A SPECIAL day for Scotland. In the lead-up, when Declan Kidney described them as party-poopers, we nodded at his politeness and prepared for Ireland to give Croke Park a proper farewell. Instead it was Scotland who celebrated wildly, enjoying their first victory in Dublin in a decade and earning a proper reward for a championship in which they have been high on endeavour but often short on luck.

They will rarely win marks for artistic impression but in Andy Robinson, they have a coach who has focused on traditional Scottish strengths – a hard-working pack sparked by a phenomenally competitive back row, and forever driven forward by Dan Parks.

Parks has taken his fair share of stick over the years but this was his day of vindication. He kicked five penalties from six attempts and dropped a goal on half-time to sicken Ireland, sending them in trailing 14-7 despite playing some wonderfully inventive, if sometimes frantic, rugby.

That moment was sweet, but nowhere near as memorable as the final penalty, awarded by Jonathan Kaplan against ball-carrier Rob Kearney for not releasing in the tackle. From wide on the left, with the scores tied and the Croke Park crowd behaving more like something you’d hear in the South of France, Parks struck a high, soft fade that soared between the posts. And that was the ball-game. Having surrendered winning positions against Wales, Italy and England, Scotland finally sealed the deal.

We had a dry evening and a quick track. With a South African referee and the balance at the breakdown suddenly tipped in favour of the attacking side, here was a chance for both sides to fire a few shots. Ireland didn’t need any further invitation. Brian O’Driscoll released David Wallace down the left directly off Geordan Murphy’s kick-off reception, and Ireland swept the ball left and right. Only a careless pass by Tommy Bowe to Keith Earls spoiled what might have been a dramatic start.

In fact Ireland’s hands were less than perfect in that breathless opening, with Gordon D’Arcy and Rory Best both spilling the ball, the first of those errors allowing Dan Parks to kick Scotland downfield to good effect. Granted a free kick at the first scrum, they recycled well enough to force the penalty as Paul O’Connell was pinged for not rolling away.

Ireland were hardly deterred by this early setback. In the first 10 minutes, Bowe and Earls received almost as many attacking passes as in the championship so far. Runners came thick and fast at every conceivable angle, and off-loaded adventurously. And soon enough, they had their reward.

There was an element of good fortune to O’Driscoll’s try. Sexton’s loop around D’Arcy and his show-and-go were perfect, but his delayed final pass appeared to allow his skipper to stray in front — the crowd’s reaction to the replay confirmed a forward pass. But referee Kaplan didn’t see it and O’Driscoll skipped away to score.

Ireland’s adventure came with a price-tag, however. For as soon as you had Cian Healy tearing up the right wing and laying the ball back loosely, you also had Kelly Brown pinching it and heading off in the opposite direction. His pop-up to Graeme Morrison kept the counter going, and then Johnnie Beattie blasted Murphy aside for that rare occurrence — a Scottish try.

They celebrated accordingly but didn’t stop there. They were in the game and were further encouraged by the frailties in Ireland’s game.

Four times the home team were pinged at the scrum, and even their lineout coughed up possession three times before the break. When Sexton set up an attacking lineout in the right corner, Tomàs O’Leary spoiled it all with a shoddy pass. And when Sexton finally accepted the challenge of a shot at goal — having turned down a couple of opportunities — he pushed the ball right.

Having worked so hard in defence, Scotland got another chance to exert some pressure and they made it count. The difficulties they were causing at the scrum meant they should have been looking at another five-pointer but their running and handling remained predictable. They did score points, however, with Parks landing a penalty when Donncha O’Callaghan went offside and then a handy drop goal right on the stroke of half-time. He signalled the accuracy of his strike with a flourish of his hand before the ball had even bisected the posts and suddenly, we could hear the Scots in the crowd.

Ireland had the chance to regain the initiative shortly after the restart but Sexton snatched badly at the kick, a mistake highlighted even further when Parks struck accurately five minutes later after a barnstorming charge by Sean Lamont.

Ireland were now trailing 17-7 and needed a change of pace. They tried mauling and it worked – Sexton, with Ronan O’Gara waiting to replace him, struck accurately from the right. Then they moved Scotland around with a quick rucking game, eventually finding space down the right. D’Arcy’s pass to Bowe was poor, making him check, but he still had the strength to reach and dot down. O’Gara’s touchline conversion had Croker rumbling.You sensed at this stage that the momentum had swung back Ireland’s way but Scotland were on a mission. Their pack eked out another shot at goal for Parks and he was on target again. And even though O’Gara equalised with five minutes to go, the force was with the visitors. It merely remained for Parks to do his thing.

Scorers: Ireland: Tries: O’Driscoll 10, Bowe 63 Con: Sexton, O’Gara Pen: Sexton, O’Gara Scotland: Tries: Beattie 15 Pen: Parks (5) DG: Parks

Referee: J Kaplan (South Africa) Attendance: 80,313

Ireland: G Murphy (R Kearney 26 min); T Bowe, B O’Driscoll (capt), G D’Arcy, K Earls; J Sexton (R O’Gara 51min), T O’Leary; C Healy, R Best, J Hayes (T Buckley 79min), D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, S Ferris, D Wallace, J Heaslip.

Scotland: H Southwell; S Lamont (S Danielli 73min), N de Luca, G Morrison, M Evans; D Parks, C Cusiter (capt, M Blair 51min); A Jacobsen (A Dickinson 65min), R Ford (S Lawson 71min), E Murray, J Hamilton (R Gray 52min), A Kellock, K Brown , J Barclay, J Beattie.

TOPPLED CROWN

Ireland missed out on their fifth Triple Crown in six years with their defeat against Scotland yesterday.

England have won the most Triple Crowns with 23. Wales have won 19 and Ireland and Scotland 10 each

Ireland’s record in recent Triple Crown matches:
2010 Lost Scotland 23-20
2009 Beat Wales 17-15
2007 Beat Scotland 19-18
2006 Beat England 28-24
2004 Beat Scotland 37-16
2003 Lost England 42-6