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THE CELTIC CONNECTION • MARCH 1992
Another Black Day in the Long, Horrible Litany for Ireland
RUGBY ROUNDUP
By MIKE HUGHES
IRELAND vs SCOTLAND Lansdowne Road - February 15
It was a windy cold day with intermittent arctic rain. Winter had finally arrived in Ireland. It has been a winter of discontent for a long time on the Irish rugby scene. With two defeats behind them, the Irish were facing their last home game of the championship and the signs were not good.
Some were saying that the performance against England was not as poor as the scoreboard
fiainted it. Scotland would be ielding without redoubtable scrum-half Armstrong, out through injury and replaced by Andrew Nichol. There were also changes in the back row with Jeffrey and Calder having hung up their boots after the World Cup. Ireland had made j ust one change from the team that lost to England, Dave Curtis out and Philip Daner in. A recurring injury forced Staples to retire and Kenny Murphy returned to the side at fullback.
Tony Spreadbury of England was given the whistle and Scotland elected to play with the stiff breeze in the first half. Ireland kicked off and won possession, with
Popplewell breaking and driving up to the Scottish 22-metre line. The I rish won the scrum and Keyes kicked ahead to the corner flag with Geoghegan racing through to pick up and go over the line. The referee put a damper on the Irish jubilation when he declared Geoghegan to have been ahead of the kicker and awarded a penalty to Scotland.
Ireland went upfield again and a Hastings kick was blocked down but Scotland recovered and found touch. Ireland won possession from the lineout and this time, the
farryowen was lofted for Hastings ut he fluffed the catch and Ireland garnered a 5-metre scrum. Scotland were penalized for collapsing the scrum and Keyes kicked an easy penalty to open the scoring.
This setback woke Scotland up and furious attacks were launched at the Irish defence. In a six-minute period asuccessionof scrums were awarded to Scotland on the Irish 22- metre line but each time the possession was thwarted by dour Irish defence.
Ireland held out again, then went on a raid and launched a searching attacked that promised much, but a bad pass by Fitzgibbon to Wallace ended the promising move. Play was on halfway when Francis was penalized in the lineout and Gavin Hastings elected to kickatgoal from
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five yards inside his own half. The length was not in the kickso Ireland were able to clear to touch.
Scotland were surprisingly lording it in the lineup and play was brought deep into the Irish 22-metre zone. Again, Weir won clean ball in the lineout and the line was fed. The ball eventually cleared White, who was tackled near the touchline when he fed inside to Tukla, but it slipped through his fingers and was snatched by the flying Stanger, who crashed over the line for abrilliant try. Hastings made the difficult convert and it was 6-3 with 29 minutes gone. Gone too was Halpin with an injury, and Des Fitzgerald came into the game.
The half was almost over and play was confined to the mid-field area when Keyes elected to kick for touch cross-field and the ball was carried by the wind and ground was lost. The half fizzled out and Scotland went in with a six-point lead.
Scotland were well on top in the lineouts and this was not predicted but the Irish scrum was similarly on top. Scotland deserved to be in front on the run of play. Though it could be said that the margin enjoyed was a small cushion, given the wind factor that would now favour the Irish. Keyes was not enjoying his game and the Irish performance in the lineouts could be generously described as miserable.
Scotland brought play deep into the Irish half as the game drew to a close. Scrum after scrum was won by Scotland as the clock ran down and eventually Ireland got
possession and set up the counterattack but Keyes knocked on hopelessly and Popplewell didn't resist picking up the ball from an offside position. The penalty was in front of the Irish posts and Sole asked Hastings to kick it to seal the issue. The final score was 18-10.
It was another black day in the long and horrible litany for Ireland. There are serious deficiencies in the Irish game. The first game saw great lineout play ruined by poor front five in the scrum. The third game was exactly the opposite. The inconsistencies are glaring.
Scotland deserved this victory. It wasn't a great Scottish team by any yardstick but it was effective and
Weir and Edwards in the lineouts were lords of all they surveyed. Much credit for the victory rests on their shoulders. Nichol had a fine game and was a worthy replacement for Armstrong. White was prominent and the Scottish support play was excellent throughout.
FIVE NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIPS:
France Ireland
Table:
England
Wales
Scotland
France
Ireland
13
10S P
3 2 2 2 3
England 31 Scotland 18 W D L PTS
6 2 2 2 0
SOCCER
Surprises in the First Round of the FIA Cup
The first round of the FIA Cup was played with too many non-league clubs involved for me to list all the results. There were a number of surprises with Waterford and Home Farm making an early exit to less exalted opposition.
The respective victors were Wayside Celtic and Fanad United, who were both playing away from home. St. Pat's nad a 3-1 win over Shamrock Rovers, UCD knocked outFinnHarps and St. James's Gate overcame Athlone. All the other games either ended in draws or with league sides eliminating non-league sides.
The game was played on February 11 and shown live on satellite TV.
IRISH CLUB SIXTH ROUND:
Ards 3 Dunmurry 3
Ballyclare 0 Oxford
United Stars 1 Cliftonville 2 Larne 0 Glentoran 0 Glenavon 0 Limavady 0 Crusaders 0 Omagh 1 Ballymena 0 Portadown 4 Dungannon 0 Liam Brady was delighted with his team's performance in the cup when they overcame Dundee Utd by 2-1. Celtic dominated play but needed a late goal to reach the quarter finals. Rangers (2-1 against Motherwell), Hearts (1-2 against Dunfermline), Hibs, Morton and Airdrie are also through.
Liam Ferrie
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