Joe Schmidt has said his Ireland side were “tested on a number of levels” today against Scotland.
Ireland ended up as 28-22 winners in their warm-up at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon, but they looked lacklustre against a Scotland side that fought back impressively to nearly snatch a win at the death.
Hear Joe Schmidt’s thoughts on the game below, and check out the player ratings from the game.
IRELAND V SCOTLAND PLAYER RATINGS
IRELAND
SIMON ZEBO: Mixed bag but always a threat in open-field action. 6/10
TOMMY BOWE: Physicality and size offers Ireland a key differential. 7
JARED PAYNE: Quiet enough but no clangers. 7
GORDON D’ARCY: Unable to impose himself in the style of old. 6
LUKE FITZGERALD: Took his try well but looked rusty elsewhere. 7
IAN MADIGAN: Late surge levelled out his day. 7
ISAAC BOSS: Still craves the tempo of Conor Murray. 6
DAVE KILCOYNE: Conceded too many penalties in the loose. 5
SEAN CRONIN: More errors than usual from the free-running hooker. 6
MIKE ROSS: Another powerful scrummaging effort. 8
DEVIN TONER: Solid without shining in his usual style. 7
DAN TUOHY: World Cup chances could be slim now. 6
JACK CONAN: Did not let anyone down on debut. 6
CHRIS HENRY: Outstanding over the ball, thwarted Scotland all day. 8
SEAN O’BRIEN (captain): Bullish effort at the base of the scrum. 7
Replacements:
RICHARDT STRAUSS (for Cronin, 59): Decent cameo. 7
MICHAEL BENT (for Kilcoyne, 59): Kept the scrum levels up. 6
NATHAN WHITE (for Ross, 53): One fine turnover underlined a solid debut. 7
PAUL O’CONNELL (for Tuohy, 55): Regular captain back with all the usual intensity. 7
JORDI MURPHY (for Conan, 64): Put himself about. 6
EOIN REDDAN (for Boss, 66): Tried to raise the tempo. 6
PADDY JACKSON (for Zebo, 77): Little action at the death. 6
DAVE KEARNEY (for Bowe, 59): Produced one neat break. 7
SCOTLAND
RUARIDH JACKSON: Started in an unfamiliar full-back role but used his handling skills to clever effect clever in the build-up to Blair Cowan’s score. 7/10
SEAN LAMONT: The veteran winger wants to complete a century of caps at the World Cup. A vintage display full of daring drives forward will put him in contention. 7
RICHIE VERNON: The former flanker became the first Scot in 137 years to have played in both the forward and back divisions but his conversion to centre looks a wise move. 6
PETER HORNE: An impressive display from the versatile back at centre. Could have done better with his goal-kicking but made amends with the third try. 7
TIM VISSER: Has all the tools but seldom makes the most of them for his adopted nation. 5
GREIG TONKS: The Edinburgh fly-half had little chance to make a dent on the Irish defences in the first half but did better after the break. 6
HENRY PYRGOS: Started the match as Scotland’ third choice scrum-half but will have given Vern Cotter food for thought after getting on the scoresheet. 7
RYAN GRANT: The prop’s World Cup hopes were left hanging by a thread when he was stretched off with an ankle injury. 5
FRASER BROWN: Started confidently but couple of loose throws put a stain on his first Scotland start. 5
JON WELSH: Let the Irish off the hook with a couple of untimely errors at the breakdown. Off with concussion after the break. 5
JIM HAMILTON: A lack of mobility and discipline has always been the lock’s main flaws and again they blighted an otherwise committed display. 5
GRANT GILCHRIST: Showed little rustiness after 10 months out with arm injuries. Should be heading to England. 7
BLAIR COWAN: Another impressive performance from the London Irish back-rower, capped off with his second Scotland try. 7
HUGH BLAKE: Scotland’s latest ’kilted Kiwi’ was under pressure to perform following his controversial call-up but proved why Cotter rates him so highly. 7
DAVID DENTON: A bright display from the Edinburgh man. Should have released the ball to Lamont though when the Scots were charging forward in the second half. 6
Replacements:
GORDON REID (for Grant, 45): Gave his side stability at the scrum. 5
MIKE CUSACK (for Welsh, 47): The English-born prop made his Scotland debut when Welsh had to be replaced following a head knock. 4
ROSS FORD (for Brown, 52): Battled away as the game grew stretched in the closing stages. 4
ROB HARLEY (for Hamilton, 56): Asked to beef up Scottish defence after Ireland’s second try. 4
JOHN BARCLAY (for Cowan, 59): Back after an 18-month exile from the Dark Blues set-up. 4
MATT SCOTT (for Vernon, 60): Made a couple of decent carries late on. 4