Scotland lived up to their pre-match hyperbole by striking early on a blustery day in Murrayfield. Ireland failed to show up for the first half which ultimately led to their downfall as it came to too little too late with tries from Jackson, Earls and Henderson.

Kearney – 6
In the battle of the Fullbacks Kearney came up short against the scintillating Hogg. Left for dead by his opposite man, he did make up for it with a break that took us all the way back to the Kearney of ’09. Try saving tackle was standout.

Earls – 4
The Munsterman was off the boil, along with the majority of the Irish backline, in a testing day. Crossed the line for a try, but failed to give any spark in attack and missed two tackles in a weak defensive performance.

Ringrose – 5
Important learning curve for the young centre. Struggled in the first half with a fizzing Scottish back line, but learnt from his mistakes in the second half and gave Ireland some defensive get go. Will take more from this than a win.

Henshaw – 7
Stand out back. Managed to turn the static ball into something it shouldn’t have been. Tried to get the rest of his cohort on his wave length but was a level ahead. Defensively dominant forcing Scotland out wide, but this is where the rest of the Irish squad failed to deliver.

Zebo – 7
Has legs. Will run. Zebo will always make yards, even with the static ball that he received the dip and diving dashes helped bring Ireland back into the game. Needed a less pedestrian style game to really show his mettle.

Jackson – 6
Used the first half as a warm up, evidently, but came back to the player we’ve now known at Ulster for so long. Took his try well and attacked with more vigour. What that first half was about we’ll never know.

Murray – 4
Not helped by slow ruck ball, but was uncharacteristically off the boil making silly errors and kicking was misplaced more often than not. Failed to lead his pack. Will be disappointed with his performance.

Heaslip – 6
Silly offload to give away, but Heaslip is still delivering. Whether or not he still has full 80s in him will be seen this tournament, but the vice captain stood up and fronted when he was needed. Ireland needed to look to leaders and he made sure he was still there when needed.

O’Brien – 7
He’s back. Running lines and breaking defences apart with footwork and power. Guilty of not always looking for the offload as much as Stander. Will be raring for the rest of the tournament and hopefully can fire up the squad.

Stander – 6
Powerful running as ever and a never say die attitude is what you need in games like these, however, Stander wasn’t quite the man we’d seen before. Maybe he needs a bit more of a warm up and needs to look to offload before contact. He’d be expecting better of himself.

Toner – 5
The main lineout option wasn’t quite on target and was to fault for some areas, but it was hard work as ever around the field. Teams know to target the tallest man in Ireland now with a double tackle which led to fewer gains in ground. Will want to repent next week.

Henderson – 5
Took a Try, but will be disappointed with lineout and ruck work. Didn’t quite hit the targets with Best and not the usual yards made in the loose. Will look to rectify next week, if Dillaine isn’t given the role.

Furlong – 8
Ireland’s best player. Forced the early scrum penalties and carrying where others couldn’t. If the rest of the squad where on his wavelength it would have been a different game.

Best – 5
Not a Captain’s performance and not his Best for certain. Lineout issues will hurt him, particularly missing a centre at a lineout to conceded the try. Tackle count was high, but set piece must improve for next week.

McGrath – 5
Dominant pack, but failed to convert scrum prowess around the rest of the field. Will carry till the cows come home, but no major high profile activities.

Bench – 6
Brought some much needed oomph and energy but couldn’t muster the necessary win. Issues with squad depth? It’s a long tournament so time will tell on this.

By Lorcan O’Duffy

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images