Neither side will be satisfied with the game, but Ireland righted the wrong of their loss in Edinburgh last April.
Astonishingly this was their first match since then, and it showed at the start. Scotland, playing with confidence, moved into a 14-0 lead.
Lisa Thomson completed strong pressure to force her way over. She was a dominant presence with hand and boot at this stage.
Then a quite different affair: behind a ruck Caity Mattinson suddenly produced a no-look reverse pass to winger Lucia Scott and she roared through, hardly touched by human hand. When did we last see the Scots produce such a sharpened blade?
Lana Skeldon
But they suffered a grievous blow. Lana Skeldon, a permanent force of nature in the pack and generous provider of tries, lay on the ground in pain for eight minutes. At last a trolley was able to take her from the pitch, accompanied by the warmest applause.
An ankle injury is feared, placing her presence at the RWC in the gravest doubt. Sympathy can barely suffice to compensate for her disappointment. And it throws into question again Scotland’s player depth.
On the restart Ireland took command at once.
Molly Scuffil-McCabe made a huge midfield break; it took tackles by Emma Orr and Scott to halt her, but Ireland stayed patient and it was the young prop, Sadhbh McGrath, who forced her way over.
Soon after, a well-constructed move led to quick passes for full-back Meabh Deely to sprint clear on the right.
Dannah O’Brien didn’t enjoy her best day off the tee; only one conversion success. That helps to explain the final margin.
Both sides rely heavily on one boot each for kicking: Thomson and O’Brien’s. These days that isn’t enough.
I was pleased to see Hannah Ramsay given an outing at 10 for the Scots. She wasn’t perfect, but Bryan Easson has relied far too long on Helen Nelson’s presence there. Her form goes up and down too often for comfort.
A conversion brought the half-time score to a finger-nail threatening 12-14. Some in the crowd might have been muttering: ‘If only Dorothy Wall and Aoife Wafer were here’. They were happy to see captain Sam Monaghan restored after a long absence, but the medics had set a limit on her onfield stay.
Scott Bemand can find solace in the second-half display. Tries to Nancy McGillivray (on debut), Niamh O’Dowd and Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird were answered by one solitary response by Emma Orr. But it was a beauty. She rampaged through midfield, swaying this way and that to fox defenders, and sprinted to the line. Yet another non-English Lion for the future.
On 74 minutes the score was still only 22-21 to the Green Wave, as we must now call the hosts. But that fifth try made the game safe.
Result: Ireland 27 Scotland 21
Player of the Match: Grace Moore
Referee: Clara Munarini (FIR)
Teams
Ireland:
15 Meabh Deely 14 Beibhinn Parsons 13 Eve Higgins 12 *Nancy McGillivray 11 Amee-Leigh Costigan 10 Dannah O’Brien 9 Molly Scuffil-McCabe 1 Siobhan McCarthy 2 Cliodhna Moloney-Macdonald 3 Saidhbh McGrath 4 Eimear Corri-Fallon 5 Sam Monaghan (captain) 6 Grace Moore 7 *Ivana Kiripati 8 Brittany Hogan
16 Neve Jones 17 Niamh O’Dowd 18 Linda Djougang 19 Fiona Tuite 20 Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird 21 *Ailish Quinn 22 Emily Lane 23 Enya Breen
*uncapped
Scotland:
15 Chloe Rollie 14 Rhona Lloyd 13 Emma Orr 12 Lisa Thomson 11 Lucia Scott 10 Hannah Ramsay 9 Caity Mattinson 1 Anne Young 2 Lana Skeldon 3 Elliann Clarke 4 Emma Wassell 5 Rachel Malcolm (captain) 6 Rachel McLachlan 7 Alex Stewart 8 Evie Gallagher
16 Elis Martin 17 Leah Bartlett 18 Molly Poolman 19 Adelle Ferrie 20 Eva Donaldson 21 Leia Brebner-Holden 22 Beth Blacklock 23 Coreen Grant
Afterthoughts
These were still experimental sides. Ireland now face a far tougher contest against Canada in Belfast.
Easson might well still be unsure of his optimum side. Skeldon’s fate lies in the balance. How many hookers of the requisite standard remain at his disposal?
Having to place his captain in the second row indicates the thinness of his resources.
Bemand tried out three new caps, quite a collection at this late stage. The two starters comported themselves well – enough to assure a long future at this level? We must hope so.
Alex Stewart is a marvel. She suffers from both coeliac disease and type-1 diabetes. Henry Slade (England) and I (not England yet) know all about the latter complaint, but not the former. Huge congratulations to the young back-rower for her fortitude.
