Ireland display versatility in the face of adversity

Ireland beat Scotland in Murrayfield last weekend but the final score of 22-7 would suggest that it was much more comfortable than it really was.

Ireland had to find another level of resilience after enduring a number of injury-based blows to the team.

Farrell lost two of his world-class hookers, meaning Josh van der Flier had to throw into the lineout and Cian Healy had to scrummage at hooker.

It would have been very easy for Ireland to use that as an excuse and let the wind out of their sails. It took them about 15 minutes to weather the storm until they went back on the front foot.

They also lost Iain Henderson to a suspected fractured forearm and another world-class player in Caelan Doris quite early on. It looked like Ireland were finally going to be taken down.

It took the highest level of chaos to showcase just how much Ireland are prepared for any situation.

We learned that Van der Flier actually loves throwing the ball into the lineout and practices in training all the time.

A clever piece of admin putting Healy as a replacement hooker meant that Ireland didn't have to go to uncontested scrums and lose a player.

It makes sense to have someone else trained up to cover the hooker position in the scrum due to the newer laws around losing a player if uncontested scrums are needed, but it was still admirable in the moments where Irish supporters thought that their team was crumbling.

The most valiant effort and hard-fought win ensued, the scoreline flattering Ireland in the end, but they worked incredibly hard to pull through and deserved their win.

Scotland gave Ireland a good enough scare in the first half with their fast breakdown and attacking physicality. There will be lessons learned and deep reviews done to see how