Easterby pleased with Irish ‘control’ versus Scots

Simon Easterby, Ireland’s interim head coach, praised his team’s “intent to attack” in their Six Nations victory over Scotland.

Following last week’s 32-18 victory over England in Murrayfield on Sunday, the back-to-back champions are two from two and have earned two bonus points.

“We did what we set out to do in the game”, Easterby told BBC Sport.

“We made a strong start, but Scotland had only a few chances in the first half.”

The first half’s scoreline reflected that sentiment, which we felt was in our hands during the first half.

After the influential pair collided in the 21st minute, Scotland, according to Easterby, had an impact on the game due to Finn Russell and Darcy Graham’s injury.

” We were good at not giving their individuals opportunities, “he added.

Finn Russell and Darcy Graham were both hurt, but we made it work because we had the right plan of attack.

“I believed Sam Prendergast consistently placed us in the appropriate places, which is what you need.” We managed the game well throughout”.

In his fifth Test appearance, Prendergast won the player of the match award and thought his team performed better in Edinburgh than they did last week when they lost to England.

“I thought we started unbelievably in the game”, he said.

“We put a lot of pressure on.” When they returned with their purple patch, we did really well in the second half.