Irelands pack did a great job but behind them there wasn't the fluency of last 2 weeks.
Murray was trying to recycle the ball quickly but his natural game is all about control and he was perfectly suited to the approach of Schmidt's Ireland. Sadly we learnt his time is now up. His box kicking used to be a thing of wonder in it's accuracy, but not only is variable in distance it wasn't in last weeks team plan. In the six nations he may be used off the bench but he's not been the same player since his injury a couple of years ago. Before that he was arguably the best in the world but time waits for no rugby player.
The fluency improved when he went off but the backs weren't lining up in "layers" that had worked so well for them in the two previous matches. Perhaps Carberry needs to be more authoritative? I was a little surprised when he was awarded man of the match, but it will help his confidence going forward..
So all considered a great result and bring on the 6 nations. Scotland and Wales at home, ok. England and France away, learning opportunity.
