Ireland stay on Six Nations Grand Slam track

Ireland fought back from a half-time deficit to beat Scotland 22-15 at Murrayfield on Saturday and keep alive their dream of a first Grand Slam since 1948.

With rival marksmen Chris Paterson and Ronan O'Gara, who became the leading points scorer in Six Nations history, virtually cancelling each other out, it was substitute flanker Jamie Heaslip who emerged as the Irish hero with the only try.

Ireland now head for Cardiff next Saturday to square up to holders Wales, who beat Italy in Rome, while the Scots will aim to end their campaign on a high by beating England at Twickenham to retain the Calcutta Cup.

O'Gara's four penalties and drop goal took him to 492 points in the competition, 13 more than previous record points scorer Jonny Wilkinson.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney said: "I'm absolutely delighted with the result - even though the performance was nowhere near our best.

"We ended up winning ugly, but the outcome was pretty. There had been a lot of expectation on our shoulders and that brought pressures. That forced us to give away a lot of penalties in the first half."

Dismayed home coach Frank Hadden admitted his team had contributed to their own downfall.

He said: "We handed that game to the Irish. We had it by the scruff of the neck, but we paid the price for failing to get points on the board when it mattered.

"We allowed Ireland to come back into the contest in the second half - and they did what they do best by squeezing the life out of the game. I can find very few positives to take forward to our last game against England."

From a tame turnover, Scotland set up the first clear-cut chance when winger Simon Danielli found space on the right only to lose his footing on the greasy surface.

The hosts kept up the pressure with a series of well-controlled off-loading moves and they forced Ireland into holding on too long in contact.

Up strode recalled full-back Paterson to ignore the gusts inside the stadium to slot an angled penalty to the delight of the home support.

The Scots continued to look the more composed outfit, but their momentum was stemmed when skipper Mike Blair booted the ball dead from his own half to surrender 70 metres.

Ireland capitalised on the reprieve as breakaway forward Denis Leamy powered ahead from a free kick and set up a penalty.

O'Gara stepped up to calmly thump over the levelling kick from 30 metres.

Paterson was immediately back in the spotlight at the other end when an Irish marker failed to roll clear of the tackle scene and again he was bang on target to restore his side's edge.

Superb close-quarters handling by pack-men Simon Taylor, Al Strokosch and Jason White paved the way for another penalty opportunity for Scotland this time almost under the Irish crossbar.

It was a formality for Paterson as he added three points to the cushion before O'Gara replied to take him past Jonny Wilkinson's mark.

Ireland were forced to bring on Heaslip for shoulder-injury victim Leamy, and the Scots were immediately handed the chance to add three further points - Paterson maintaining his 100 per cent rate.

But O'Gara replied in identical style straight from the restart when John Barclay scooped up the ball while in a blatantly offside position.

The encounter burst into life a minute before the break when Scots speed merchant Thom Evans latched on to his own chip into enemy territory.

Evans was blocked by O'Driscoll, but managed to pop up a pass into the path of Phil Godman. However, the fly-half was unable to safely secure it just a couple of paces from the line.

The complexion of the tussle changed in the 50th minute when the home markers were caught on the hop.

Scrum-half Peter Stringer left the Scots backrow in his slipstream and Heaslip was perfectly positioned to slide over for the touchdown.

O'Gara lobbed over the extra points and to add to Scotland's worries, captain Blair limped off with a back problem

Even better was to come for Ireland when O'Gara clipped over an opportunist drop-goal to widen the gap to seven.

Paterson eased the Scots jitters by confidently collecting his fifth penalty - then watched with relief as O'Gara sent his next kick wide.

He rediscovered his touch nine minutes from time from an awkward angle to present his team with some breathing space.