Ireland 15-12 Scotland

Daire Walsh reports from Kingspan Stadium, Belfast

DANNAH O’BRIEN STRUCK a crucial 74th-minute penalty as Ireland came from behind to record a big win over Scotland in the final round of the Women’s Six Nations Championship.

The 15-12 win seals third place for Ireland in the final Championship standings, and also ensures they have secured qualification at next year’s World Cup finals in England.

Coming into this game on the back of a heavy defeat at the hands of England, Ireland were facing the prospect of a fourth loss in this year’s Championship when Lisa Thomson’s converted effort propelled Scotland into a 12-5 lead during the early stages of the second half.

Yet Ireland rallied with a try of their own from Cliodhna Moloney and after O’Brien added five unanswered points off the kicking tee, Ireland held out for their second victory of the campaign.

Barring the unlikely scenario where Scotland claimed two bonus points in defeat and also prevented their opponents from scoring four tries or more, Wales’ dramatic victory earlier today against Italy meant a win of any kind was going to be enough for Ireland to seal a RWC return for the first time since 2017.

Yet with wins over Wales and Italy already under their belts in this year’s Six Nations, the Scots had reason to be confident of achieving World Cup qualification themselves.

A late addition to the starting line-up that had originally been announced on Thursday, Leicester Tigers hooker Elis Martin appeared at the back of a line-out maul and proceeded to dot down for an eighth-minute breakthrough try.

Helen Nelson was narrowly off-target from the tricky conversion that followed this effort, but the play was subsequently held up for several minutes due to a serious injury that was sustained by her half-back partner Caity Mattinson.

Ireland initially gained a foothold inside the Scottish half when the action finally resumed and a couple of line-out overthrows from Martin ensured they stayed on the front-foot as the tie progressed.

One of just two Ulster natives in the Irish starting line-up, Neve Jones made a break for the whitewash on 33 minutes, but was ultimately denied a third try in this year’s Championship by superb Scottish defence.

Although Martin’s early five-pointer remained the sole difference between the sides, this all changed within 60 seconds of the restart. Ireland had displayed their intent straight from the kick-off at the beginning of the second half and teenage winger Katie Corrigan was picked out in space on the right-flank.

She proceeded to touch down for the third time in as many international home games in 2024 and even though O’Brien couldn’t quite find the range of the ensuing bonus kick at an acute angle, there was a sense that Ireland might have momentum behind them at this point. The addition of front-row pair Niamh O’Dowd and Moloney either side of Corrigan’s try added fresh impetus to their pack, but Scotland responded impressively to this sucker punch.

At the end of an extended attacking spell on the stroke of 50 minutes, inside centre Lisa Thomson spotted a gap to the right of the posts to ruthlessly sprint over the line.

Nelson supplied the extras to this effort, but as the game started to open up in a more meaningful way, there were going to be opportunities for Ireland to fire back. Just shy of the hour mark, O’Brien found touch from an attacking penalty to leave Ireland within striking distance of the Scottish whitewash.

In almost identical fashion to Martin in the opening period, Moloney latched onto the resulting set-piece maul from Ireland and confidently touched down for her first international try since April 2021.

Thanks to O’Brien nailing her latest conversion attempt in the wake of this five-pointer, Ireland were back on level terms (12-12) heading into the final-quarter of an engrossing encounter. While strong carries from Aoife Wafer, player of the match Brittany Hogan and Moloney opened up the possibility of a third Irish try, O’Brien wisely opted for the posts with six minutes remaining and she coolly slotted over to give the home team the lead for the very first time.

There were some tense moments in the dying embers of the game – Beibhinn Parsons was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on in the 79th minute – but the Ireland defence held firm to claim the victory they so badly craved.

Ireland scorers:

Tries: Katie Corrigan, Cliodhna Moloney
Conversions: Dannah O’Brien [1 from 2]
Penalties: Dannah O’Brien [1 from 1]

Scotland scorers:

Tries: Elis Martin, Lisa Thomson
Conversions: Helen Nelson [1 from 2]

IRELAND: Meabh Deely; Katie Corrigan, Eve Higgins, Enya Breen, Beibhinn Parsons; Dannah O’Brien, Aoibheann Reilly; Linda Djougang, Neve Jones (Cliodhna Moloney ‘46), Christy Haney (Niamh O’Dowd half-time); Dorothy Wall, Sam Monaghan; Aoife Wafer, Edel McMahon (Shannon Ikahihifo ‘72), Brittany Hogan.

SCOTLAND: Meryl Smith; Coreen Grant, Emma Orr, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie; Helen Nelson, Caity Mattinson (Mairi McDonald ’12); Leah Bartlett (Lisa Cockburn ’63), Elis Martin (Molly Wright ’63), Christine Belisle (Elliann Clarke ‘48); Emma Wassell, Louise McMillan (Eve Donaldson ’59); Rachel Malcolm, Alex Stewart (Rachel McLachlan ’59), Evie Gallagher.

Referee: Natarsha Ganley (New Zealand).