Women’s Six Nations: Ireland 54 Scotland 5It was a weekend of celebration for Ireland women’s rugby, the comprehensive victory before a record 31,294 crowd signing off on a Six Nations tournament that brought three home wins in Galway, Belfast and Dublin. The IRFU wrapped several events around the game. Every player who has previously represented the Ireland 15s and Sevens women’s teams had been invited to the match and in recognition of that status received a ‘heritage cap’, while the first Irish women’s rugby team, who played against Scotland at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on Valentine’s Day, 1993 presented the jerseys to Sunday’s matchday 23 in the Fitzpatrick Castle hotel on Saturday. The Aviva Stadium rocked to thumping tunes, while supporters providing colour and exuberance, noisily celebrating every little win. The team responded to their encouragement in the opening 40 minutes, all of which provided a wonderful backdrop to a memorable occasion – if you were Irish. A Scotland team decimated by injuries couldn’t cope and were blown away, but they showed character and fortitude in the second half to mitigate the damage. Ireland did as they pleased in the first half, playing off the back of a dominant pack. Aoife Wafer was adjudged the player of the match, and she was superb, skittling tacklers and carrying way beyond the gainline. But she had great support from her pack, especially Brittany Hogan and captain Erin King, with the backrow chipping in with five of the eight tries. The pack, to a person, contributed handsomely.Eve Higgins punched numerous holes in the opening half an hour, Stacey Flood’s distribution created space for others, while the Scots found Robyn O’Connor unplayable at times. The halfbacks, Emily Lane and Dannah O’Brien, ensured that the team played in the right places and with good tempo.The Irish team drive over the line to allow Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald score a try. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho The Green Wave, as the team refer to their supporters, celebrated the procession of tries Mexican style after 22 minutes, at which point Ireland led 26-0. It was an acknowledgment that the game as a contest was over, the only thing left to dispute, the final margin. The home side weren’t flattered, if anything they could have tagged on a few more tries with a little more composure and clarity, or if referee Aurélie Griozeleau had opted to police the breakdown and offside line with greater rigour. It was merciful relief for the Scots that they didn’t because by the time the interval arrived, Ireland had stockpiled 47 points without reply; Wafer (two), Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, Hogan, King, O’Connor and Flood crossing for tries, while O’Brien kicked six conversions.The home side was dominant everywhere, in the scrum, the lineout, the maul, the collisions, had a superior kicking game and a cutting edge in the midfield and wider channels. The only thing that prevented the Scots from getting even more of a shellacking was some gutsy tackling and Ireland’s penchant to get a little narrow, and overplay, rather than pushing the ball to space. The Ireland of the first half never returned. There were mitigating factors. A thunderous shower of rain made handling more challenging but the cohesion of the first half, the dynamism of the team patterns dissipated, replaced by individual sallies. To their credit the Scots managed to stick more of their tackles.The third quarter, a mishmash of mistakes, almost came and went without a score, but Hogan’s second try, another close-range finish, enlivened a crowd only too willing to cheer anything positive. Scott Bemand brought on six of the bench in one fell swoop, looking for impact and impetus in the game and on the scoreboard.Ireland's Stacey Flood celebrates with team-mates after scoring a try. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho There was probably one statistic that summed up the afternoon. Ireland had managed 22 entries into their opponents’ 22; Scotland, none until the 76th minute. The Scots, on the back of a series of penalties, the last of which saw Ireland lose Ruth Campbell sent to the sin bin, had the final say, with a try for replacement Aicha Sutcliffe.It was a fitting epitaph for doughty Scottish resistance in a second half which they lost 7-5 on the scoreboard. It didn’t dampen the occasion for the Green Wave, many of whom stayed around to serenade the team as they accepted the Siobhan Cattigan trophy, named in honour Scotland international who sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 26, and for which the countries will compete from this day on. It was Ireland’s day.SCORING SEQUENCE – 4 mins: Moloney-MacDonald try, O’Brien con, 7-0; 8: O’Connor try, O’Brien con, 14-0; 13: Hogan try, O’Brien con, 21-0; 18: King try, 26-0; 29: Wafer try, O’Brien con, 33-0; 35: Flood try, O’Brien con, 40-0; 38: Wafer try, O’Brien con, 47-0. Half-time: 47-0. 60: Hogan try, O’Brien con, 54-0; 80 (+5): Sutcliffe try, 54-5.IRELAND: Stacey Flood (Leinster); Béibhinn Parsons (Connacht). Aoife Dalton (Leinster), Eve Higgins (Leinster), Robyn O’Connor (Leinster); Dannah O’Brien (Leinster), Emily Lane (Munster); Ellena Perry (Gloucester-Hartpury, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Linda Djougang (Leinster); Sam Monaghan (Gloucester-Hartpury), Fiona Tuite (Ulster); Brittany Hogan (Sale Sharks), Erin King (Leinster, capt), Aoife Wafer (Harlequins). Replacements: Neve Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury) for Moloney-MacDonald, Sadhbh McGrath (Ulster) for Perry, Eilís Cahill (Munster) for Djougang, Dorothy Wall (Exeter Chiefs) for Monaghan, Ruth Campbell (Leinster) for Tuite, Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Leinster) for O’Connor (all 49 mins); Niamh Gallagher (Trailfinders Women) for Parsons, Katie Whelan (Leinster) for Lane (both 60). Yellow card: R Campbell (80+3 mins). SCOTLAND: Chloe Rollie (Toulon Provence Méditerranée); Rhona Lloyd (Sale Sharks), Rachel Philipps (Sale Sharks), Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears), Shona Campbell (Sale Sharks); Helen Nelson (Loughborough, capt), Leia Brebner-Holden (Loughborough); Leah Bartlett (Sale Sharks), Elis Martin (Loughborough), Elliann Clarke (Bristol Bears); Emma Wassell (Trailfinders Women), Louise McMillan (Saracens); Becky Boyd (Loughborough), Eva Donaldson (Sale Sharks), Emily Coubrough (Glasgow Warriors).Replacements: Lucia Scott (Loughborough) for Smith (HIA, 4 mins); Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors) for Boyd (50); Aicha Sutcliffe (Glasgow Warriors) for Martin, Demi Swann (Exeter Chiefs) for Bartlett, Coreen Grant (Harlequins) for Rollie (all 54); Rhea Clarke (Bristol Bears) for Brebner-Holden (63); Hollie Cunningham (Bristol Bears) for McMillan (66); Molly Poolman (Edinburgh) for Clarke (74). Referee: Aurélie Griozeleau (France).Follow our rugby WhatsApp channelIf you want the latest rugby news, analysis and opinion then you should follow our dedicated WhatsApp channel. From Gerry Thornley to Owen Doyle and Gordon D’Arcy, we have every angle covered.Find the channel here.