Ireland hold against willing Scots
The home team outscored their Celtic visitors by four tries to three, but had to hold out in the face of a fierce second-half onslaught from the Scots.
The teams were level at 7-all at half-time, but after the break the Scottish team three times held the lead – only for a late Luke Fitzgerald try to snatch victory for Ireland.
Chris Henry and Blair Cowan scored for either side in a first half lacking excitement or pattern.
But the match came alive after the break with both sides taking turns to lead, and ultimately Ireland's attacking prowess and stronger bench sealed victory, with Ian Madigan and Simon Zebo impressing.
Zebo limped off before the final whistle, while Ireland coach Joe Schmidt will be concerned over the three tries conceded.
Scotland boss Vern Cotter will be worried over the fitness of prop Ryan Grant, who was stretchered off with a serious looking ankle injury.
With 15 men to be culled from both 46-man squads, both Cotter and Schmidt were eager to allow players to audition with some knowing this would be their one and only opportunity.
Schmidt made 14 changes to the team that beat Wales 35-21 in Cardiff last weekend, with Jack Conan earning his debut, while Gordon D'Arcy became Ireland's longest serving international player with a start at 12 alongside Jared Payne.
Zebo, who impressed off the bench last week, was given a starting role in the less familiar 15 shirt.
It was similar on the opposition side, with Greig Tonks and Ruaridh Jackson at 10 and 15 respectively, swapping their usual roles, and 22-year-old Hugh Blake making his debut.
There was little between the sides in a turgid opening 15 minutes, before Henry crossed the line on Ireland's first real entry into the Scottish 22.
Devin Toner collected from the line-out, and the hosts powered their way through the phases, with Henry picking up from two metres out, and Dave Kilcoyne adding his ballast to push the Ulster back row over the whitewash.
Scotland levelled things just after the half hour, following some good build up play with David Denton heavily involved.
The No.8 bundled Mike Ross out of his way, and some snappy handling followed from Jackson and Richie Vernon, whose glorious offload gave Cowan an easy touch down.
Peter Horne added the extras to tie things, but the Glasgow Warriors star squandered a kickable penalty moments later to take the lead.
The visitors were in the ascendancy as half time arrived, and the break did little to quell their momentum.
Henry Pyrgos scored their second try just four minutes after the restart, with strong play by Ryan Grant and Jon Welsh setting up the skipper who dummied inside, then dived low between Ross and Conan.
Ireland needed just ten minutes to reply, and when they did so it was painfully easy from a Scottish point of view.
Tuohy, replaced by Paul O'Connell seconds later, gathered the line-out and the Irish pack simply bulldozed through the Scots defence, with Cronin peeling off to stroll home.
Both sides began to empty their benches at this point, and Ireland sub Dave Kearney made an instant impact, cutting through the Scots defence with his first touch, and Madigan's inside pass found the flying Zebo who finally bagged a try.
The tries kept coming.
The home crowd were silenced momentarily following a great break by Sean Lamont, who gave Horne an easy run in, and Jackson's conversion put the visitors back in the lead.
But they were cheering seconds later when Madigan, in commanding form, delivered a millimetre-perfect cross kick for Fitzgerald to run on to, and put Ireland into an ultimately unassailable lead.
Ireland are in Pool D at the World Cup alongside France, Italy, Romania and Canada while Scotland will play in Pool B with South Africa, Samoa, Japan and the United States.
The World Cup gets underway on September 18.
Man of the match: There was some good work from Hugh Blake and Grant Gilchrist. Blair Cowan was a constant menace to the Irish – winning turnovers, making tackles and scoring a great try. Peter Horne also showed up the Irish defence with some great runs. Sean O'Brien, Chris Henry, Jack Conan and Devin Toner were the driving force in the Irish pack. Simon Zebo had some great moments on attack and certainly came close. However, our award goes to Irish flyhalf Ian Madigan, who produced a performance that did his World Cup prospects no harm – despite a couple of missed tackles.
Moment of the match: There were some great scores among the seven tries, but Luke Fitzgerald score in the 68th minute is what won the match. An outstanding kick from Ian Madigan landed perfectly for Fitzgerald to gather and run over the line.
Villain of the match: Nothing untoward.
The scorers:
For Ireland:
Tries: Henry, Cronin, Zebo, Fitzgerald
Cons: Madigan 4
For Scotland:
Tries: Cowan, Pyrgos, Horne
Cons: Horne, Jackson
Pen: Horne
Teams:
Ireland: 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Sean O'Brien (captain), 7 Chris Henry, 6 Jack Conan, 5 Dan Tuohy, 4 Devin Toner, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Dave Kilcoyne.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Michael Bent, 18 Nathan White, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Eoin Reddan, 22 Paddy Jackson, 23 Dave Kearney.
Scotland: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Peter Horne, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Henry Pyrgos (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Hugh Blake, 6 Blair Cowan, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Mike Cusack, 19 Rob Harley, 20 John Barclay, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott.
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
