Ireland beat Scotland 17-13 to retain the Six Nations 2024 and deny their opponents, England and France the chance to beat them to the title at Dublin Arena.
Finn Russell kicked penalties either side of Dan Sheehan capitalising on a calamitous Scotland throw to score the only try of the first half before and give Ireland a 7-6 half-time lead.
Tadhg Furlong thought he had gone over shortly after a second-half Jack Crowley penalty but was denied following a lengthy review.
Andrew Porter extended Ireland’s advantage to 11 points but Russell’s conversion from Huw Jones’ try ensured a nervy final two minutes.
Ireland have now won 19 successive home games, while Scotland’s defeat meant they missed out on a first ever Triple Crown.
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Ireland’s last-gasp defeat against England at Twickenham a week ago had thrown open the prospect of one of four teams becoming champions at the start of a day dubbed by some as ‘Super Saturday’ in the Six Nations.
The bonus points system led to some complicated permutations, but Andy Farrell’s side had by far the most straightforward of them to process: win or draw to guarantee glory.
🏆 SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONS 🍀#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/Uz4mUp5NxA
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) March 16, 2024
Ireland win Six Nations
France and England will have been encouraged by Scotland going ahead but their dreams have been ended before they meet at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais at 20:00 GMT.
Gregor Townsend’s players lost in Italy last weekend but pushed Ireland hard at times, arguably having the better of the first half.
“Scotland are a team that always stick in there,” Porter told ITV. “You could see that in the last few minutes, there. We were on the edge of our seats – credit to them.
“They were a tough team to break down, their defence put it up to us. You’ve just got to keep backing yourself and that’s what we did.”
