Ireland have produced a dominant 32-18 win over Scotland in Murrayfield in the 2025 Guinness Six Nations.
The visitors recorded four tries and a bonus point against Gregor Townsend's hosts. Calvin Nash and Caelan Dorris crossed the whitewash in the first half to fire Ireland to a 17-5 lead at the interval, and James Lowe and Jack Conan added a try each in the second half to secure a comfortable victory in Edinburgh. Man-of-the-match Sam Prendergast also added 12 points to the visitors' tally.
Duhan van der Merwe and Ben White scored the two Scottish tries late in each half, with Blair Kinghorn kicking eight points.
Ireland have now won this fixture 11 times in a row, and move top of the Six Nations table with two bonus-point victories in their opening two matches. Simon Easterby's men are in formidable form as they target the three-in-a-row.
Match report
Ireland made a fast start on a dull, grey day in Edinburgh.
They grabbed the game's first try in just the eighth minute. Having been stopped short of the try-line following a successful lineout, Prendergast spotted Nash in space out wide and flung the ball to the Munster winger, who crossed to make it 5-0. Prendergast nailed his conversion to extend Ireland's lead.
Tadhg Beirne was temporarily withdrawn for a head injury assessment, with Ryan Baird coming on in his stead, only for Baird to also require a HIA soon afterwards. He was replaced by Conan.
A scrappy period followed, with Ireland losing a line-out before Scotland suffered a significant blow in the 14th minute when van der Merwe was sent to the sin bin for an off-the-ball push on Nash. The TMO replays confirmed that the Scotland star had illegally bundled Nash over just five metres from the line, but Irish cries for a penalty try fell on deaf ears.
Ireland's powerful maul almost resulted in a try from the resulting lineout, but the Scottish defence held firm. Beirne was deemed fit to return in the 19th minute, coming on in place of Conan.
Darcy Graham and Finn Russell clashed heads and were both forced off as a result, with the former requiring a stretcher to exit the pitch. The Scotland duo were replaced by Jamie Dobie and Stafford McDowall respectively.
Prendergast made it 10-0 in the 23rd minute, kicking over a penalty after Scotland were too slow to roll away from a tackle.
Ireland won a scrum deep in Scotland territory in the 30th minute from a Huw Jones knock-on. Prendergast tried to power through on the left wing but was stopped short, but a quick recycle of possession found Doris, who bulldozed past Grant Gilchrist to score Ireland's second try. Prendergast split the posts with his conversion to make it 17-0.
Scotland finished the half strongly, winning a lineout deep in Irish territory in the 38th minute. The resulting maul collapsed, and Ireland were given a scrum inside their own 22. They tried to break, but Doris was caught in possession and was penalised for holding on to the ball.
Scotland performed a quick tap-and-go and worked the ball wide to van der Merwe, who dived over in the corner after a quick pass from McDowall.
Blair Kinghorn missed the conversion and so Ireland went into the break with a 17-5 lead.
Easterby introduced Dan Sheehan to replace Ronan Kelleher for the second half, and saw his first lineout throw stolen by the Scots. Kinghorn kicked his first points of the match from a 22-metre penalty three minutes into the second half after Ireland infringed at the breakdown.
Kinghorn almost breached the Irish defence with a fantastic driving run a few minutes later, only for Jamison Gibson-Park to stop the Scottish kicker with a brilliant tackle from behind. Robbie Henshaw was then penalised for a knock-on and Scotland were awarded a scrum.
They pushed for their second try but had to settle for a penalty after an Irish offside, which Kinghorn tapped over to make it 17-11. Suddenly, it was game on in Edinburgh with half an hour left on the clock.
Conan replaced Peter O'Mahony in the 52nd minute, and Ireland notched their third try just over a minute later. Kinghorn reversed roles as Gibson-Park tried to race on to his own kick down the wing, only for the Scotland man to grab the loose ball at the expense of a five-metre scrum.
Ireland worked the ball from the right corner across the pitch. Prendergast found Lowe, who drove through two Scottish tackles to touch down behind the whitewash. Prendergast scored his third conversion to make it 24-11.
Conan bundled over the line under pressure on the hour mark to secure Ireland's bonus point after fantastic play from Gibson-Park in the buildup, who chipped the ball into space before Prendergast found Conan on the right soon afterwards.
Prendergast got his kick wrong this time from the conversion, but added his second penalty of the match in the 70th minute.
The home side scored a consolation try four minutes from time when White dotted down after a Scottish maul. Kinghorn converted to make it 32-18.
Ireland cruised through the last few minutes to see out an impressive win in Murrayfield.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Tom Jordan, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell (Co-C), Ben White; Rory Sutherland, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge (Co-C), Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman (for Cherrie, 47), Pierre Schoeman (for Sutherland, 47), Will Hurd (for Z Fagerson, 68), Sam Skinner (for Gilchrist, 68), Gregor Brown (for Gray, 47), Jamie Ritchie (for Dempsey, 60), Jamie Dobie (for Graham, 21), Stafford McDowall (for Russell, 21 HIA).
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Rónan Kelleher, Finlay Bealham; James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne; Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (C).
Replacements: Dan Sheehan (for Kelleher, 40), Cian Healy (for Porter, 70), Thomas Clarkson (for Bealham, 60), Ryan Baird (for Beirne, 8-14 HIA and Ryan, 65), Jack Conan, (for O’Mahony, 51) Conor Murray (for Gibson-Park, 69), Jack Crowley (for Nash, 65), Garry Ringrose (for Aki, 57).
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