the table, McWilliams’ charges made some early inroads with Deirbhile Nic a Bháird and Linda Djougang both prominent as ball carriers.
Teenager O’Brien put points on the board from a central penalty, just outside the Scottish 22, and she continued to warm to the task with a 41-metre kick to touch.
Although Ireland still had lineout issues to iron out, Nic a Bháird tigerishly ripped the ball away from her opposite number Evie Gallagher. Neve Jones was also at her disruptive best at the breakdown.
Smith’s rip in the tackle allowed Helen Nelson to test Ireland’s defence out wide with a cross-field kick, but the ball beat winger McGhie into touch.
Improved ball retention saw centres Vicky Irwin and Aoife Dalton combine to good effect in midfield, while Lauren Delany used a dummy to break along the right touchline before the supporting Aoife Doyle was well marshalled by the Scottish defence.
The hosts were unable to take advantage of a Louise McMillan break, with the girls in green thwarting them with a Jones turnover penalty. However, neither team could get into try-scoring range.
A Sam Monaghan-led counter ruck, coupled with a charge down from Djougang, saw Ireland build pressure inside the Scottish half, only for Scotland’s maul defence to prevent Brittany Hogan from scoring on the half hour mark.
Despite an increasing reliability to the Irish lineout, a lost throw was followed by a close-in penalty which allowed the Scots to maul up close and Smith, having absorbed a tackle from O’Brien, powered her way over from five metres out.
Following Nelson’s missed conversion, Scotland resumed in the second half by matching up well in defence. Jade Konkel-Roberts landed some big hits and a maul infringement by Dorothy Wall was ruthlessly punished.
Hooker Skeldon spun off a dominant lineout drive to double the home side’s tally, but Fryday replied just six minutes later. Ireland’s forwards battered away through three mauls before their skipper, with Wall on the latch, crashed over to the right of the posts.
A well-struck conversion from O’Brien brought her side level, but Scotland soon stormed back downfield. Smith surged through in terrific fashion from first-phase lineout ball, taking advantage of two missed tackles.
The home forwards crept closer before prop Bartlett squeezed over the whitewash, with Nelson nailing her first successful conversion. She also added the extras to McGhie’s moment of magic with 15 minutes remaining.
With Ireland caught narrow in defence, the Watsonians flyer beat Doyle for pace on the outside, sliced inside Delany inside the 22 and stayed clear of the chasing Nic a Bháird to put 14 points between the sides.
Into the closing stages, a knock-on denied Malcolm a try before she slipped out of a tackle from Ailsa Hughes to go over in the right corner.
Rollie had the final say in the 81st minute, handing off Méabh Deely to score on the opposite wing following some crisp passes from out-half Nelson and centre Emma Orr.
TIME LINE: 5 minutes – Ireland penalty: Dannah O’Brien – 0-3; 40 mins – Scotland try: Meryl Smith – 5-3; conversion: missed by Helen Nelson – 5-3; Half-time – Scotland 5 Ireland 3; 47 mins – Scotland try: Lana Skeldon – 10-3; conversion: missed by Helen Nelson – 10-3; 53 mins – Ireland try: Nichola Fryday – 10-8; conversion: Dannah O’Brien – 10-10; 56 mins – Scotland try: Leah Bartlett – 15-10; conversion: Helen Nelson – 17-10; 65 mins – Scotland try: Francesca McGhie – 22-10; conversion: Helen Nelson – 24-10; 74 mins – Scotland try: Rachel Malcolm – 29-10; conversion: Helen Nelson – 31-10; 80+1 mins – Scotland try: Chloe Rollie – 36-10; conversion: missed by Helen Nelson – 36-10; Full-time – Scotland 36 Ireland 10
SCOTLAND WOMEN: Chloe Rollie (Loughborough Lightning); Coreen Grant (Saracens), Emma Orr (Heriot’s), Meryl Smith (University of Edinburgh), Francesca McGhie (Watsonians); Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning), Mairi McDonald (Exeter Chiefs); Leah Bartlett (Loughborough Lightning), Lana Skeldon (Worcester Warriors), Christine Belisle (Loughborough Lightning), Jade Konkel-Roberts (Harlequins), Louise McMillan (Saracens), Rachel Malcolm (Loughborough Lightning) (capt), Rachel McLachlan (Sale Sharks), Evie Gallagher (Worcester Warriors).
Replacements used: Caity Mattinson (Worcester Warriors) for McDonald (56 mins), Eva Donaldson (University of Edinburgh) for McMillan, Eilidh Sinclair (Exeter Chiefs) for McLachlan (both 71), Anne Young (Sale Sharks) for Bartlett, Jodie Rettie (Saracens) for Skeldon, Elliann Clarke (University of Edinburgh) for Belisle, Beth Blacklock (Harlequins) for Grant, Liz Musgrove (Wasps) for McGhee (all 76).
IRELAND WOMEN: Lauren Delany (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby); Aoife Doyle (Railway Union RFC/Munster), Aoife Dalton (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Vicky Irwin (Sale Sharks/Ulster), Natasja Behan (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Molly Scuffil-McCabe (Railway Union RFC/Leinster); Linda Djougang (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster), Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury/Ulster), Christy Haney (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster), Nichola Fryday (Exeter Chiefs/Connacht) (capt), Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby), Brittany Hogan (Old Belvedere RFC/Ulster), Grace Moore (Saracens/IQ Rugby), Deirbhile Nic a Bháird (Old Belvedere RFC/Munster).
Replacements used: Dorothy Wall (Blackrock College RFC/Munster) for Moore (15 mins), Anna McGann (Railway Union RFC/Connacht) for Irwin (50), Ailsa Hughes (Railway Union RFC/Leinster) for Scuffil-McCabe (58), Hannah O’Connor (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) for Hogan (64), Sadhbh McGrath (City of Derry RFC/Cooke RFC/Ulster) for Haney (68), Méabh Deely (Blackrock College RFC/Connacht) for Doyle (69), Kathryn Buggy (Gloucester-Hartpury/IQ Rugby) for Djougang, Clara Nielson (Exeter Chiefs/IQ Rugby) for Jones (both 76).
Referee: Sara Cox (England)
Source: Irish Rugby