With home advantage, a backline which even shorn of Sione Tuipulotu packed enough star wattage to power the Edinburgh grid and an Ireland team who had shown some vulnerability against England the previous weekend (albeit only for about half an hour), hopes were as high as ever that Scotland could at least give their bogey team a game.
Ireland juggernaut powers on after Scotland suffer Six Nations injury nightmare – latest reaction By the time the final whistle blew in this match, most of the crowd at Murrayfield had long since adopted the thousand-yard stare of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, forced to relive the exact same experience for the gazillionth time, with no expectation that things will ever be different.
Apart from a brief spell either side of half-time when Scotland scored 11 unanswered points – Van der Merwe touching down brilliantly in the corner (see the video below) and Blair Kinghorn, who in fairness had a very good game, converting two further penalties – it was one-way traffic, as it has been so often in this fixture in recent years.
Lowe and replacement Jack Conan added further tries in the second half as Ireland wrapped up the bonus point by the hour mark, with Ben White scoring a late consolation for Scotland.
Ireland overwhelmed the hosts in an embarrassingly one-sided first half, scoring two tries via winger Calvin Nash and captain Caelan Doris, and could have had a hatful more.
